A new chapter begins in May 2024!
It's official that I will be starting a new full-time role at a Global MNC and I'm super excited about it.
As I said to someone the other day...
hardly anyone makes it entirely on their own without the help of others,
hardly anyone achieves greater heights without standing on the shoulders of the people who offered them, whether directly or indirectly,
and hardly anyone is 100% self-made, it usually takes a village!
This is my story about that village...
The last three years have been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride for me. It was a combination of fun and thrilling, with waves of dizziness and stomach lurching, I'm sure you've experienced a similar feeling if you've been on one of those rides at an amusement park or Disneyland. But this was no park, and certainly not the happiest place on earth, it was entrepreneurship life at its rawest and not for the faint-hearted.
From starting my startup in Q4 2020 to getting funding in Q4 2021 and once again in Q4 2023, building a global team throughout the years, and exiting it in Q1 2024, it was daunting. But I learned a lot and grew a lot, personally and professionally. A former boss once said I would never find those lessons in business books or MBA courses, so despite the challenges, I should consider them, priceless! Indeed, I do.
I found the illustration below on the internet and recreated it. It pretty much sums up My Plan vs. Reality!
Learning to Ask for Help
Asking for help isn't my strong suit and life sure has a funny way of making me do exactly that. So, during the last three years of my entrepreneurship life, I learned to ask for help.
I technically asked an entire village for help and named it "Project Empathy". In part, it was an equity crowdfunding initiative; in another part, it was purely crowdsourcing. It didn't start as a statistical endeavor for me nor did it even have a name to begin with, but as time went on, a pattern emerged, and it naturally flowed into five groups of people:
the people who helped,
the people who did not help but gave a respectful courtesy reply,
the people who did not help and then went on to slander the initiative,
the people who completely ghosted the ask for help,
the people who removed or blocked the initiative.
From the data, I can say, that only 39% of people helped, and the rest fell into the remaining four groups listed above. I'll share more about Project Empathy one day. It was truly an eye-opening and humbling experience and an insight into human behavior.
A New Chapter
In late February 2024, having exited my startup, I enlisted my network again to help me find a full-time corporate role. After weeks of interviews and weighing options, I accepted a job offer. As I mentioned at the start of this blog, this exciting new chapter begins in May 2024 and I'm looking forward to it!
If the last three years were anything like the illustration of "My Plan vs. Reality" above, I would say it truly takes a village, some magical moments, and many prayers to help me get through the pits, valleys, rough seas, stormy weather, and make the return to the corporate world.
To everyone who helped, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. It means the world to me and I am grateful beyond words. If I ever decide to write a memoir about my adventures and misadventures, rest assured, that only kind words await you on those pages.
Strengthening My Faith
When I was going through the challenges, I often asked, "Why me?". I recall a time when I thought God may have forgotten about me, and I asked, "God, it's me, Mawarni.. are you there?".
In the quiet moments of Tahajjud prayers, I would hear... "Allah is the best planner (khairul maakireen) and has complete control over everything that happens in this world. Have faith and trust in Him. If He doesn't want you to have it now, He is making you wait for something better. Open your heart and mind, and see the life lessons He wants you to learn. Allah will not test you more than you can bear. If He brings you to a challenge, He will carry you right through it. Have faith and be patient."
In closing, I'll say this... what goes up, must come down. And what is down, will be up again. So stay humble and stay classy.
فَإِنَّ مَعَ ٱلْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا ٥
So, surely with hardship comes ease. Ameen.
Onwards and upwards!
~M