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What Brought Me Here?

By: Marianne Stewart

It all started in Myanmar in December 2019, when I met an incredibly wise person in a cooking class. His name is Neal. We became friends and it feels like we’ve known each other for decades. Neal shares the same values as I do and believes in the good of people. He brought me to New Zealand after I shared with him my vision of a better economy and therefore society. An economy where companies formulate their purpose clear and work towards those ethical goals, rather than chasings profits and valuing processes over people

After arriving in New Zealand,  we meet a game-changer from the EHF and got inspired by their important work of driving change and purpose forward. While I was working and reading in the Scare-Crow Café in Auckland, I reached out with an email to the DSIL Team. I wanted to know more about the course. But why? Well, part of my journey and purpose in life is to create such purpose-driven companies that help to UNFUCK the economy. But I am at the beginning of my journey and now that I have to unlearn first. The question was WHAT and HOW? 

Everything that happened was called serendipity. Not just meeting Neal in one of the most beautiful countries (#freeMYANMAR) but also that Katy Grennier responded to my mail and told me that she lives in Wellington. What are the odds? During the conversation with Katy, I realized that I want and need to be surrounded by other like-minded people that I can learn from. I realized I am at the beginning of my journey with not more than my principles, believes, and little knowledge in my bag, yet ready to embark on climbing that mountain!

Why was the timing perfect? By the time I went to NZ, I was already deep into the process of starting a business with my two co-founders. A great journey, yet I was aware of the urgent need to learn ‘how to implement my vision of a purpose-driven business that catalyzes innovators, empowers people to become leaders, and uses its profits for good.