Where Andres is from

Zaruma, El Oro Province, Ecuador

 

Interview

What was your dream when you were a kid? What was the reason?

Just as a good friend of mine, who wanted to be a baseball player, I wanted to be a soccer player! I guess the main reason was that I truly loved and still love playing soccer. The other reason was because I would imagine myself scoring lots of goals and making everybody in Ecuador very happy. Of course… it was a little bit of an egocentric dream, since on it I was always the hero!

 

What was your dream when you were 18 years old? What was the reason?

When I turned 18 years old, I guess I did not have a dream in particular anymore… I had many areas that I was interested in, and I wasn´t sure which one to choose, so my father suggested me that I should study business administration and/or finance because any area of interest I would end up jumping in, would need to be at some point managed, so that´s what I did.

 

What made you start thinking about social entrepreneurship/social enterprises? When was that?

It happened in my mid-late twenties, after some years of working for a for profit company. I start feeling that work, which is such an important element of our lives, should not have as a sole purpose to make money.

 

How much do you think social entrepreneurs play an important role in the world? 

To put into context, I personally think that any person that is respectful and positively thoughtful about society, from an independent professional, going through the owner of a business, all the way to someone who enterprises into having a family, is a social entrepreneur. Yes, I think social or responsible entrepreneurs play a hugely important role in the world.

 

What would you say to future social entrepreneurs / those who are interested in social entrepreneurs?

I would simply say that social entrepreneurship is a fancy way to say “entrepreneurship that is considerate of societies’ needs and that advocates with his/her actions to the wellbeing of it”. In order to do both, we need to first understand what are these needs and what does wellbeing means to these same society (instead of just assuming them), so I would suggest to start by listening and making an effort to understand others.

 

What is your favorite quote? Who said that quote?

“If you want to change the world, let the world change you” – Ernesto “Che” Guevara

 

Who Andres is

I talked to Andres the most on the first day at Hult International Business School because he was sitting next to me at those first moments. I could feel that he was passionate about changing the world and he was a sweet guy at the same time. After a year, my opinion about Andres is the same; he is a sweet guy.

Andres is smart, knowledgeable, responsible, and his strength is his listening skill. He is very good at listening to others. As a proof, he nods at every single word that you say. Even if he has a different opinion against you, he never interrupts you before you finish. He respects others and what others say. That is one thing that I like about Andres and it makes him sweet.

Andres is someone who you want to work with — so supportive, helpful and trustworthy. I like him a lot.

 

Awesome Episode

A big earthquake hit Ecuador in April. At almost the same time, another earthquake hit Japan as well, so Andres and I talked and exchanged information about each situation with each other. Fortunately, both regions were ones where none of our family or relatives live, but both situations were still devastating. We comforted and cheered each other up during that time.

One day following the earthquake, Andres stood up and presented about the earthquake in front of us during a class. He showed us his courage and patriotism. It was very impressive.

 

The Power of MSE

What Andres is holding is a symbol called “go-en(ご縁)”, which means ‘fate’, ’destiny’ and ’special tie.’

I believe that it is meant to be that we met in San Francisco! I studied Social Entrepreneurship with Andres for a year, saying “We will make the world a better place.” I would love to spend the rest of my life with MSEs (Master of Social Entrepreneurship; my classmates) until the very day I die. They have already completely changed my life.

At the same time, however, I also think that we should not be together all the time, because that is not the reason why we learned Social Entrepreneurship. That is not how we will deliver the impact we want to give to society and to the world.

I think MSEs are like dandelions. We were seeded at the first day at Hult and we bloomed on our graduation day. Our mission is that we spread all over the world like dandelions and seed the future, the next generation, from each place where each of us has landed.

本当にありがとう(Honto ni Arigato-); Thank you very very much for everything!! The world needs you! Let’s make the world a better place together!!