Elephant Nature Park: The Elephant in the Boardroom

How an animal sanctuary in Northern Thailand became the business model I didn't know I was looking for

The first time I saw an elephant IRL I was 16 years old. I was at the annual summer county fair in upstate New York. I was there with my friend, Lori. As we wandered the grounds, we came upon an elephant in the middle of a small circus ring. We both stopped cold in our tracks and … just … stared. This majestic being, a creature we'd only ever seen in 2D, was just a few meters away from us. She was beautiful. She was simply sublime. and … she was sad. We knew in our souls that this was not right - this dignified creature in this demeaning setting. A chain around her ankle. Could that be a tear running down her face? We couldn’t stop talking about “Elly” our elephant that night. 30-something years later, Lori and I still send random text messages to each other about Elly.

I never had a question in my mind that Elly was being disrespected - no, abused. What I didn’t know were the horrific details of “spirit-breaking” (aka phajaan) that elephants endure for tourism and entertainment.

The Unbreakable Elephant Spirit

Elephants are the largest land mammals, and their emotional capacity matches their physical size. They grieve, giggle, console, and even cry - so, yes, those likely were tears that Lori and I saw on Elly’s face. And to ask an elephant to dance, paint, play soccer, trek with a saddle on their back, or partake in any act for the sole purpose of entertaining a human requires that their spirit is broken - that they forget they are an elephant. If elephants were human, I would be talking about sex trafficking and slavery, as it would require extreme physical and mental abuse to subject a human to trafficking.

Thankfully, there is a place where the elephant spirit is revered more than their entertainment value. This place is the Elephant Nature Park (ENP), north of Chiang Mai, Thailand. I visited the ENP in 2011 and the experience moved me the same way that seeing Elly moved me when I was 16 years old. I promised myself (and the elephants) that I would return to the park to participate in their week-long volunteer program. Finally, 15 years later, I returned to ENP to follow through on that promise.

A day in the life at Elephant Nature Park

Lek Chailert: Contrary, Audacious, Unstoppable

The heart and soul of the ENP and SEF is their founder, Lek Chailert. Lek’s life has been the epitome of barrier-breaking and it is the only kind of life that would transform a woman of her culture and stature to an international change-maker. While at the park we watched a documentary called “Love & Bananas,” which won a Genesis Award (basically, the “Oscars of animal rights” media), telling a harrowing story of how Lek saved one elephant from a trekking camp. This one rescue involved years of gently educating the trekking camp owner, luring a fearful and disobedient 4-ton animal into a truck, to then drive it 23 hours to its forever home at ENP. This would be an impossible task for most people - even Type A people with a stubborn spirit and passion for animal rights - and Lek has done this hundreds of times since opening ENP in 2003. This woman is everything I want for myself and for all women - she is contrary, audacious, and unstoppable.

When the Mission is the Margin

And with all of this, there are two thoughts I can’t get out of my head:

⏭️ How does she do it? I’m not talking about her passion - that is obvious. But, pragmatically, how does she do it?

⏭️ What if the best business school case study of the last 23 years isn’t in Silicon Valley or Seattle, but in a river valley in northern Thailand?

More than half of all corporate workers are burned out. 66% are at risk of burnout. The condition costs the US economy more than $500 billion annually through lost productivity and healthcare. And still, the organizations burning people out want more from their people.

Meanwhile, Lek Chailert has spent 23 years building something most business schools would struggle to categorize. Elephant Nature Park has grown steadily, saved hundreds of elephants one by one, and quietly converted more than 30 exploitative trekking camps into ethical sanctuaries. Along the way - without a plan or grand vision - ENP became a refuge for dogs, cats, water buffalo, and pigs. It created employment for Burmese refugees, a working space and clientele for local massage therapists, and a market for local and international artists. A mission to save elephants became an ecosystem of dignity.

No MBA. No venture backing. No exit strategy. Just a flourishing, multi-decade enterprise built by putting mission above margin.

ENP offers a different template. One where the mission is achieved. The business sustains itself. And the people - the founders, employees, and local & international communities - are genuinely cared for: mentally, physically, and financially.

Evidence of Success

Roughly half of the volunteers in my group had participated in the volunteer week previously, several of them were back for their third, fourth, or fifth time. The repeat customer rate is one of the most telling data points of a product’s success. My hypothesis for this success is a direct result of the hands-on involvement of Lek and Darrick Thomson (Lek’s husband and partner in building the business for the last 20 years). Unbelievably, Lek and Darrick are in the park every day (neck-deep in elephant poop!). They literally run around the park all day, highly engaged with employees and volunteers, smiles on their faces, friendly “Hellos!” and a willingness to stop to answer questions or chat for a few minutes at any time. The authenticity, care, and humanity they actively demonstrate is the heart and soul of the success of Elephant Nature Park.

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When I adopted Elly as my animal guide all those years ago, it set in motion everything that led to my experiences during this past week. The Elephant Nature Park volunteer week isn’t really about free labor for the park. It’s about education - understanding the threat to Asian elephants, why saving them matters, and the scale of what that actually requires. The outcomes of my experiences often exceed my expectations. I expected to spend the week dirty and sweating, making the elephants comfortable. What I didn’t expect was to leave having learned as much about the role of values and integrity in business as I did about elephants.

Please check out my Google Photo Album from Elephant Nature Park. I have so many elephant pictures for you to enjoy! 🐘❤️

Thank you for stopping by 🙏

Enjoy this 1-minute meditation of elephants being elephants 😃