There’s a lot of job vacancies, and regional areas can be very welcoming to new arrivals, so it’s again matching those opportunities and capturing those job vacancies against potential people that want to move. We’ve done that with our Talent Beyond Boundaries candidates, mapping their CV while they’re still offshore in Jordan/Lebanon, working with employers in country and then moving them directly to those regional areas rather than them moving to a capital city first and then trying to move out.

People make attachments when they first come and they’ve already been displaced, so you want to move them straight to an area where they want to stay and build their life and make connections.

Five years now after building a couple of platforms and growing this enterprise, what’s one of the biggest mistakes that you’ve made and what have you learned from it?

It’s maybe chasing customers that weren’t so interested. Sometimes, you’re trying with different members of that organisation [also], but

I think it’s better to work with those customers that really get what you do, are aligned, and then look for new opportunities within that relationship to build new work.

Maybe it doesn’t happen so quickly, because you have to balance that and financially survive, but it’s working with and strengthening those relationships you already have.

Of course, you’re looking for new people to work with all the time, but often if you’ve had many no’s, then it’s better to just leave it and then maybe they will come back to you later when they’re ready and they see you have progressed a little bit more. We wasted a bit of time trying to work with some companies and maybe they just weren’t ready.

It takes a long time to establish those relationships and get those things through, but I think it’s a good point of focusing on those that you’re working with rather than scoping out new people. [It’s really] finding a balance.

Exactly.

In terms of recommendations for other social impact entrepreneurs who are at that early stage of starting up, what would some of your key advice be?

I think it’s to do an incubator program if you can. We did two early on, one was SSI Ignite with the Refugee Organisation, and it was early on establishing your business number, business plan and getting a mentor. That just helped early on to guide us. Then we did a longer program with The Difference Incubator.

It just made us think that you don’t know what you don’t know, so you’re learning all these different concepts that you’re not thinking of so early on, but it’s good to just have a bit of knowledge of them, so when you’re progressing at the right stage, you know where to go or can go ask someone.

The other key part of being in those incubator programs is one, you get mentors, but two, you share the journey with other social enterprises or businesses. You can just sort of see you’re not the only one facing these highs and lows, and you can share the journey and make friendships. It’s really worthwhile doing.

Part of it is community and sharing the frustration; you really need it. Let’s talk about some other inspiring projects or initiatives. Who else are you seeing out there right now in this impact enterprise/social enterprise space doing some great work?

There’s a great one, and it just started this year called Migrant Women In Business, run by Minerva [Jimenez] and Luz [Restrepo]. They’re working with migrant women who want to start a business, as women face different challenges to men. It’s a really worthwhile enterprise and it’s really needed in this space; they’re doing great things. Also, just during COVID, I think it’s inspiring seeing people and community groups helping the elderly with tasks or chefs delivering meals to healthcare workers and those big sing-alongs in Zoom calls. I think it’s inspiring and really positive, with some good things yet to come out of the COVID pandemic.

Anna, people have been picking up lots of books during COVID, especially with this extra time and the efficiencies of having back to back Zoom calls all day. What books would you recommend to our listeners? Are there any podcasts, blogs or things that you read?

I’m a big reader, so I’ve got a couple of recommendations. The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek is a great one.

It’s just trying to think of the long term and not just let short-term decisions rule. It’s hard because you have to balance it out of course, but it’s about sticking to your values and building a good culture and how ultimately you will reap the benefits of those decisions.

That’s a great book. Another one is Any Ordinary Day by Leigh Sales. She goes and interviews people who have just faced unimaginable horrors, and highlights how they faced it. It also discusses what the people around them could have done to support them better. It’s just a really inspiring book that makes you so grateful and makes you think if anything like that happened to either yourself or somebody you knew; you would know better how you can deal with that. Another one I’m reading at the moment is Wintering: The Art of Rest and Retreat In Difficult Times.

An appropriate one to end on here, especially with the holidays coming up!

It is! It’s just about the good times to hibernate and the good times to do things. It’s just a good balanced book. Then, other good podcasts that I’ve followed during our journey is NPR How I Built This. It’s just interviewing founders about their journey, and everybody face highs and lows, so it’s just good to hear people’s journey and how everyone’s got a different story. It’s fascinating.

Well, there’s a few great books and a good podcast there. Thanks so much for sharing your insights and time.