Posts by: Leslie
image source: http://www.nesst.org/?portfolio=domos
One of my goals for this blog this year is to provide a spotlight for Chilean entrepreneurs, in English, to share their stories with people outside this country.
Back in 2008, when I was working for a software social enterprise in San Francisco, I collaborated closely with a organization called NESsT. NESsT’s main office is in Chile and I often chatted with their communications team on Skype. Here is a description from their website:
NESsT develops sustainable social enterprises that solve critical social problems in emerging market countries.
NESsT is a catalyst for social enterprises in emerging markets and worldwide.
We achieve our mission by providing financial capital, training and mentoring, and access to markets for a high-impact portfolio of social enterprises in emerging markets.
We combine the tools and strategies of business leadership, entrepreneurship and investment with the mission and values of the social sector to enable our portfolio to: better plan, improve management capacity, grow, and increase their social impact.
I still receive NESsT’s newsletters. In the most recent issue, I read that NESsT exited two of its most successful social enterprises. One of these is:
– Domos, that sells intra-family therapy services to companies in Chile thus reducing low productivity levels of employees due to absenteeism and stress. The social enterprise reached 300 beneficiaries and generated a 42% rate of profit.
I think this is a brilliant business model. Companies need dependable staff, and who can be dependable when there is danger at home?
Read more at domoschile.cl (in Spanish) or in this English version (thanks Google Translate!)
This article originally appeared on Brazen Careerist. Thanks Brazen for depicting me (or at least my message) as strong and savvy!
Do you ever find yourself on a client call, while simultaneously organizing basketball practice, brainstorming a blog post and daydreaming about lunch? You might be a slasher in need of some serious self-defense.
The lifestyle of a slasher – a term popularized by Marci Alboher in her book One Person/Multiple Careers – can be invigorating. As a guest lecturer / researcher / translator / web designer / writer, I love playing many roles and connecting with people from many industries and countries.
But it can also be stressful. When you work with people who have committed a larger part of their own “pie” to a certain task, sometimes they demand more than you have to give. Deadlines can overlap. Weekends can disappear. And the slashes that let you use your diverse skills and interests can become slashes that slice into your sanity, stability and mental health.
The word “ninja” gets used a lot in discussions about working independently – and it makes complete sense. To successfully sustain a slasher lifestyle, you must take self-defense seriously, just like a martial arts pro. But here, self-defense doesn’t mean preparing for physical attacks. It means building and maintaining a strong core, to give you the agility and flexibility to rise to the slasher challenge.
Give these slasher self-defense techniques a try:
Create a day-righting ritual
As someone who might work on several projects in one day, how do you start your morning on the right foot?
Try “day-righting,” a term coined by Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone. He says it’s “The 15-Minute Secret for Individual Effectiveness:”
Almost all of you, I’m willing to bet, have a “morning ritual.” But how many of you have created one by design? This is so important for individual effectiveness, for everyone but especially for entrepreneurs who work independently or at home.
I first became aware of this idea when interviewing a pair of salesman for Who’s Got Your Back. Together, they did an early morning gym session followed by a brainstorm, a process they called “day-righting.” After about a month of this routine, the team told me they saw dramatic improvements in their business and their lives.
Ferrazzi goes on to suggest exercise, journaling, meditation and breathing as day-righting options.
My day-righting ritual has consisted of coffee and newspaper reading with my partner, followed by a quick gym workout, a hearty home-cooked breakfast, and then going into the office to start the workday. In the days when I’ve followed at least part of this ritual, I’ve been able to balance my slashes. The days when I’ve skipped the newspaper, workout and breakfast to immediately sit down in front of my computer, a few hours later I realize that my neck is sore and I’ve been clicking around on the computer without getting much done.
Be conscious of stressors in your environment
Is your office filled with the sounds of colleagues talking on the phone, other people’s music, or buses and honking outside?
Read the rest on Brazen Careerist or Business Insider.
I wrote this a few months back, right when the restaurant opened. A delicious side of modern China-Chile relations!
Madam Tusan, a Chinese-Peruvian restaurant, opened a few months ago at Parque Arauco, an upscale mall that looks like it could be in Southern California.
We visited the restaurant after reading this tempting review in the September 30, 2011 edition of Wikén, the Friday magazine of Chile’s most prominent newspaper, El Mercurio, I translated parts of it into English.
Chifa Cuisine Arrives in Chile: Fusion of Chinese and Peruvian Gastronomy. by Bárbara Muñoz S.
Cebiche con wantanes? Not only is it possible, it’s delicious. The tasty mix of Peruvian and Chinese cuisine – sweet-and-sour, intense, and with an important historical weight – has just landed in Chile, in the Boulevard of Parque Arauco, by the hand of Gastón Acurio and his ultimate whim: Madam Tusan.
When he was a child, Gastón Acurio – today a super-famous chef, mega-businessman, and face of the Peruvian gastronomic revolution – asked for “una chifa” for his birthday. His parents thought he wanted to celebrate by eating at one of the many Chinese restaurants that existed in Lima, known as “chifas.” But what he had in mind was something else: he wanted to HAVE a chifa.
When I visited the restaurant, I spoke with Liliana Com, who was visiting from the main location in Lima to manage the Santiago location’s opening. Liliana is “tusan,” or Peruvian-born Chinese.
I asked Liliana about the derivation of the word “tusan.” Does it come from the familiar Chinese words for “earth” and “three”? Not directly, she explained; there are specific words for different generations of Japanese descendents – issei, nissei, sansei for first, second, and third generation, respectively – but not similar words for Chinese descendants, at least not in the Peruvian vernacular.
The first Chinese arrived in Peru around 1854, when slavery was abolished and landowners needed a new labor source.
The El Mercurio piece describes how this migration shaped Peruvian cuisine.
“Many of those Chinese stayed to live forever and never stopped eating their food. In fact, part of their payment was in rice,” explains Liliana. The combination of Chinese techniques and Peruvian ingredients gave rise to chifa cuisine. As time passed, the immigrants and their families installed themselves on Capón Street, in the center of Lima, which developed into a Chinese neighborhood. “In this time the chifas in Lima were opium dens and a kind of red-light district where the ‘madams’ reigned over the places,” tells Liliana. From that comes the name Madam Tusan.
When I pulled this newspaper clipping from my bag, Liliana pointed out that El Mercurio misquoted her. She clarified that the Chinese neighborhood was “not a place for families,” but the Chinese restaurants were NOT opium dens and brothels. She became quite animated when she said this, as it clearly touched a nerve.
So, you might be wondering, how was the food? Delicious!
My companion and I started off with fresh juice (the restaurant had yet to receive its liquor license.)
Then one of the dozens of attentive waiters (unusual in Chile – this country is not known for customer service) presented three types of chili sauce. The spiciest one featured crushed peppers from Jilin, China. The second mixed Peruvian chilies and crushed ginger. The third was hoisin con rocoto: a blend of hoisin, the sweet sauce that traditionally accompanies Peking Duck, and rocoto, a Peruvian spice paste.
Next we enjoyed the butifarra china, a plate of three delicate sandwiches filled with pork, cilantro, julienned vegetables and hoisin con rocoto on steamed buns.
The Pollo Bruce Lee – which came with a warning of solo para valientes – reminded me of the gong bao ji ding (chicken with peanuts, chilies, and other vegetables) that I ate so often in China.
Our most elaborate dish was camarones rellenos a la naranja, enormous shrimp stuffed with almonds, battered, fried and topped with a sweet-and-sour orange sauce and green onions. It reminded me of a dish you might find at an upscale, fusion-inspired restaurant in San Francisco.
Our final dish was a simple chaufa con pollo, fried rice with chicken and eggs. It was tasty and simple, and closer to home cooking than the complex dishes that sat beside it.
My Chilean dining companion found the food spicier than what he normally eats. (Chilean food is relatively bland: lots of bread, sandwiches, and barbecue.) But he really enjoyed the mix of flavors and the overall experience.
He also loved the design of the red leather chairs.
Overall, our experience at Madam Tusan lived up to its tantalizing review, and showed a stylish, modern, and globalized face of China in Chile.
Madam Tusan. Boulevard del Parque Arauco. Avenida Presidente Kennedy 5413, Las Condes, Santiago. Call for reservations: 02-2190152. Lunch for two, including non-alcoholic beverages and tip: 30.000 Chilean pesos (roughly $60.)
I spent Christmas at home in San Francisco, and wanted to come back to Chile to ring in 2012. So I booked a one-way ticket on Aeromexico, which happened to be the cheapest one-way flight I could find, and included a 16-hour layover in Mexico City (roughly 7am-11pm).
Despite the fact that I couldn’t get much sleep on the 1am flight from San Francisco to Mexico City, I enjoyed my layover adventure.
Before I left home, I downloaded Jim Johnston’s Mexico City: An Opinionated Guide for the Curious Traveler onto the Kindle app on my iPod Touch. Very helpful!
After exchanging $100 in cash for Mexican pesos and grabbing a much-appreciated cup of coffee, I got a city map and found the official taxi stalls. I had heard horror stories about unlicensed cabs in Mexico City and chose to play it safe.
I asked the driver to take me to the Zócalo.
Zócalo, early morning with Christmas decorations.
Flags adorn a gorgeous church, not far from the Zócalo
Huevos divorciados, a classic Mexican breakfast. Two fried eggs, one with red sauce, one with green. Served up with chilaquiles and a much-needed café con leche.
I strolled in and out of several pretty churches.
Such pretty light!
I then walked to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, where there was a special four-gallery exhibit of sculptures by Gustavo Perez. Each piece juxtaposed the whiteness of porcelain with the blackness and unequaled plasticity of black mud from Oaxaca. So striking.
I then followed my guidebook’s advice and took the subway to Colonia Condesa, an upscale residential neighborhood. I got slightly confused on the subway and needed to backtrack more than once, but I was glad to have plenty of time and no one following my directions. I think the subway was much less crowded than usual, since I was there during a holiday week.
Pretty house in Colonia Condesa
Dogwash-Mobile! What a brilliant idea!
"To sustain this park demands great expenses. Cooperate with us by not permitting its mistreatment." A different rhetorical tactic than I've seen at parks in other places.
My main goal during my long layover was to find the authentic Mexican food that I was spoiled with as a child. Though it did not equal Nana Petra's famous cauliflower casserole, this gordita was tasty.
Not long after that gordita, I got caught in the rain. In the dark. Exhausted. Umbrella-less, I scurried through the rain until I finally found an open restaurant (a lot of places were closed since most of the city was on vacation.) There I ate a decent strawberry and goat cheese salad and asked the waitress to call me a cab to the airport.
I arrived at the airport with ample time to browse through Duty Free’s selection of fine tequila. I chose a brand called Suave.
Overall, I enjoyed my layover in Mexico City, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to save money and enjoy some nice art, architecture, and tacos.
If you have a long layover in Mexico City, you should also read this post: Mexico City – All the Fun You Can Have in 10 Hours by Jack and Jill Travel the World
I pretended to give a speech at EXPO CHINA, at Santiago's Estación Mapocho. Maybe next year!
If 2010 was the year I spent thinking about Chile from China, 2011 has been the year I took action on this vision. It has been a crazy year, and I am so happy about where I am right now, in the final days of 2011.
The last day of 2010 was my last day of an intense job as a copywriter for a very big Chinese client of a very big Japanese advertising agency. I had originally intended to stay for at least a year, but the combination of long hours (until 5, 6, 7, 8am at least twice a week) and corporate policies that I didn’t understand took a heavy toll on my sanity, and I decided that I could not sign a long-term contract. So New Year’s 2011 marked a new beginning.
I celebrated my 27th birthday on January 5 in Beijing, with a delicious dinner at Nice Rice and festive drinks at Mao Mao Chong. Stephanie brought balloon animals, which added special flair to the occasion.
My hairstylist (#8 - I miss him!) gave me curls and the balloons really brought life to the party.
Angie, me, Shepherd, and Sean. At Mao Mao Chong in Beijing celebrating my 27th birthday.
When I left my advertising job, I intended to write a book about careers for young foreigners in China. I created this simple website and began to brainstorm an ambitious book proposal. But I soon lost all motivation. I could hardly get out of bed. How could I write a book about the advantages of launching a career in China? My own China career hit a low point. I had plenty of freelance work — tutoring a sweet UK-bound high school student, training an upstart recruitment firm, planning a charity cycling event — but I felt overwhelmingly reactive, and was not doing my best work.
Following a sunny family vacation in Thailand and Cambodia, my brother visited me in Beijing and we visited the snow-covered Great Wall at Mutianyu. The day was pretty and not bone-chillingly cold.
In March I received an unexpected but ultimately life-changing email from a Canadian-American renewable energy entrepreneur who I’d met in Chile in 2005. She invited me to upload my resume and a full scan of my passport as part of her solar energy startup’s application to Start-Up Chile. In May we found out that we’d been accepted to the program. In June I bought a one-way ticket home. Two weeks later I packed up all my belongings, made a huge donation of clothes and shoes and random supplies to a local charity, and planned a simple farewell party at my favorite rooftop Yunnan restaurant.
I packed my stuff into these 2 suitcases and 2 bags, and hailed a cab to the airport. Zaijian Zhongguo!!
On the plane home, I wrote this: Dear China: It’s Not You, It’s Me. Let’s Be Friends Forever. That post meant more than anything else I wrote this year, and I received dozens of comments and emails from friends near and far.
I spent about three weeks at home in California, partying with my parents’ friends on “the Lane” and visiting my brother in Hermosa Beach for the 4th of July. This was my first time experiencing the new lives that my closest family members have built while I have been on the other side of the world.
My parents' most obedient child, Max.
In mid-July, I landed in Chile. Thanks the to generous hospitality of Roberto Edwards and his team, the open doors of Start-Up Chile, the strong support from Marcelo Peralta, and so much more, Chile has given me the opportunity to bring my passions together.
For years people have been telling me that someday they envision me running my own company, but before I landed in Chile I didn’t really think I could do it. Working in a gorgeous office with entrepreneurs from all over the world, and giving speeches in Spanish to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs has shown me that yes, it is possible.
Thank you to my first clients — Trey, Chai, Luis, Victor, Juan Cristóbal, Charlotte, Adam — for believing in me and what is becoming my consulting practice, Tricontinental Advisors.
Grazie to my designer friends -- Nicoletta, who created the Tricontinental Advisors logo, and Sara, who made the Beyond Chile's Single Story banner -- for making my websites look more professional.
Thank you Joe, Fu and Yuli for helping with Chinese translation. Thank you to everyone who has taught me Spanish, particularly Nana Petra for love-filled Spanish lessons throughout the first five years of my life, the University of California Education Abroad Program that brought me to Chile in 2005, and Marcelo who continually teaches me new words and phrases.
Thank you to all the wonderful people I have met through the power of social media: Akhila, Alexis, Andrea, Dan, Gia, Hilary, Humberto, Jacci, Kyle, Roxanne, Sarah, Sarah, Stacie, Susan, and so many more. Thank you to everyone who reads this blog, especially the lurkers (say hi!)
Thank you Start-Up Chile and the Ministry of Economy, for shaping a new culture of global entrepreneurship in this gorgeous country of contrasts, a place that has always embodied the entrepreneurial spirit.
Thank you Grandma Ginny. Every writer should have a pen pal like you. I look forward to seeing you in a few days.
Thank you Ben. I am so excited to show you and your team the entrepreneurial side of Chile in 2012!!
Thank you to my parents for their enthusiastic support of my international adventures, and their resourceful use of frequent flier miles that enable their international adventures to coincide with mine.
This list is incomplete; I could write pages and pages more. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all!
Here’s to health, happiness, and prosperity in 2012 and beyond!
Lots of love,
Leslie
I'm Leslie and I connect entrepreneurs in Chile, China, California, and beyond — especially through translation, training, and trade. More about me.
