Love environment as thyself!
“My biggest dream was to become a teacher – and I became a teacher!” begins Dr Francin Pinto, Environmentalist, Author, Lecturer, Commercial and Social Entrepreneur etc.
I can teach anything. I can take any subject; make it palatable and easy to digest, to whatever age group and whatever audience; right from a slum group to a corporate. Each time automatically my mind, body language and tactics change.
That tuning and training has now being taken to a new level as an entrepreneur. It has helped me break barriers especially in a field such as environment which is not very well understood in India.
What has been your biggest challenge as an entrepreneur?
I have no background as an entrepreneur. I still consider my first vocation as that of a teacher. As a teacher you are service-oriented and you get paid for your service. You normally do not have financial concerns if money has been properly managed. In entrepreneurship however, you have ideas and you require adequate finance to back your ideas. Many times others might not understand your ideas; or be convinced about its financial viability and therefore not back you with the required finance. My biggest challenge has been managing my finances in this regard and my greatest fear has been getting stuck with a big load of debt. If you like your idea and have a gut feel that it’ll click you begin funding it with your own resources and at some time it’ll begin to pinch.
In 2009, I faced a major challenge on this account. They say when God closes a door; he opens several windows. At this stage, my in-laws – my mother-in-law, Edna; my father-in-law, Edward (Interviewed earlier: Best Franchisee of the Year – at 83!) and most of all, my husband Kiran; who stood by me as rocks and encouraged me to dream bigger.
Environment is a very big subject and I think I have just scrapped the surface. I feel if I am able to explain things simpler; more people will connect with the subject and we’ll be able to make a bigger difference to the dis-advantaged and the marginalized and in the bigger context it’ll create an actual Shining India.
What is your unique value proposition? We offer Simple, Sustainable Solutions that are totally customized to the client’s context. This puts us at loggerheads with those who have standard solutions; but which might not be effective (in a particular context).
What do your clients remember you for? Clients remember me for my ability to give them time, to understand their problems and to make them realize what is involved. Clients trust us on because of such interactions and we are able to explore and even experiment with customized solutions. As a consequent of this, clients are going to get a customized solution that will last them a long, long time.
What is the legacy you are preparing to leave behind? We are developing our children (3 daughters) to be individual thinkers. As an educationist, my students remember me for a long time afterwards. People who have associated with me begin operating from the belief that environment must be our top concern if we are to leave something to our children and future generations. Many of them begin making small changes in their life eg. (stop) littering; or even (stop) talking rudely to people.
Waste management beyond a point is far more than just material management. It is about interactions, time; about creating a much better world. Waste is always a resource.
I think as Christians we have been taught to love thy neighbor as thyself. If we want to make a difference to the environment we need to take it to a new level by saying: Love environment as thy self.
Note:
* Dr Francin Pinto, Environmentalist is a PassionPreneur Coachee.
* Her Blog www.drfrancinpinto.in is an initiative of PassionPreneur Promotions – A Division of PassionPreneur
