At fourteen, I had it all figured out – or so I thought. My teenage mind was laser-focused on one goal: becoming a business owner. Nothing else seemed to matter. I dreamed of financial freedom and imagined a life where I live life on my own terms. I was only half-right.
Fast forward more than a decade in the business world, and I’ve discovered something far more precious than the freedom I once craved. It’s the incredible privilege of connecting with kindred spirits from across the globe – entrepreneurs whose stories, dreams, and challenges have enriched my life in ways I never imagined.
Our business adventures have taken us far and wide. While China has become our most visited country, we’ve built beautiful relationships with partners in India, Thailand, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, and most recently, Sri Lanka. But here’s the real magic: these aren’t just business trips – they’re windows into different worlds.
When the language barriers come down, something beautiful happens. We share stories about our cultures, swap tales of triumph and failure, and dive deep into discussions about our hopes for the future. These conversations go far beyond profit margins and business plans – they’re about understanding what makes each of us tick.
Take our recent Sri Lankan journey. We met these young entrepreneurs – folks who could’ve easily rested on their family’s success but chose to blaze their own trails instead. They introduced their peers who were in diverse industries such as manufacture of non-woven coveralls for the medical industry, blue sapphire gemstones mining, premium silver-tip tea farming and footwear manufacturing. Because the economy is growing so quickly, they do not feel a sense of competition with each other, and just want to help promote their friend’s businesses to us! In just one trip, my mind traveled through multiple industries, each with its own universe of possibilities!
And oh, the characters I’ve met along the way! There was this teahouse owner in Chengdu – surrounded by suited men with crew cut hair who made me wonder if I’d offend the mafia unknowingly. Thankfully, nothing happened. He just shared his experience doing business in China, and wanted to know how to get his own daughter out of China. His critical words were “压抑感” or the feeling of being oppressed. In Tokyo, I met a footwear expert who decided ladies’ shoes weren’t exciting enough and ventured into rock climbing shoes. Each of these entrepreneurs carried not just success stories, but also raw, honest tales of passion, love, and yes, fear for their ventures.
So here’s my confession: when people ask me now what I love most about being an entrepreneur, it’s not the freedom I dreamed of as a teenager (though that’s nice too!). It’s the privilege of being a curious explorer in this vast world of business. It’s about controlling my time not just to make money, but to meet fascinating people from every corner of the globe. It’s the constant thrill of feeding my curiosity about the world—learning from people of every nationality, and hearing stories from industries I may never enter, but can’t help but be fascinated by.
It’s the privilege of connecting with people who remind me every day that the world is so much bigger than my little corner of it.
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