Trailblazing Founder: Florence His, Founder of Business4People
Meet intrepid entrepreneur, coach and investor relations expert
“Don’t be afraid (and don’t be too critical of yourself) to try your ideas… that’s the only way they will ever become reality.”
This interview is part of a series on Trailblazing Women role models (Entrepreneurs and Leaders) from around the world . See What You Can Be.
Florence spent the first part of her professional life in the Investment, Risk and Project Management spaces; leading teams of experts on behalf of large global corporate players. After a successful 17+years, she jumped off-tracks to take a peek at what else had been calling for some time yet without saying its name. She became a student again with the purpose to explore new business paradigms and be ideally positioned to grasp more of the forming-fields of wisdom and opportunities available in the Sustainability, Impact Investment and Emerging spaces as well as develop expertise in the area of Transformative Social Technology approaches to Innovation, Change and Entrepreneurship.
“Business4People grew out of my need to make sense and engage in the practical field of experiment. I started to prototype my business as a field project for class, as a kind of incubated entrepreneur. It then morphed into a real advisory firm with the mission to support ventures and value proposals which contribute to Business as an Agent of Global Improvement, grounded in the real economy and backbone to sustainable and thriving ecosystems, key among which is the human community. Today, we provide consulting; coaching; marketing and Investor Relations/PR services to such ventures and projects and to those financial sponsors who choose to invest in them.”
Visit her website : http://www.business4ppol.com, http://coach4ppol.com Follow Florence on Twitter : @FlorenceHis
Who is your role model as an entrepreneur?
I would say that there is no ‘one’ role model per se that I admire in the world. Rather I believe in the “universal entrepreneurial spirit”, I embrace that subtle vibration which continuously morphs to grow, adapt, transcend and include; and thus remains relevant to what is needed. I am continuously being influenced and I keep learning from all the amazing entrepreneurs I support, interact with and share some of the path of. They inspire me.
What is your greatest achievement to date?
Allowing myself the freedom to let go of someone I had outgrown the boundaries of, bearing the discomfort of not being able to discern what was calling exactly yet but holding high the promise of what could be and deploying the energy required to investigate the options … Taking the time to step back, let go of that urge to act, go forward in that frenzy to perform we sometimes feel compelled to and allow the emptiness necessary to reinvent oneself and emerge anew, more purposefully and name my calling for the world.
What has been your biggest challenge as a Woman Entrepreneur ?
Entrepreneurs usually challenge the status quo, they bring break-through technologies, create new products, revolutionize entire markets and society’s beliefs about how things are, should be, will be, what is possible …. Being an entrepreneur is more like a state of mind and spirit than the fact of creating and managing a business, it is an “essential” way of life that inspires to create and transform the present through one’s actions, shape the human experience and contribute to the world during one’s earthly time. Women entrepreneurs in particular bring a more global, rich and integrated vision to the world. They are more inclined to see the world in a holistic, interconnected and fluid way because they are by nature more easily in touch with the concrete but also what is in the air and not being said, as well as with the need to integrate contradictions to create a more collaborative reality that works for the ecosystem as a whole. Holding that posture high is sometimes challenging in environments which often still do not value collaboration but survival of the strongest and competition, hard-skills versus soft-skills, immediate short term returns Vs. long term global impact etc.
What in your opinion, is the key to your company’s success?
If success is measured by the number of clients who are satisfied and refer more clients by word of mouth then I am a pretty successful and happy entrepreneur. What most say is most unique and unconventional about my work is my methods and how I engage with them. Obviously I am a professional in my field but so is everyone else in theirs. The difference may reside some say in the depth and the breath of the conversations that develop during our work together, the energy level I diffuse, the quality of the listening, the agility I induce in opening the options & then focusing on key drivers to solve problems, drive efficiency and resilience. Some talk about the playground — safe environment I hold for them to test and explore. Some speak to the way my process incubates and nurtures and challenges at the same time… inducing conceptual dimensions but also very concrete actions which can de-trigger a situation and set things into action mode again … who knows what success is anyways? Does it matter? To whom? Should it? why?
If you could do 1 thing differently, what would it be?
Nothing I am afraid. The path we take, with its failures and successes is unique to each and every one of us and opportunities arise when the time is right they say … well, hopefully at a time when we are willing and capable of making the most out of them … or else … well we fail ( this was meant as a challenge … ) and we learn from our failures. All the things I am proud of in my life and those I am less proud of are parts of me that have contributed to getting me where I am now. Making those mistakes is what makes you grow — if you are afraid to fail, don’t become an entrepreneur! I could have done things faster in my career — yes — would it have been a good thing? I’m not so sure. But again, who knows, I might have ended up in a totally different place … and still be happy about it … Infinite opportunities are available …
What would you say to others to encourage them to become entrepreneurs?
Well to start with, we are all the entrepreneurs of our own lives, in many different ways and levels and over different periods of our lives (deciding how to spend money, choosing which job to take next, which school to go to, which classes to attend, who to marry, who not to marry, selecting the people we want to hang out with … where we want to retire, when we want to retire … how to feel about betrayal ? how to act when upset..). All these choices we make shape the lives we live and the reality we experience.
“So really it’s about deciding if you want to let other people decide what life you should lead or if you want to be calling the shots … it’s about control, self-determination and freedom of choice and expression.”
The next thing is to bear in mind this idea which I think is worth considering and which is that unless you try/test something in the real world, you won’t know for sure whether it will work or not… so, that is what an entrepreneur does, he/she tries out an idea he/she has been working on, fails cheap, early-on and often and moves on to the next iteration … until it works … than he/she finds another inspiring problem to solve. So it is actually fun, creative and challenging to be an entrepreneur … because you keep learning and evolving.
How would you describe your leadership style?
Co-creative, collaborative, transformative, dynamic, playful, supportive, connector, lateral thinker, bringing and matching all sorts of ideas and resources and very hands off. So after I induce the “ambiance” and set the stage, I let people seize the opportunities available and I watch their ability to do that, ask for help when needed or offer help, and also create more for themselves and others. I enjoy relationship systems which are self-generative and naturally keep creating value. Also because, engagement is dependent on choice , you need to let people own their decisions and take their responsibilities, you cannot motivate them, they chose to support a project , be a part of a team etc.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
“Allow yourself to play more, explore creatively, prototype, morph. Think less.”
Nothing (not even your dreams) will ever happen unless you start calling for them into the universe and start “materializing” them in some form or shape into the world. As imperfect as these materializations may be to start with, play with them until they get to what you were looking for. So don’t be afraid (and don’t be too critical of yourself) to try your ideas… that’s the only way they will ever become reality.
What would you like to achieve in the next 5 years?
Continue supporting entrepreneurs towards a more sustainable future and by so doing also evolve my own practice, skills, business model. Make new alliances with others in my ecosystem to enrich the breath and value of my work. I don’t consider there is a specific 5 years or 10 years deadline for where I should be and I actually think there is no such place. In fact, the word in itself is really scary and sort of holds a deterministic/fatalist type of taste to it , think of it “DEAD” line … will I be dead by then? I’d rather be very open and ready to grasp (with my full potential) the opportunities that will arise, to take my journey forward and explore what the future holds … in a LIVELY manner. I want to continue doing what I enjoy, in ways that are satisfying, make business sense, are aligned with my purpose and values as well as create and support relationships that matter.
3 key words to describe yourself?
· Intentional
· Playful
· Explorer
About the Author:
Watch Anne Ravanona’s TEDx talk “Spread Your Talent to the World” on Investing in Women Entrepreneurs and learn more about her @anneravanona or www.anneravanona.com
Learn more about Global Invest Her www.globalinvesther.com @GlobalInvestHer
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