Teams4purpose’s Change Maker Series – Key takeaways from our conversations with business professionals on careers with purpose and action on Sustainability. Their trigger moments, challenges and #1 recommendations for aspiring changemakers.
There are many ways you can re-focus your career to add purpose, it depends on your motivations, values, skills and what you want to change in the world.
At teams4purpose we help people step up and take action on societal issues at work and in their careers. One of the many ways we do this is via our Change Maker Series : sharing inspirational testimonials from business professionals that integrated Sustainability and purpose into their work and career.
Here are the key takeaways from the conversations we had with our two guest speakers in November 2020: two passionate business women, changing the world in their own way. One is an entrepreneur and the other is a consultant:
- Anne Sallaerts, Co-founder and Managing Director at Designathon Works
- Michela Gioacchini, Senior Sustainability Consultant at Quantis
Trigger moments for change
Both shared their WHY, their motivations for working in Sustainability.
- After her engineering studies, Michela started her career doing a thesis in environmental sustainability at Hugo Boss, integrating afterwords the company’s new CSR team. She stayed in the team for a decade until she decided to expand her comfort zone and join Quantis as a Senior Sustainability consultant.
- Anne’s trigger moments: being struck by the creativity and resilience of youth when visiting Cameroon as a teenager and the terminal illness of her father, which made her reflect about the greater purpose of our lives and gave her the determination to make a difference in the world. After a career in business, the NGO world and many pivots, she co-founded Designathon to give a voice to children and youth and empower them to face the 21st century challenges.
Challenges
Both shared the major challenges they have been facing on their path to a career with purpose and action on Sustainability:
- For Michela it was changing the minds of people in her organization and as a young graduate, gaining legitimacy on a relatively new topic: environmental sustainability for business.
- For Anne it was accepting that career transitions don’t happen overnight, they are a journey and that they are not linear!
Number 1 recommendation
When it comes to their number 1 recommendation for aspiring Sustainability change makers:
- Michela suggested to explore what “gap” you see in the world, a situation that disturbs you. Think about how you can solve it with your skills. She says “don’t wait for permission. Just do it”.
- Anne suggests to adopt the strategy of “small steps”: do small and safe pilots in parallel to your ongoing career, to test and learn (and get answers to questions like “Do I like this?” “Is this for me?”) and adapt until eventually stepping into your purpose zone. She also recommends to tap into a network that is aligned with your (new) values and that will help you in your career transition.
Contact us if you’d like to listen to the replays by writing to hello@teams4purpose.com
Written by Marena Eirich, founder at teams4purpose, helping you to add purpose to your career.
Join the conversation and sign up to our upcoming ChangeMaker Series!
This is a unique opportunity to have a discussion with business professionals that integrated Sustainability into their work and career. If you want to have a purposeful career and take action on societal and environmental issues, these testimonials can be of great value for you.
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A gift for you 💚
To thank you for being part of our community at teams4purpose, I offer you a special gift: my personal top recommendations to add purpose to your career: 4 steps career with purpose
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