Becoming a Social Entrepreneur
The story of Pablo Esteves
Dear friends,
Our latest episode at Waking Youth is a special one. Building on the theme of our previous interview with Rui Quinta, of a more conscious way of engaging in business, this time, I sat with Pablo Esteves, also an entrepreneur engaging in important work as the executive director of Emzingo, a firm that designs and facilitates learnings experiences for academic institutions and companies aimed at inspiring responsible leadership.
I had the chance—the fortune—to meet Pablo in his professor role at IE University as part of my bachelor's. And I still remember vividly his words to the class on the very first day of his course on Innovation & Creativity: that more than providing us with knowledge and tools, his intention was for us to leave the course as better human beings. What would our world look like if all education was grounded in such clarity of intention?
What I didn’t know back then, was that, not long after, I would take part in one of the programs designed and facilitated by Emzingo which would further open my eyes and heart to the urgency of engaging in work that matters. Work that would place in my path extraordinary human beings behind life-affirming projects like Smergos, whose founders, Nick and Nicole, I have the honor to call friends.
It’s not the first time I interview Pablo. In 2021, as part of another project I was involved in, the Resetting Homo Sapiens Podcast, we talked, mostly, about Pablo’s view of systems thinking. This time, I chose to dive deeper on his journey as an entrepreneur which, though suspect, I think bears plenty of substance to accompany us on our journeys towards maturity.
As you can listen, Pablo grew up in Mexico City where he lived for most of his early life. Despite a talent for the arts and interest in architecture, nudged by his environment, like so many of us, he opted for a “safer” degree in Business Administration and Marketing which he completed in parallel with work at a magazine and golf practices.
Post-graduation, and throughout the four years that followed, he dared to pursue his dream: play golf professionally. An experience that would eventually lead to a plateau and a recognition that, in this lifetime, his professional path would have to be another.
He then applied to an MBA at IE University, in Spain, which would fatefully place him in South Africa, participating in one of the very first Emzingo programs, led by Ramon and Drew who would soon be, together with Daniel, his business partners for the next thirteen years.
Throughout eight weeks, Pablo applied his business acumen to help the Student Sponsorship Programme, a NGO that placed bright students from marginalized areas in the best schools of South Africa. Witnessing the organization's impact on its community, he tells us, was the catalyst for the mental model shift that would define the rest of his career.
“It was in Johannesburg, in 2011, while working on this project that something fundamentally switched in my brain. My mental model changed as to, yeah, what I was supposed to be doing and how much I enjoyed being at service of others and using my creativity for problem-solving. Problems that are worth solving, I have to say.”
As a professor, as a learning designer, as a leader, his work is dedicated to designing and facilitating educational experiences aimed at transforming participants’ mental models towards one of changemaking, if they are open to beginning to let in both the tremendous pain and beauty of this world.
Together, we talked about the seeds of his love for creativity. The internal processes that led him to where he is now. The most significant learnings throughout his last decade at Emzingo. Why he cherishes his privacy and quietness in the cacophony that our social media landscape has become. And the advice he would offer his younger self, were he now in his twenties, like many of his students, ready to face the world with all its daunting challenges and possibilities.
Warmly,
Carlota
P.S. Special thanks to Pablo for generously providing the photographs featured above.
Listen
Here’s our podcast interview with Pablo Esteves. Listen on:
Spotify | Apple | Youtube
Go Deeper
Let My People Go Surfing, written by the founder of Patagonia, a recommendation from Pablo - one of the books that inspired the business philosophy of Emzingo - for anyone interested in a more conscious approach to business.
Another suggestion from Pablo, Designing Regenerative Cultures, one of the readings that serves as the foundation of his most recent course on Transition Design at IE University. If you are curious about how we might begin to design more resilient ecosystems you might appreciate this one.
Self-Promotion Without Social Media, a recent-found book in line with Pablo’s confession that Emzingo intentionally shies away from relying on social media as a pivotal marketing tool for their business health. Artists, soloists, creatives, and small business owners who feel overwhelmed by the constant need to be “on” social media for the sake of their business success, this one is for you.
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