Where Maddy is from

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada

 

Interview

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

I wanted to be a chef – I used to stay home from school a lot because I was sick and watch the Food Network – I found it very inspiring. Martha Stewart was my favourite.

 

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

When I was 18, I wanted to be a doctor or lawyer because at the time, I thought doctors and lawyers had the most impact in the world.

 

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

I was first introduced to social entrepreneurship in the last year of my undergraduate degree in International Development. We did a case study on Barefoot College in India. I remember a light-bulb moment thinking that it made so much sense to tackle social and environmental problems like this. It was inspiring to me because a lot of my coursework was focused on how development policy and development institutions were failing to meet the basic needs of the people they were initially set up to serve – I saw social entrepreneurship as a high potential opportunity.

 

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

I think that social entrepreneurship has blurred the lines separating government, social sector and traditional businesses. I believe that a new wave of ideas, innovations, entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs have the power to affect change and tackle the social and environmental problems that our world is facing.

 

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

I would probably say something like:

Failure sucks. We all want to succeed on the first try, be the best and win right away. But life doesn’t really work that way. Instead of blaming yourself or others just know that great things take time and get ready to move forward.

 

What is your favorite quote? Who said that quote?

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” – Andy Warhol

 

Who Maddy is

Maddy is such a kind person. If you need any help no matter how hard or complicated it is but you do not know whom to ask, Maddy is a perfect person for that, so she is willing to help you in any way she can. That is not only what I know but also what our classmates say every time.

One of the biggest things that I recognize whenever I talk to Maddy is that she observes others very well. This doesn’t just mean that she sees others but also knows what is going on with the person, whether it’s through Facebook or from conversations she has had with them. She is aware of any differences in others from yesterday to today. It has happened to me multiple times when we greet each other saying,  “hey, how are you?”, or “how was the conference?” or “how was the event last night?” I am not saying that she is a stalker. If you do not care about others, you would not know what is happening to them and you would not even mind, but Maddy cares about others around her, so she observes her friends and people around her. Maddy is somewhat shy but definitely a great, sweet and lovely person.

 

Awesome Episode

Our classmates are very sweet. One proof is that we held a “Secret Santa” last December. Secret Santa is a present exchanging game among people without knowing who gives a present to whom. Only givers know who they give presents to but receivers never know who is giving them a gift until the end when it happens.

As you may already figured out, Maddy was my secret santa. he gave me this Stormtrooper T-shirt. Isn’t it great?

The event had taken place one day before Star Wars Episode 7 was released, so I watched the movie with the T-shirt at the theater. It was such a special present. Thank you very much, Maddy!

 

The Power of MSE

What Maddy 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 Maddy 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!!