By Dr Bibiana Chan
‘Have you ever been a rebel?’ This was a question thrown at me some 10 years ago! Perhaps my public image has always been someone nice and hardworking! My friends couldn’t imagine Bibi ever being a brat? My answer was “do you count the decision I made when I was just 12 years old – to do the ‘exact’ opposite of what my parents wanted me to do in terms of future career?”
“No, I’m not going to study medicine! I want to be a social worker!’ This was stuck in my mind even though I didn’t say it out loud to my parents. Regardless of whether this represented the ‘rebel’ in young Bibi or just a young person desperately wanting to look for her own path in life rather than simply trying to please her parents. Ironically, I actually was very keen to follow my mum’s footsteps to become a social worker. I witnessed so much social injustice growing up in Hong Kong, I thought a social worker could play a part in empowering the ‘have nots’.
Perhaps this idea stuck with me ever since. At my first work appraisal meeting (as the research manager at UNSW) with my boss, he commented that ‘Bibi, you have a strong sense of social justice!’ This pretty much drives me to want to make the world a better place for everyone! Wouldn’t it be great if Australia truly embraces cultural diversity (compared to just lip service)? Would it be wonderful if Indigenous Australians are acknowledged as the true custodians of countries (not just reading out a script on Welcome to Country)?
The seed of ‘rebel’ must have been growing slowly in my heart. When I was a first year student studying Social Work in Hong Kong, I jumped on the opportunity to apply for a scholarship to study Speech Pathology in Sydney after watching a 23-minutes report on TV about their work. That was 1983! ‘Look/Think before you Leap!’ is a well-known Western saying. There is an equivalent Chinese idiom 三思而後行 Sānsī érhòu xíng ‘Think thrice before taking actions! Yet teenage Bibi did the exact opposite to conventional wisdom!
I recently came across a book entitled “Daring & Disruptive – unleashing the entrepreneur” by Lisa Messenger! She is a self-confessed rebel. She told the stories of being removed from the classroom for asking too many questions and for challenging the authorities. At the age of 30, she started her own business. She reviewed her ambitions to do something bigger than a girl from country NSW in an interview on ‘One Plus One’ (a program on ABC). After being fired, she had a month’s salary ($AUD$4000). She launched her own company to be her former employer’s competitor! Her motto is ‘to succeed in anything in life – you must have unwavering, insatiable, tenacious self-belief. You have to be able to back yourself; to harbour that kind of unbridled passion for winning that will stop at nothing until you reach your goals!’
She also found it ironic that her so-called ‘rebellious’ behaviour (in her teenage years) were not too different from what have been praised as ‘disruptive’ ideas to secure her a spot as an innovative successful social entrepreneur! Watch this recent interview of Lisa to find out her reflections in life.
When I founded the Community Flower Studio (CFS) as a Not-for-Profit Social Enterprise in August 2019, once again I leaped into it with no experience of running any business, let alone a social enterprise! I didn’t have much self-belief either. All I had then were some dear friends who believed in me and willing to put their hands up as members of the CFS committee to formalize the registration process.
However, as every ‘new’ entrepreneur, you have to look for the ‘niche’ market. In the first few iterations of the CFS Business Plan, there is a statement bold and clear – making purchasing fresh flowers more affordable. After 3 1/2 years in business and survived 2 COVID-19 lockdowns, CFS has slowly found its business model – hosting a monthly pop-up stall with net proceeds to fund our free ‘Creative Workshops by Young People for Young People’. The stalls also tie with a mental health theme (e.g. RUOK Day and Mental Health Month). When CFS launched the ‘Petal-it-Forward Campaign’ (customers are given a free petal-it-forward bunch to pass onto a friend or even a stranger) in Nov 2021 to celebrate the 2nd COVID-19 lockdown, it was planned to be a one-off event. Now, it is a permanent feature of our pop-up stalls. Lisa Messager’s described the reasons behind disruptors’ success,
‘…they’re willing to start before they have all of the information at hand and they’re happy to learn as you go. As long as you have business smarts, industry-specific naivety can be great because you don’t know what ‘can’t be done’ and you are not constrained by industry norms.’
I certainly am naïve about running a business and CFS is far from success! Many small businesses were hit hard by the pandemic in the past 3 years. CFS survived only because it was awarded a few small community grants to run programs for promoting mental health in youth and the wider community. CFS became a registered charity (with Deductible Gift Recipient endorsement), since April 2022, our fundraising team will be looking into hosting some fundraising events this year.
If I were asked the same question again, ‘Have you ever been a rebel?’ I will answer with no hesitation, ‘Yes, I’m a rebel at heart!’
For those of you who are interested to find out whether you have some hidden rebel talents, here is a test developed by a Harvard Professor Francesca Gino.
“Francesca has a very personal and self-aware approach to bridging the gap between the social norms that glue us together, and the acts of challenging those norms. The rebellious approach has led to great advances, and it also has led to abuse. She pushes us to allow for people who challenge what we do, but with a grounding in thinking about the use of power and status in our businesses and in our lives.”
— Ed Catmull, President of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios