Heartache and entrepreneurship
My heart breaks a little sometimes.
A piece of me feels lost, confused and longs for answers. Answers to questions that might seem trivial to some, but to others, are crucial to the circumstances that led to asking them in the first place.
The first time my heart truly broke, was in the midst of sitting down with women seeking shelter and a place to call home. These women had their own questions and stories to tell, and spent years and years trying to find a sense of belonging.
We sat down in the activity room of that daytime shelter during lunch, where all the women, brought together by a series of events, that led them to flee the places they once called home, and seek safety in a foreign land. Being surrounded by such powerful figures, some of whom overcame tremendous odds, made me wonder how the search for finding solutions that catered to fix inequality, had led me to that room on that day.
All the women came from different backgrounds, and had immigrated from across the world, to find themselves with a 20-year-old telling them how her student-led group could help them help achieve financial independence by creating candles recycled from old crayons, and glass jars.
My heart broke as I spoke with a Moroccan lady who back in her day had been appointed to a high position, translating for officials in 18 different languages. My heart broke when I spoke to a Russian lady that had struggled with financial support, and was a cancer-survivor.
I felt I had the power to change their situations simply by connecting with their mother tongues, and cultures.
I didn’t believe my life experience, being only a third year university student who hadn’t experienced true heartbreak or struggle, would stop me from connecting with these women. I listened to their stories as we took the broken crayons and old wine bottles, reshaping them into candles. Amidst the hardship, something beautiful could grow. And I had no doubt that the entrepreneurial spirit would help inspire change.
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been trying to solve a problem much larger than me. On that day, sitting with those brave women, I felt I had made an impact. I contributed to solving a real problem, one that encompasses economic, social and environmental issues, and still remains unsolved.
My heart tends to break often. It happens whenever I see problems that could be easily solved by implementing simple, yet powerful solutions.
Gender inequality, water management, food waste, climate change… all impact societies from a micro scale, and will have a dominant impact on the way we live.
Their effects won’t only break my heart, but they will impact nations, and many generations to come. My aspirations to change what I see, not only stem from heartache, but from the impact it can make. It inspires me to understand how we can contribute to creating better systems that can change the livelihoods of individuals through the power of entrepreneurship.
If we start somewhere today, no matter how small, eventually maybe we get to solve the questions, and problems we care about.
