In pitching for support or investment, I have heard that it’s not the idea that matters, but rather, the team. I know that the individual matters. However, as Nicole talked about what kind of character it took to follow your dreams, to pursue social enterprise, to drive social change, it got me thinking more deeply about why character is such an important asset to develop and nourish in business.

Simply, maybe it isn’t just about who is in your team, because that would assume you had to have ‘just the right type’ of people in your posse. Rather, maybe character is something more mobile, something you can develop. Maybe it’s not just about the ‘who’ in your team, but ‘what’ is their attitude, their drive, their raison d’etre, their approach. What are the mental and moral qualities that drive the social entrepreneur? And is this something that we can develop and grow, giving us infinite potential?

Nicole is, of course, one of the greatest masters of being in touch with and developing your character. Not only was she the youngest commissioner the Commonwealth has ever appointed, she was Australia’s first Commissioner for Mental Health, the founder of a youth-led youth-focused mental health non-profit, Rogue & Rouge Foundation, and is currently the founder and CEO of what is possibly the world’s largest love-based movement: Love Out Loud.

As a social entrepreneur herself, Nicole was originally invited to Laos to work with youth and community groups about mental health – everything from what is mental health, to how you can develop communities that thrive through looking after themselves, and each other. Across the course of two jam-packed whirlwind days, Nicole worked with organisations such as the Lao Youth Union, Panyathip International School, Lao Youth Radio, STELLA, and the Vientiane Youth Centre, plus she was the keynote speaker for a flagship program of the Australian Embassy, ‘OzTalks’.

Years ago, I remember hearing that a lot of social enterprises or non-profits struggle on for years, often to the detriment of those running the initiatives, and sometimes to the detriment of the cause, all because people were afraid to be honest.

Throughout all of the events Nicole was involved in, I witnessed a feeling of optimism and progress. To achieve any kind of change we wish to make in the world, from looking into our mental health to striving for social change through entrepreneurship, we have real choices to make. Nicole’s program in Laos and the Speaker Series aims highlighted for me that while not everyone may be social entrepreneurs or the type of social changemakers we might wish to see more of in the world, everyone has the potential to be.

And, at the end of the day, this is one of the core aims of the Speaker Series. Social entrepreneurs often have to battle for understanding, space and acknowledgement for the work they are doing. Too often, youth face the same battles, as do those who are battling chronic mental health and well-being issues. By bringing youth entrepreneurs and leaders together to talk on such crucial issues as mental health, or social change and entrepreneurship, we have the unique opportunity to develop strong, creative and functioning societies across Australia and Laos. Even if you don’t work across these two amazing societies, with courage, honesty and learning, we can make even more of a social impact in any kind of work we do.