Two Berliners are pitting the role models of the new world of work
What do Jay Shetty, Sophia Amoruso, Wladimir Klitschko and Rutger Bregman have in common? They all have had unconventional careers. Laura Lewandowski and Simo Azzaoui ask what they have learned along the way.
The recently deceased New Work founder Frithjof Bergmann prophesied that in the future we will only do what we really, really want. This idea has come true for some professionals: With the help of technology, they work more digitally, flexibly and confidently than their parents and grandparents did before them. Whether it makes it more free, however, is a completely different piece of paper. Because this form of new work requires a high degree of self-reflection and self-management. Laura Lewandowski and Simo Azzaoui know about it. You are one of these people: She is a freelance journalist and he advises schools on digitization. In order to advance in their jobs, they not only develop their business, but above all develop themselves.
At some point we began to question traditional principles of success.
“Since Simo and I have known each other, we have been involved in entrepreneurship and personal development. First each for himself, then together, ”explains Laura Lewandowski in an interview with t3n. “At some point we began to question traditional principles of success, looked into Silicon Valley, studied books, podcasts and YouTube videos from the greatest business mentors,” agrees Simo Azzaoui. How do you start a company? What should the drive be? How do you get advice? How do you stay motivated and healthy? The two Berliners say they would have liked to have had answers to these questions when they were in their early twenties. But what they actually learned as adolescents was often less useful.
Also interesting: “On the death of New Work forefather Frithjof Bergmann: The old man and the more”
Out of this deep really-really-wanting, a project arose that both have been pushing for a little over a year: the interview format “Meet your mentor”. They began to no longer just read, see and hear what other people had put together, but asked their own questions to role models that were inspiring to them. This includes guests from business, sport and research. From entrepreneurs like Jay Shetty and Sophia Amoruso to boxing legend Wladimir Klitschko and historian Rutger Bregmann. “These people question the status quo, they do not go with the mainstream because everyone is doing it, but are looking for their own answers,” says Laura Lewandowski. They are real sources of inspiration.
Meet your mentor: from monk to entrepreneur
Jay Shetty is an entrepreneur – and a monk ?! A mix made for meet your mentor. (Graphic: Pexels)
The best example: when Jay Shetty, as an Indian-British teenager, decided against a conventional doctor or lawyer career that was actually predetermined for him, he took a path that was difficult to predict: he went to a monastery and became a monk . There he got to know a perspective on the world that only partially coincides with what he learned at universities. The network helped the young man to bring this knowledge closer to others. Today he reaches almost 30 million inquisitive people with his mission and has let the wisdom of the monks go viral, so to speak. Front woman Lewandowski speaks to Shetty and the many other interviewees about these lives and the careers associated with them.
“I compare mentors with artists whose works hang in galleries,” says Lewandowski. “They all have their own style, handwriting, and use different textures and colors. In order to paint my own picture, I don’t copy one-to-one, but let myself be inspired by individual aspects in order to create my work. ”When asked whether there is an idol that particularly stands out, she mentions Arianna, among others Huffington, who inspires above all because she successfully made the leap from journalist to entrepreneur. A vita that is not entirely dissimilar to Lewandowski’s. The Berliner also wants to balance her passion for good stories with financial independence and a free life.
For nearly 300 years, most of it has revolved around lessons from the industrial age.
Digital consultant Simo Azzaoui is the man behind the scenes in the partnership. He states: “For almost 300 years, most of the time has revolved around lessons from the industrial age.” Back then, workers were often just numbers that were trimmed for productivity. “Real innovation and entrepreneurial thinking were not encouraged, and certainly not an understanding of how we ourselves function as humans.” In his opinion, things are different today. Automation and technical progress relieve us of many annoying jobs. “In my opinion, people now have more opportunities than ever to dare to conduct their own experiments and, above all, more time to ask urgent questions.” Meet your mentor is a prime example.
Also interesting: “The Mentoring Club – The idea of these founders hit a nerve during the crisis”
In order to bring the answers to the woman and the man, Lewandowski and Azzaoui thought of their Jay Shetty project digitally right from the start. The extensive interviews are available a central website, the content is distributed where its mostly young and career-oriented target group is: in social networks such as Instagram and LinkedIn. Her mission is easy to put in a nutshell: “Meet Your Mentor shows ambitious young talents that success and wellbeing belong together,” says Laura Lewandowski. “My wish is to say at some point: There is a new generation of entrepreneurs with a high level of self-reflection and positive impact on society, and that we have accompanied them on their own path.”
