Where Magali is from

Citizen of the world

Singapore, Singapore

Loire Valley, France (“home”)

 

Interview

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

I think I changed dream every other week when I was a kid, anything from a professional figure skater to a lawyer…I’ve always been a dreamer and thought I could do it all. I have the extremely supportive environment that I grew up in to thank for that.

 

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

I actually wanted to be a psychologist, mainly because I wanted to be there for people. I’ve had a very fortunate life and wanted a job that would allow me to help those who are struggling.

 

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

I’ve always wanted a job that would allow me to help others; psychologist then seemed like the ‘normal’ path to do that with a sustainable income. I’ve been so lucky to have a mother that is devoted to others, which I think she learned from her mother actually. My grandma always pushed to help everyone, even though they had very little. So I think that was the seed that planted my need to do something ‘good.’

I was actually 18, when I found out what social enterprise was without people really calling it that yet. I was in University at Royal Holloway, studying business and this student-led organization called Enactus (it was SIFE at the time) was at the club fair. One of the girls there asked me, if I would be interested in using my business degree and knowledge to create sustainable projects to help others. I jumped on board in a heartbeat and spend 3 years developing a team and creating social enterprise projects.

 

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

I think it plays maybe one of the most important roles. Especially where our world is going today, with all the atrocities happening and the inequality gap growing. I think the two main reasons for this is because it empowers others and makes us accountable for the change we want to create. Maybe that answers more to more social enterprises, but social entrepreneurs, as people, I believe will help to change our world. We’re hungry for positive change to be created and won’t rest until it is. Social entrepreneurs have the passion to push others to be better.

 

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

Listen, listen, listen, ask some more questions and listen again. Don’t try to push your solution onto others, fit the mold of your beneficiaries, and innovate around their needs. And please, I beg of you, measure your impact, not how many lives you’ve changed but how that life has changed and make sure your solution continues to help change that life for the better.

 

What is your favorite quote? Who said that quote?

“So What?” My mentor, Jonny Hick asked me this question throughout my Enactus journey every step of the way, and it’s probably the biggest fuel to my passion today. It reminds me what I’m doing, who I’m doing it for. It allows me to think deeper about the impact of my actions, whether that be with my friends and family or professionally.

“Life is all about expectations” – I don’t think I’ve heard it anywhere, mostly out of my mouth because I say it about 5 times a day, haha.
I think expectations are so important for our well-being. I guess what I mean by that is there is so much pain in this world and if we communicated our expectations a little more, we could meet halfway, create empathy and get on the same page.

 

Who Magali is

Magali is an unbelievable woman. First of all, she is unstoppable. Magali was one of my second teammates at Hult so I have seen what she is capable of. She is so smart and is a  quick thinker, so she can give us her opinions one after another. She can think ahead without going down a wrong track which makes your team very efficient because of her lead.

She can take good information and get rid of the unnecessary with her quick thinking. She can do this because she has so many pieces of information based on her research she conducts. Research findings that she brought into our team was always of high quality and very valuable.

Magali is also an excellent presenter. She knows the key points that she needs to deliver in each presentation so you can easily understands the content of her presentation and you feel comfortable knowing she delivered the message.

Magali is very, very active even outside of school. She runs a lot, plays tennis,golf etc. She does not only do those activities but also does them well.

When you want to have fun with Magali, meet her at a party. You will hear that as the party goes on her voice goes higher. ee She will dance around and will probably come hug you multiple times. She is going to have fun, fun, fun!

You see? Magali is such a multi-tasker and consumes A LOT of energy, but at the same time, she finds a way to charge the energy somehow. There is no way to shut her down.

One more thing. Magali is a great listener. When you spend time with her you will likely talk to her about multiple topics. After that, when you say bye to her, she says bye back, always adding “I liked your story.” I am always impressed. Of course everybody listens to what others say and remembers the contents more or less, but actually showing that is a different story.

As a conclusion, Magali is a super woman.

 

Awesome Episode

It happened to me one day. Magali was sitting next to me during a team meeting. While we were discussing a topic for an assignment, I found a word that I did not know, so I was looking it up on my laptop. As soon as Magali found that I was doing that, she hit me, saying, “Don’t look it up by yourself. Ask us if you don’t understand anything. We are a team.”

That was not the first time that she encouraged me ask for help but definitely one of the most memorable moments, and a moment in which she made me feel happy. She knows how to approach each individual in the most suitable way. It was also the moment that I was glad to be in the same team as Magali.

Speaking of our team, our team started a fun routine at the beginning of each meeting; we called it, “traffic light.” Each of us chose ‘green(good)’, ’yellow(not good)’ or ’red(bad)’ according to how you would describe how you were feeling that day. And then you would share why you felt that way with the others. Magali was the one who suggested this and it turned out to be a great ice breaker,helping each meeting to go smoothly. I am proud to say that Magali is a distinguished friend.

 

The Power of MSE

What Magali 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 Magali 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!!