 Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. My name is Asha Bay, and I'm from the Office of Alumni Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Our office provides grant opportunities and other resources for exchange program alumni. Thank you for tuning in and welcome to our first episode of Mentor Talks, live from Washington, D.C. Mentor Talks is a new series designed exclusively for exchange program alumni. This is your opportunity to talk directly with leaders and mentors who excel in their fields. Like our guest today, Zoe Dean Smith. Zoe joins us from Vital Voices, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that invests in fearless women leaders with daring vision and partners with them to make that vision a reality. Zoe has over 36 years of experience in the for-profit, non-profit, corporate, and social enterprise sectors. Very impressive. Thank you. You're welcome. She manages a team of nine people and leads efforts on economic empowerment and entrepreneurship. Zoe has been instrumental in shaping the Fortune U.S. Department of State Women's Mentoring Partnership Program. She's also a mentor for the Mandela Washington Fellowship Program. So, what would you like to ask Zoe about her experience, her advice for entrepreneurs just starting out or wanting to expand? Her role as a mentor? This time is for you. Welcome Zoe and thank you for joining us. Thank you. Now that we've given you all a brief introduction about Zoe and the work she does, let's jump right into our questions. Zoe, can you tell us about two pivotal moments in the course of your career journey that brought you to where you are today? Absolutely. Thank you. So, in the years of 1995 to 98, I was in my third career step and I was working with a microfinance institute in Swaziland. And I was also doing a bunch of amateur theater and I produced the Rocky Horror Show, which is a musical show. And we had a big cast and a big stage crew and it was amazing. The Microfinance Institute went into liquidation and I was headhunted to run an industrial catering company, which I hated. So, I resigned because I felt like I was out of my depth in that job. I wasn't really sure what I was doing so it was a good time to move out. I joined into Jenny Thorn, who had been one of the lead players in the Rocky Horror Show. And she said to me, why don't you bring those organizational skills and come and help me run my handcraft business? And I thought, cool, what an amazing thing. So, I joined her and we made beautiful products like these placemats that you can see. And I worked with her for and with the organization for about seven years. And in that time met Vital Voices at a conference in Ghana in 2005. When I sort of came to the end of my, reached my glass ceiling within that business, we launched the foundation for the Gone Rural Women Artisans. From there I moved into working with the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation doing a similar kind of work. And then the funding for all of that came to an end doing consultancy work. And Elise Nelson from Vital Voices, our CEO, called me up one day and said, we want you to think about moving to Washington D.C. and working with women entrepreneurs and leading our entrepreneurship programs. So actually that's the chain from the Rocky Horror Show all the way through handcraft to landing up in D.C. So whoever would have thought theater would bring me into this world. And the second one was in 2003 we were invited to an event at the U.S. Ambassador's Residence in Swaziland. It was Ambassador McGee and we were talking about the impact on HIV AIDS on the handcraft industry in Swaziland and trying to find solutions. And we heard about the World Bank Development Marketplace Competition. And so one of our colleagues at the embassy said, why don't you apply for this grant? And so we applied for a $10,000 grant to do HIV workshops with the women in Gone Rural and their communities. And so we did that and it was really an incredible opportunity to showcase what we were doing as a social enterprise. I went to Johannesburg to showcase what we were doing and we met the International Finance Corporation. They loved the social enterprise and then started investing in us, building our capacity. They gave us a working capital loan, a grant and that was the beginning of that relationship. I then met Elise through the IFC and the whole thing sort of unfolded into growing my relationship with vital voices, becoming a consultant with them and then getting really, really involved in the work that I do now. So again it was, I think the lesson that I learned there, the pivotal moment there was going to events where you're not sure what the outcome is going to be and having that unexpected apply for the competition, meet the IFC, meet vital voices and the story continues. Right, so one step led to another. Yeah. Yes. Okay. So thank you for sharing all that with us. We have limited time so let's get to some questions from our viewers. Jalen Serrano from Costa Rica on Facebook asks, how can we bring media attention to social entrepreneurship? That is a really, really great question and I think one of the biggest things is with social entrepreneurship you are solving some of the world's greatest problems and the best way to get people to buy is to tell the stories. So to tell stories with dignity show the impact of the work that you're doing and if the media doesn't have a lot of time available, reach out to them. Invite them to come into a story on your business, your enterprise and if they can't do that, do it for them. Give them all the content so that they can get it out there. So for me the most powerful thing would be storytelling. Great. And storytelling with dignity, not about, oh I feel so sorry for these people but look at how transformational that business or that enterprise is. Right, sharing the impact. Okay, thank you. Michael Bay writes, he is presenting this Facebook Live Talk to his class. Hi everyone. They have lots of questions. I'm not sure if we're able to get to all of them but one of his questions is how can an entrepreneur find and work with a mentor even virtually if there is no one in their network? So there are a lot of answers to that question. I think the first thing is when I think about mentorship is to think about who's within my circle and if I know of people that I don't actually personally know myself, do I know somebody else that knows that person that I would like to have some time with? That is one way. There are also a number of virtual mentorship programs available. So I think doing a Google search is an easy way to find that and of course there are fabulous mentorship programs like the Mandela Washington Fellowship. But I think the other really important thing is to be very clear about what it is that you want from a mentor. You've got to be very respectful of their time and what is it that you want to get out of that? It shouldn't be like a therapy session. I'm looking for an answer to this particular challenge and then asking for their time and spelling it out saying maybe can we meet for a coffee for an hour for the next three months and sort of having some guidelines around how you're going to conduct that relationship. Great advice. Thank you. Okay, we have another one from Twitter from Hussein Ula from Pakistan. The most difficult thing is to quit a job and become an entrepreneur. What are some things that can motivate people to do this? That is also another really good question. Sort of quitting a job to become an entrepreneur is a really big step. So the first question I would ask myself is what is the problem that I'm solving? Have you got something that people are going to want to buy, support, whether it's a product or a service? It's got to be innovative. It's got to be something different from what everybody else is doing. So I think if it was me, I would want to take a pragmatic approach of like what is that solution and how am I going to make it happen? And perhaps even start putting that into place before you quit that other job because it is risky sort of leaving one job and starting an enterprise. Yes, that's true. Okay, we have another one from Egypt. He asks, hello Zoe, great talk. What's your advice for someone who wants to open her business, open her own business, but doesn't know where to start? I think this would go back to the question that we just had is like, first of all you've got to know what that business is. You know, what is the gap that you're filling? And as I was thinking about these questions in preparation for this, I was thinking about the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals, the UN SDGs, because I think there are a lot of opportunities for entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs around the world to be solving problems around climate, around access to water, you know, many things that need so much more help. So for me, if I was thinking about that, I would find where's that niche? Where's that space in my country or in my community where I'm going to do something different? And then again, develop the strategy. What is it you want to achieve and how are you going to do it? What's the timeline? Where are the resources, human resources, financial resources, all of that stuff? It's quite a process. It is, yes. Okay, we have another one from Twitter from Owen O'Coco. How can one balance working in the private sector while serving the community? And Owen cites policy, advocacy and youth empowerment as two examples of community service. That's an interesting question, the balancing the two. I think that so many people actually already do that. They do a lot of community service in their sort of outside of work time. I think in order to bring it into the workplace, a strategy I might take would be to bring to the attention of my workforce or my leaders, my bosses, the work that is needed to be done in the community and see how one can engage perhaps as a corporate social responsibility activity or something like that. That would probably be the way I'd go about that. Cool, okay. Okay, we have another one from Izyaka Dunion from Bamako Mali. She asked on Facebook, how do I overcome feelings of fear to become a successful entrepreneur? Fear is a big one for so many entrepreneurs. I think that if you are already an entrepreneur, congratulations to you. There is always fear in place. Again, I think you've got to think about what it is that you're wanting to achieve and have a clear plan on what that looks like, what is it you want to achieve, what's the timeline, etc. And I would also encourage you to dream big. So what's that next step that's slightly out of your comfort zone and maybe you don't start it now, but you know that in a year or two you've got the skills, the experience that you need for that big piece. So it would be about managing the fear and loving it into a powerful space of like how am I going to feel when I'm at that point where I consider myself to be successful and how do I get there? Who are the people that I need around me? What do I need to make it happen? Right, cool. Okay, Michael Bay on Facebook asks, what are the essential steps for starting a business? There are so many. This goes back to a couple of the ones we've already talked about. I think the first thing is like what is that business? What is the solution that you're solving? And then there's all the legal aspects of it. So you've got to have bank accounts and legal frameworks, etc. for that business. But I think the most interesting thing is to start with that little back of the envelope idea and sort of build it out into something. I think it's different for many businesses. You might be in one business and see a new channel that you could go to within that one. But I think the whole challenge in the entrepreneurship sector is competition. So what is it that you're doing differently from everyone else? I want to quickly go back to the fear question for a moment and just share if any of you who are joining us and watching us have never read the beautiful piece written by Marianne Williamson called Our Deepest Fear. Read it. It is super, super powerful. It's very short. Nelson Mandela quoted it in his inauguration speech when he became president of South Africa. I've got it everywhere. On my fridge door, in my office, everywhere it is very powerful. And it inspires you every day? Yes, it does. Okay, can you talk about the benefits of investing in women entrepreneurs? There is so much benefit in investing in women entrepreneurs. I think one of the things that I think about is with so many women entrepreneurs is that they're not just thinking about themselves. They're thinking about their family and their broader community. And so they have a very holistic approach to how they run their business, how they manage staff, et cetera. So for me, I think the long-term results of working with women entrepreneurs speaks for itself in terms of just creating good, long-sustainable, thoughtful business practice. Okay, cool. Thank you. All right, we have another question. What are some of the biggest challenges women typically face in starting or running a business? And what is your advice to overcome these challenges? So I've never started a business myself. So I can talk about running a business. And I think that one of the biggest challenges that a lot of entrepreneurs and business people face is financial sustainability. And so for me, one of the key things is that even, you know, you might be the CEO or working in your organization. If you are the boss, if you are that head person, you need to understand your financials. Even if you hate accounting and you pay somebody else to do that, understand your financials, grow to love them so that you can see where the business is and where you want to take it. So that would be one of the biggest things, I think. And then also be thinking about, apart from just surviving right now, in today and keeping all those plates juggling in the air, where do you want to go and what do you need to get you there? You know, who are the people you need to empower in your organization? Another thing that I feel very strongly about is succession planning in businesses, you know. If you've got people who are really successful at the top of their business, what's their next career step? You know, are they going to start a new section of that business? Are they going to go into something else? Are they empowering the people that are working with them to be stronger and bring more value to the business? There are many things, but that financial piece for me is important and the planning. Yes. Okay, here's another question. What are some steps I can take to create a business climate that supports women? Well, I think one of the ones that we talk about a lot in terms of great climate for women is thinking about enabling environments. And that includes things like childcare. You know, if you're employing a large number of women, are you thinking about how to make it easy for them to come to work every day if they're also moms and everything else that they're doing in their lives? So childcare, working towards equal pay, fair pay, those are the two biggest ones I can think of. Just to make that environment productive and happy for everyone, that they actually want to be there, they're happy to go to work, they're not stressing about who's taking care of everything else that's going on at home. So the more I think that organizations can do that, the better. And also then giving women a voice in their businesses so that they feel that they're respected and recognize a part of the organization. Yes, that's great advice. Okay, another question. How can I take the lessons learned during my exchange program and continue collaborating with mentors when I return home? That's an interesting question. I think that varies from mentor to mentor. You know, some mentors are super, super, super busy and you are lucky to get the time that you've got with them. And others have more time available. So in the case of collaborating with them, the first thing I would do is have a discussion with them about do they have the time available to continue working with you. And then again, you have to outline what it is you want to be working on so that they can see, here's the beginning point, here's the end point, and they can figure out whether they are the best person to be collaborating with you on that. It may be they are, maybe they can think of somebody else that could be a better person for that fit. Okay, it looks like we're running out of time. Zoe, in one minute or less, if you could give one piece of advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, what would it be? It would be the whole thing around having a strategic, developing a strategic plan of what you want to achieve, understand your financials, make sure that you're taking care of your human resources, the people that you work with, they're critically, critically important. So just thinking big picture and thinking about all the moving pieces and what is it that you... So think about them all because if you're strong in one area and weak in five other areas, you're not going to survive. So who are the people and what are the things you have to have in place for it all to be very holistic and successful? Okay, great. Thank you. So thank you very much, Zoe. And a big thank you to you, our online viewers, for participating today. You can learn more about Vital Voices on their website at vitalvoices.org. And be sure to keep your calendar open for our next mentor talks in August when we chat with Anar Simpson, Global Ambassador for Technovation. We'll broadcast live from Los Angeles, California where Anar will talk about the power of women and networking. Before we go, I want to give a shout out to our exchange alumni in Accra, Ghana who are gathered for a seminar focusing on strengthening business and trade for women entrepreneurs in Africa. Way to go, exchange alumni. Interested in learning more about more opportunities for exchange alumni? Visit our website at alumni.state.gov and join us on social media, on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks for watching and see you all in August for our next mentor talks.