The Journey of a Social Entrepreneur
Sasi sold her first scarf with the simple desire to help the weavers she met in Cambodia, it was simply an act of good will. However, events that followed in her life led to the inception of the now-3 year old Earth Heir. Earth Heir is a social enterprise with a social and ecological mission of preserving heritage art forms whilst supporting the environment and survivors of human trafficking. Hailing from Wharton Business School and the University of Cambridge, Earth Heir has not yet broken even, but she is confident that it will this year. Running a business like Sasi’s in a country like Malaysia is a challenge in itself, still very much in its early stages of understanding and being aware of ethical fashion. Despite this challenge, Sasibai Kimis was willing to leave the prestige, success and stability the financial world provided to begin making a difference in an arena that desperately needs it. When I asked her for one word that describes her life as a social entrepreneur, she told me the name “Sisyphus”. For those who don’t know, Sisyphus is a mythical Greek character who is cursed to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down and then to repeat his task for eternity. Sasi describes that as how she feels sometimes; although, the difference for her is that she garners more strength to push the boulder up again because of the little victories that makes it worthwhile.
Sasibai Kimis was no ordinary investment banker in Malaysia, she was sought after globally and grew to become the Vice President of Sustainable Development and Co-Investments at Khazanah National. She recognised the good contributions of the finance world, but she often found herself wondering, — “In the grander scheme of things, how does what I am doing matter?” It was evident to her that a big bank balance, a prestigious position and in addition to all of that, little time with her family was not her definition of success. Her goal became her personal statement: to enable individfattriuals to live more sustainably whilst respecting people and nature. Her deep-rooted desire propelled her in the direction of creating Earth Heir.
All Earth Heir products are ethically made and support fair trade principles, and it contributes to a charity and environmental organisation. For every sale, 10% goes towards Chad Dai, a charity which is a coalition of NGOs working with sex trafficking victims in Cambodia which seeks to empower trafficked persons and Redeeming Roses, an organisation working with street women in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For every scarf sold, 2 trees are planted through an organisation called WeForest. Being intrigued by the causes Earth Heir contributes to, I asked about her experiences which led to this soulful enterprise taking shape. Sasi explained that Earth Heir and the contribution it makes to different aspects of society represents the personal values she holds. She added that this was not the first time she tried to follow her calling and remain true to what she believes to be her purpose. Every time her old financial position allowed, Sasibai would contribute what she could to different causes. Her determination had even taken her to Ghana to do an unpaid internship with the UNDP. The lesson she left Ghana with was the need NGOs have to be self-sustaining. Most often, good work is constrained because of its dependency on donor funding, therefore any good social work should incorporate positive capitalism.
Eventually after building up her finances through working abroad, she came home — not only for her family but this time to build a legacy in Malaysia. She served Khazanah Nasional for a few years before she left for Cambodia to teach English and help build schools. There, she was exposed to some of the harsh realities Cambodian children were experiencing, that of being human trafficking victims. She also recognised that Cambodia’s weaving culture was fading. What struck her about the weavers was the way they kept at their task despite being underpaid and the work being labour intensive. A lack of access to the right market to sell their products was only a part of the problem for the weavers. To help the weavers alleviate the problem, Sasi bought and sold the products to her friends as an act of goodwill. As Sasi tirelessly continued to do this, a mentor advised and encouraged her to think bigger for long term sustainability of the act. She elaborated that there were numerous concerns ranging from the lack of confidence in her ability to practice her theoretical knowledge to the fear of failure which could affect her credibility. Regardless of the insecurities, she held to her belief that she had the passion to make this happen, and that would keep her going when the chips were down. Three years down the road, Sasi goes to work every day knowing that what she does is important and is making a difference in someone’s life.
Our initial purpose of interviewing her was to speak to Sasi about being a woman entrepreneur and just like most women leaders we have interviewed, Sasi said she has never seen herself as a ‘woman’ entrepreneur. Her entrepreneurship journey has been far from a bed of roses; her simple advice is to stick to your principles, have integrity and seek to grow others alongside yourself. For those who are trying to find a life direction, she advised to give thought to your personal mission statement — your true ambition, something that drives you and motivates you. She has come close to giving up many times and has experienced emotions she never expected when she became her own boss. Despite the difficulties, she expressed gratitude for the life circumstances that enabled her to embark on this journey. She continued to explain that when you inherently believe in something, it is important to not be cowed by failure or invest time in worrying about what others think. While these attributes are important to practice, it is also paramount to consistently have an oversight of the work you are doing to be able to make good decisions on the necessary next steps. In addition, she emphasised that we should not be too shy to ask for and get help. She attributed Earth Heir’s development to those who have come alongside her. She believes if it were not for them, the business would have fallen apart. Running a business is one of the hardest things she has ever tried to do, but what keeps this beautiful ambitious person going is her recognition of those exposed to extreme vulnerability and her ability to improve their lives. Her creation, Earth Heir, is a highly respected and professional platform to represent and advocate for these individuals.
This originally published on CnetG Asia: Dialogue with High Impact Women. Please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.
