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Today I’ve read a handful of fabulous posts about entrepreneur-istas, and I’d like to share them with you.
1) I loved Alicia Morga’s series of posts from her trip to Azerbaijan. She writes:
So why Azerbaijan, the Land of Fire? Well, I was invited by the U.S. State Department to share my experiences as a female entrepreneur with women around the country.
When I landed in Azerbaijan, cultural attaché Chris Jones picked me up at the airport and immediately handed me a cell phone and a large packet. I felt like I had parachuted into a scene in Mission Impossible. …
Azerbaijani folk dance, via Flickr Creative Commons
Talking to women, young and old, I learned how much they defeat themselves. They see no use in trying. There is a culture of can’t – even in the face of real life examples of can.
There are successful women entrepreneurs in Azerbaijan. I was fortunate to meet many, including a woman who started the few and largest bookstores, a woman who opened a tea house for women, and even a woman who started her own bakery with another woman friend at the age of 52. Where at least one person has accomplished something, in my mind it means that more can follow – the path is forged and it’s possible.
But I was frustrated to run up against mindsets that were either completely fixed and negative or unrealistically attached to Oprah-isms – dream it and it will come true – without moving to put in the work. Adding to the problem was the general fear of admitting to not knowing something and a very palpable fear of failure.
Though it’s not difficult to see how that might flow from the top. Dictatorships are not exactly known for their creativity. It’s hard to be creative when you’re not allowed to fail. It’s easy to feel defeated when you’re surrounded by corruption.
Still I did my best to convey hope and inspire the women I met to pursue education and consider entrepreneurship.
Many of the women I met we’re eager to learn and welcoming. Young girls came up to me asking for pictures and easily draped their arms around me. One young girl went to hug me and stopped abruptly, catching herself and sucking in her breath like she had seen a ghost. “Is it okay to touch you?” she asked, “I know that Americans don’t like to be touched.” I laughed and gave her a big hug. [more]
She also gives a list of practical tips for women traveling to Azerbaijan, such as:
some odd but true cultural guidelines:
a. It’s not appropriate to go outside with wet hair; if you walk around with wet hair it implies that you just had sex
b. It’s also not appropriate to put on Chapstick in public – again, it has sexual connotations [more]
2) I was delighted to see fellow StartUp Chile entrepreneur Yifan Zhang on the list of 20 Brazen Young Professionals to Watch in 2012. She’s in great company! Guess who nominated her? Here’s Brazen’s blurb about this brilliant young entrepreneur:
Yifan Zhang: A recent Harvard graduate, Yifan founded Gym-Pact, a mobile app that motivates you to work out; it launches nationally on Jan. 1. Yifan also founded Styleta, a nonprofit fashion organization.
3) I really liked this post by Pam Slim: The Deeper Root. She asks:
Why are you doing this (business) (parenting) (difficult project) (job)?
What will happen if you succeed?
Will it be worth it even if you fail?
Why does it matter?
What will you regret not doing?
What will you rejoice leaving as a legacy? [more]
4) Last but not least, I did this interview for The Workpreneur, which Ryan titled La Entrepreneur-ista.
Have a great day!
Garden on Easter Island. Coincidentally, a place where society flourished and declined, and historians debate the reasons why.
On my recent trip to Pichilemu (more on that soon) I read the ten-years-after-9/11 edition of The New Yorker. I asked my parents to bring me magazines commemorating this milestone, because being so far from home — especially in a country where the 11th of September brings up an entirely different set of memories — I didn’t have the chance to grieve and remember with my fellow Americans. The magazine is packed with stories that brought tears to my eyes.
I especially liked Adam Gopnik’s piece, “Decline, Fall, Rinse, Repeat: Is America going down?” The article is a detailed review of books that foretell the fall of Western and/or American civilization, from Oswald Spengler’s “The Decline of the West” to Niall Ferguson’s “Civilization: The West and the Rest” (which I wrote about here, but have not read) to Thomas Friedman’s latest: “That Used to Be Us.”
The article’s last lines are my favorite (spaces, emphasis and photo are mine):
“Cultivate your garden,” Voltaire recommended. It remains enlightened advice both on practical grounds — people get rich by joining gardens together into big parks of prosperity — and on moral grounds: the flowers will fade in any case, and meanwhile we will have had the utility of their fragrance.Declinism is a bad idea, because no one can have any notion of what will happen next. But the idea of our decline is emotionally magnetic, because life is a long slide down, and the plateau just passed is easier to love than the one coming up.
One of the painful things that smart people learned in the last century is that the future cannot be an object of faith, and only the credulous can see clear auguries in the patterns of the past.
We read history not to find predictive patterns but for the same reason we listen to oldies stations on Sirius radio as we drive back roads on holiday: the old songs matter. Many of them were better than the new songs, That we might not learn anything from them, aside from the obvious truth that what worked then worked for then, and what works now works for now, doesn’t alter our taste for old music.
The long look back is part of the long ride home. We all believe in yesterday.
So, cultivate your garden. Cultivate prosperity in your own life, however it’s most meaningful to you. The word “prosperous” always reminds me of China, perhaps because I used it more there than ever before… insert your own geopolitical theory on this, if you wish….
Gotta love the Beatles reference at the end of a passage about the real purpose of the oldies!
This year I have so much to be thankful for! So much has changed since last Thanksgiving, when we ordered “fire chicken” for the whole team at the ad agency in Beijing.
I submitted the following photo and comments to EpicThanks, a charitable celebration of gratitude:
This year I am grateful for Start-Up Chile, a program of the Chilean government that has invited hundreds of global entrepreneurs to bootstrap their businesses here in Chile.
I specifically would like to recognize Start-Up Chile because it has sparked many of the other positive changes in my life. Start-Up Chile has built a community of entrepreneurs, who work side-by-side in this gorgeous office; Start-Up Chile has given me the opportunity to speak to audiences all over this gorgeous country; Start-Up Chile has inspired me to start my own company; and most personally and most importantly, Start-Up Chile has brought me back to this wonderful country, where I studied six years ago. This move has re-ignited my too-long-dormant imagination and shown me great love and hospitality. For this I am so grateful.
Gracias Start-Up Chile!!! Feliz día de acción de gracias!!
I have so much more to be grateful for! I started writing this post while cooking on Thanksgiving Thursday (which is not an official holiday here in Chile, but of course we celebrated anyways!)
I made mashed potatoes and mushroom soup, and Brent prepared a massive 7-hour slow-cooked roast following his mom’s special recipe.
Like my sandals? A special Southern Hemisphere touch!
We collected ingredients for the feast: Chilean wine, the fancy olives I forgot to serve (at two or three consecutive dinner parties! next time…) fresh oranges and lemons from the trees at Marcelo’s house, delicious strawberries and blueberries from La Vega. And a dozen soup bowls, borrowed from the special, locked top cabinet (Gracias Vero!!)
We borrowed extra wine glasses, which stacked so beautifully on this platter, alongside fresh tomatoes and cilantro.
The food turned out really well, and everyone brought dishes to share: homemade lemon pie, apple cobbler, strawberry/avocado/blue cheese salad, and more. The fifteen of us were too busy eating, drinking, and sharing our gratitude to take pictures. This included two adorable toddlers running around, climbing on our child-sized coffee table and couches and asking for chips and juice. I’ll let you imagine them.
I have so much to be grateful for this year.
Every year on Thanksgiving I re-read this classic San Francisco Chronicle column by Jon Carroll. Here are my favorite excerpts.
THANKSGIVING HAS ALWAYS been my favorite holiday. It is comfortably free of the strident religious and/or militaristic overtones that give the other holidays their soft emanations of uneasiness.
At Christmas, for instance, we are required to deal with the divinity of Christ — I know some of you folks have made up your minds about that one, but not me– and on the Fourth of July we must wrestle with the question of whether all those simulated aerial bombardments represent the most useful form of nationalism available.
At Thanksgiving, all we have to worry about is whether we can wholeheartedly support A) roasted turkey, B) friends and C) gratitude. My opinions on these matters are unambiguous; I am in favor of them all. The Squanto-give- corn stuff has been blessedly eliminated from the iconography, so the thrill of Thanksgiving is undiminished by caveats, codicils or carps. That alone is something to be thankful for. Thanksgiving provides a formal context in which to consider the instances of kindness that have enlightened our lives, for moments of grace that have gotten us through when all seemed lost. These are fine and sentimental subjects for contemplation.
…
Our parents, of course, and our children; our grandparents and our grandchildren. We are caught in the dance of life with them and, however tedious that dance can sometimes seem, it is the music of our lives. To deny it is to deny our heritage and our legacy.
AND THANKS, too, for all the past Thanksgivings, and for all the people we shared them with. Thanks for the time the turkey fell on the floor during the carving process; for the time Uncle Benny was persuaded to sing “Peg o’ My Heart”; for the time two strangers fell in love, and two lovers fell asleep, in front of the fire, even before the pumpkin pie.
And the final bead on the string is for this very Thanksgiving, this particular Thursday, and the people with whom we will be sharing it. Whoever they are and whatever the circumstances that have brought us together, we will today be celebrating with them the gift of life and the persistence of charity in a world that seems bent on ending one and denying the other.
Thanks. A lot.
Read more of Jon Caroll’s column.
One of my favorite things about the word “appreciate” is that it has two complementary definitions.
The first is obvious and common at this time of year: “I appreciate all of you who have made me feel at home here in Chile. Thank you.”
The second comes from banking. “The money in my savings account has appreciated over time.”
The combination of these definitions is stronger: the act of showing appreciation makes the goodness grow over time. (I read this idea in a book; I think it was Happier, by Tal Ben-Shahar.)
Thank you all for encouraging me to explore and experiment and write. Wishing you peace, health, and happiness, during the Thanksgiving holiday and throughout the year!
I’ve been chatting with Stacie Berdan about international careers for more than a year. She has been very supportive of my international professional and entrepreneurial adventures. I was delighted when she sent me a copy of her new eBook, Go Global! Launching an International Career Here or Abroad.
Stacie Berdan
Stacie Berdan's books
I wrote the following review for Ms. Career Girl, Nicole Crimaldi’s excellent blog for young professional women. Here’s the beginning:
If you’ve ever dreamed of building an international career, you must read Stacie Berdan’s Go Global! Launching an International Career Here or Abroad. I found myself nodding and smiling throughout this concise, convenient eBook.
Stacie draws from her own experience to give practical, step-by-step advice. She worked for a top global public relations firm in Hong Kong for many years, during which she gained the skills and experience to skip several levels on the corporate ladder. This is her second book about international careers. Her first book, Get Ahead By Going Abroad: A Woman’s Guide to Fast-Track Career Success, was published in 2007.
(And GoGlobal is only five bucks! That’s the price of one cocktail in a college bar! Consider it a cocktail with Stacie Berdan and her network of international professionals.)
Some of my favorite tidbits from GoGlobal!:
- You can launch an international career at home. You don’t have to move to another country, since the modern world of work is packed with international connections.
- Take an honest look at your own personality, to make sure you’re ready for the cross-cultural challenges of working in an international environment. To build your global mindset, study foreign languages, read foreign news, and watch movies from other countries.
- Avoid taking on debt. Debt limits your career options, at home or overseas. There are many ways to gain global experience without going into debt.
- As you prepare to apply for international jobs, begin by defining your global brand. From this you can craft an elevator pitch, cover letter, resume and online presence. I particularly like Stacie’s sequential, non-intimidating process, and suggestion to begin a resume with a Qualifications section that describes your value proposition and 4-5 memorable bullet points.
- Dismal events can lead to career opportunities. Uprisings in the Middle East led to new opportunities for communications firms like Twitter. The tsunami in Japan created new opportunities for construction firms. Both good news and bad news influence the international job market.
These days I give lots of speeches. In Spanish. A language that is not my mother tongue. A language that I speak fluently, without hesitation. But my accent reveals: I come from somewhere else.
On the way to an event, I thought of a comment by Rachel DeWoskin. Rachel’s first book, Foreign Babes in Beijing, is a memoir about her experience as the “bad girl” on a Chinese reality TV show in the 90s, and how the show mirrored her real life in Beijing. It was one of the first books I read about China.
Rachel DeWoskin. Image via www.racheldewoskin.com
I met her at her book signing at The Bookworm in Beijing when she had just published Repeat After Me, a novel about a young English teacher in New York who falls in love with a Chinese dissident.
During the book signing, Rachel described a Chinese friend, who once said:
“He has IS a successful career and a failed personality.” (see note below)
She saw this as a purer form of the English language. A native speaker is unlikely to say “He has is a successful career and a failed personality,” but is there really any better way to express this idea? Native speakers use cliches and lazy, context-based phrases, often without clarity.
The extra effort it takes to speak a non-native language can make the ideas resonate. And stick.
I notice this on airplanes in Chile, where I actually listen to the safety announcements in English because they don’t sound like the rushed, almost-automated announcements on American planes. I notice it when my German, Korean, Chinese, and Chilean clients talk to me in English. Of course a high level of fluency, decent pronunciation, and full understanding of the topic at hand are all helpful. But in any case, being a non-native speaker can add power to the message.
I am proud to give speeches in slightly stunted non-native Spanish. I am always learning new words (recently: vorágine, licitación, apalancamiento). I will continue to learn new words for the rest of my life.
At the end of my recent trip to Concepcion, our host Felipe Sepulveda, founder of Atrévete Hoy, made this video of me talking about my new business, to send an inspirational message to the aspiring entrepreneurs of the Región del Bio Bio and beyond. Listening to it makes me cringe a bit: Gah, I sound so American. Is that really how I talk?
But daring to open my mouth and speak imperfect Spanish and talk about imperfectly-formed ideas on stage has opened the door to so many opportunities. I encourage all of you to banish your doubts, grab a drink (it helps, I swear) and start talking!!
P.S. If you can’t see the video, click on the title of the post to watch it on my website, or click here to watch it directly on YouTube. Gracias!
Amended 11/22/11 following correspondence directly with Rachel DeWoskin. She commented, “what Anna actually said was ‘he IS a successful career and a failed personality,’ even wilder, I think.” This reminds me of the question I always get asked here in Chile, after explaining in Spanish that I am American and my work involves solar energy, China, and mining: “But I don’t understand, what are you?”
I'm Leslie and I connect entrepreneurs in Chile, China, California, and beyond — especially through translation, training, and trade. More about me.
