My Greatest Learning Project Since Graduation (Part 4)

A year ago, I thought training for ultramarathons from nothing was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. But during the training, I was also working on the social enterprise project. For a whole year, I was  spending almost all my weekends either with the sewing ladies, designers, potential investors, volunteers etc.. I remember a week before running the Vibram HK100, I was telling my friend Leong how working on the social enterprise project was actually tougher than training for an ultra, and how managing the social enterprise project together with the training felt like I was doing HK200.

There was a long while when I would wake up in the wee hours of the morning asking myself what the hell was I doing, especially when I was not even remotely interested in running a business. Recently, I was finally able to come to terms with myself. I have convinced myself that I have spent pretty much the same amount of money, time and effort doing an MBA plus social science plus environmental sustainability degree. Instead of reading and researching, I have acted it out, which made it even more fun and valuable.

I am very grateful to those who have given me the inspiration and shown me this admirable cause - Francis of SVHK who has shown by his own example of what it means to dedicate your life to serving society. Dr. Siu of the Baptist University who showed me the potential and transformation of the sewing ladies. Mr. Chu, Mr. Chong and Ada of LplusH who have shown me what it takes to operate a world class social enterprise. Bob, Alex, Times and Angel who gave me their time, their heart, talent and expertise for free. Last but not the least, Leong, for being my most important mentor and investor, and for believing in me.

Every time when I was about to give up, I would remind myself that it is a great blessing to have such talented and dedicated people inspiring and guiding me, and so I should try my best, give it all I could and keep going.

When I started this project, I was hoping that I could bring out the worth and potentials of the sewing ladies. Now that I look back, I was actually the person who gained the most out of it. The sewing ladies probably were making just as much money and subject to the same risks had they worked elsewhere. I am not able to offer any greater sense of job security. The only thing I was able to offer them was a little sense of joy and pride. Day after day, they were using their sewing skills, but stepping outside of their comfort zone and trying new things.

I don't think I have empowered the ladies, but this whole experience has certainly transformed and humbled me. The past three years of working on this has taught me so much about society, business, reality, my values, passion and inner strength. No matter what the outcome is, it has been a truly rewarding journey.