Since 2011, The Beautiful Store Foundation has been supporting domestic social innovative leaders through the 'Beautiful Fellow' project, confirming that individuals with a strong commitment to change are at the forefront of solving social issues. To expand this positive change, starting in 2022, we extended our support to the Asian region and began selecting social innovative leaders in developing countries, addressing various environmental issues in response to the climate crisis through the ‘Asia Beautiful Fellow’ program.
Currently, 7 active Asia Beautiful Fellows are coming from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Nepal, making positive, sustainable contributions to the local community.
Last Friday, on January 26th, the 1st and 2nd Asia Beautiful Fellows got together for Networking Day.
From introducing one another and finding commonalities to looking back at 2023 and looking into 2024, we would like to invite you all to the moments of our first Networking Day! ๐
After greeting one another, we took time with the Fellows to show off our dress code and introduce ourselves. For this event, the dress code was ‘Blue’, as 2024 is the year of the blue dragon, and because blue represents the Asia Beautiful Fellow program. All Fellows wore unique blue clothing, which was either linked to their culture, or work environment.
To make the fellows feel welcome, and to help build relations among the Fellows, we prepared various programs for networking.
First, to allow the Fellows to get to know each other better, we played the ‘Who am I?’ game, a game where the participants look at short sentences describing another participant and try to guess who that person is, and also ‘Things in common’, an activity where the participants try to find commonalities among themselves.
Throughout the games, the Fellows gave many unique answers. We will share some of them with you.
When playing the ‘Who am I?’ game, Lastiana (Aliet Green) from Indonesia told us that one of her physical characteristics was her soft, beautiful hair. She revealed that the secret to having such beautiful hair was coconut oil and even said that she was willing to send some to us if we needed it.
In ‘Things in common’, group 1 consisting of Sue Yee, Lastiana, and Loan came up with ‘extrovert’, ‘BTS Army’, ‘Coconut lovers’, and ‘cycling’ as their commonalities. ๐
Group 2, consisting of Amorpol, Rajan, Willie, and Santosh came up with ‘spicy food lovers’, ‘short hair’, ‘fancy beard’, and ‘handsome’ as their commonalities. ๐
After networking, we looked back and organized 2023 with keywords through ‘2023 Retrospective’.
During this activity, the Fellows were given the questions ‘What did you learn anew in 2023?’, ‘Who supported you most in 2023?’, ‘Where or when did you find peace and emotional comfort in 2023?’, and ‘What was your biggest challenge in 2023?’. We ended the activity by asking the Fellows to come up with an adjective that best described 2023.
As 2023 was filled with many events, the Fellows came up with unique keywords. Out of the many questions that we asked the Fellows, for ‘Who supported you most in 2023?’, many Fellows wrote down the Beautiful Store Foundation along with family and team members. ๐
Santosh (Waste Service) from Nepal told us that 2023 was a year full of hardships. He had trouble securing new clients and workers for his business, and Pokhara, where his business is based, suffered from social conflict and lack of infrastructure making his business even harder. He told us that in the midst of his hardship, support from his wife and financial support from the Beautiful Store Foundation was what allowed him to successfully restructure his business. ๐ฅ
Rajan (Upcycle Nepal) from Nepal shared with us that when the new thrift shop business that he launched was going through difficulties, aid and support from the Beautiful Store Foundation acted as a lubricant for his business and gave him mental support. ๐
When we asked the Fellows ‘What was your biggest challenge in 2023?’, many Fellows gave us keywords related to mental stress deriving from running a business.
Loan (Real Bean Coffee) from Vietnam told us that since her children were young, she needed to spend a lot of time taking care of them. However, due to the workload exploding after COVID-19, she was having trouble finding the balance between work and family. Thankfully her husband, team members, and business partners were very understanding and supportive, and she is now finding a new balance point. โ๏ธ
When we shared what adjective best described 2023, Fellows gave us creative answers such as ‘bike ride’, the movie ‘sing’, and ‘listening’. Interestingly, two Fellows gave opposite words.
Sue Yee (Zero Waste Malaysia) from Malaysia expressed 2023 as a ‘Ferris wheel’. 2023 was a repeating process of trying to create a positive cycle of meeting other social entrepreneurs and learning new cases of zero waste, as well as meeting leaders to look back and self-improve. This gradual process is why she expressed 2023 as a ‘Ferris wheel’. ๐ก
On the other hand, Willie (Global Cerah) from Malaysia expressed 2023 as a ‘roller coaster’. There were big ups and downs in business and there were also family matters, but at the same time, Global Cerah won many awards. He told us that this felt like a roller coaster ride because while the ride was scary, it was fun in the end. ๐ข
After looking back at 2023, we took time to set goals for 2024 and make plans to achieve them using ‘WOOP’(Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan).
The goals that the Fellows set encompassed many subjects such as health, financial independence, and fostering expertise. The Fellows put a lot of effort into the activity as they were all determined to spend 2024 productively and meaningfully.
Amorpol (moreloop) from Thailand set the goal of doubling the company’s income in 2024. While this was not an easy task, he said that he would accomplish his goal by taking care of his body and energy through healthy life habits, cooperating with other social enterprises, and lowering production costs through automation. ๐ช
Lastly, our Fellows gave comments about Networking Day and exchanged thanks with one another.
Amorpol remarked that through Networking Day he felt the importance and significance of 'people', and that by meeting fellow social leaders striving to achieve the same future, he felt emotional support from them. Santosh agreed with Amorpol and stated that the small efforts of the Fellows were the driving force leading the world toward a better future, and cheered everyone to keep up the effort. After exchanging comments, we took a group picture and wrapped up our first Networking Day.
The Asia Beautiful Fellow Networking Day is planned to be held every quarter. Also, the 2nd Asia Beautiful Fellow is scheduled to visit Korea in April, so please stay tuned! โ๏ธ
The Beautiful Store Foundation will be on the side of Asia Beautiful Fellows who are creating sustainable and beautiful changes in our society. We support the bright future of the 1st, and 2nd Asia Beautiful Fellows as they grow and support each other's tomorrows. ๐
To the 1st and 2nd Asia Beautiful Fellows, it was a great pleasure in meeting you all! ๐
Since 2011, The Beautiful Store Foundation has been supporting domestic social innovative leaders through the 'Beautiful Fellow' project, confirming that individuals with a strong commitment to change are at the forefront of solving social issues. To expand this positive change, starting in 2022, we extended our support to the Asian region and began selecting social innovative leaders in developing countries, addressing various environmental issues in response to the climate crisis through the ‘Asia Beautiful Fellow’ program.
Currently, 7 active Asia Beautiful Fellows are coming from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Nepal, making positive, sustainable contributions to the local community.
Last Friday, on January 26th, the 1st and 2nd Asia Beautiful Fellows got together for Networking Day.
From introducing one another and finding commonalities to looking back at 2023 and looking into 2024, we would like to invite you all to the moments of our first Networking Day! ๐
After greeting one another, we took time with the Fellows to show off our dress code and introduce ourselves. For this event, the dress code was ‘Blue’, as 2024 is the year of the blue dragon, and because blue represents the Asia Beautiful Fellow program. All Fellows wore unique blue clothing, which was either linked to their culture, or work environment.
To make the fellows feel welcome, and to help build relations among the Fellows, we prepared various programs for networking.
First, to allow the Fellows to get to know each other better, we played the ‘Who am I?’ game, a game where the participants look at short sentences describing another participant and try to guess who that person is, and also ‘Things in common’, an activity where the participants try to find commonalities among themselves.
Throughout the games, the Fellows gave many unique answers. We will share some of them with you.
When playing the ‘Who am I?’ game, Lastiana (Aliet Green) from Indonesia told us that one of her physical characteristics was her soft, beautiful hair. She revealed that the secret to having such beautiful hair was coconut oil and even said that she was willing to send some to us if we needed it.
In ‘Things in common’, group 1 consisting of Sue Yee, Lastiana, and Loan came up with ‘extrovert’, ‘BTS Army’, ‘Coconut lovers’, and ‘cycling’ as their commonalities. ๐
Group 2, consisting of Amorpol, Rajan, Willie, and Santosh came up with ‘spicy food lovers’, ‘short hair’, ‘fancy beard’, and ‘handsome’ as their commonalities. ๐
After networking, we looked back and organized 2023 with keywords through ‘2023 Retrospective’.
During this activity, the Fellows were given the questions ‘What did you learn anew in 2023?’, ‘Who supported you most in 2023?’, ‘Where or when did you find peace and emotional comfort in 2023?’, and ‘What was your biggest challenge in 2023?’. We ended the activity by asking the Fellows to come up with an adjective that best described 2023.
As 2023 was filled with many events, the Fellows came up with unique keywords. Out of the many questions that we asked the Fellows, for ‘Who supported you most in 2023?’, many Fellows wrote down the Beautiful Store Foundation along with family and team members. ๐
Santosh (Waste Service) from Nepal told us that 2023 was a year full of hardships. He had trouble securing new clients and workers for his business, and Pokhara, where his business is based, suffered from social conflict and lack of infrastructure making his business even harder. He told us that in the midst of his hardship, support from his wife and financial support from the Beautiful Store Foundation was what allowed him to successfully restructure his business. ๐ฅ
Rajan (Upcycle Nepal) from Nepal shared with us that when the new thrift shop business that he launched was going through difficulties, aid and support from the Beautiful Store Foundation acted as a lubricant for his business and gave him mental support. ๐
When we asked the Fellows ‘What was your biggest challenge in 2023?’, many Fellows gave us keywords related to mental stress deriving from running a business.
Loan (Real Bean Coffee) from Vietnam told us that since her children were young, she needed to spend a lot of time taking care of them. However, due to the workload exploding after COVID-19, she was having trouble finding the balance between work and family. Thankfully her husband, team members, and business partners were very understanding and supportive, and she is now finding a new balance point. โ๏ธ
When we shared what adjective best described 2023, Fellows gave us creative answers such as ‘bike ride’, the movie ‘sing’, and ‘listening’. Interestingly, two Fellows gave opposite words.
Sue Yee (Zero Waste Malaysia) from Malaysia expressed 2023 as a ‘Ferris wheel’. 2023 was a repeating process of trying to create a positive cycle of meeting other social entrepreneurs and learning new cases of zero waste, as well as meeting leaders to look back and self-improve. This gradual process is why she expressed 2023 as a ‘Ferris wheel’. ๐ก
On the other hand, Willie (Global Cerah) from Malaysia expressed 2023 as a ‘roller coaster’. There were big ups and downs in business and there were also family matters, but at the same time, Global Cerah won many awards. He told us that this felt like a roller coaster ride because while the ride was scary, it was fun in the end. ๐ข
After looking back at 2023, we took time to set goals for 2024 and make plans to achieve them using ‘WOOP’(Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan).
The goals that the Fellows set encompassed many subjects such as health, financial independence, and fostering expertise. The Fellows put a lot of effort into the activity as they were all determined to spend 2024 productively and meaningfully.
Amorpol (moreloop) from Thailand set the goal of doubling the company’s income in 2024. While this was not an easy task, he said that he would accomplish his goal by taking care of his body and energy through healthy life habits, cooperating with other social enterprises, and lowering production costs through automation. ๐ช
Lastly, our Fellows gave comments about Networking Day and exchanged thanks with one another.
Amorpol remarked that through Networking Day he felt the importance and significance of 'people', and that by meeting fellow social leaders striving to achieve the same future, he felt emotional support from them. Santosh agreed with Amorpol and stated that the small efforts of the Fellows were the driving force leading the world toward a better future, and cheered everyone to keep up the effort. After exchanging comments, we took a group picture and wrapped up our first Networking Day.
The Asia Beautiful Fellow Networking Day is planned to be held every quarter. Also, the 2nd Asia Beautiful Fellow is scheduled to visit Korea in April, so please stay tuned! โ๏ธ
The Beautiful Store Foundation will be on the side of Asia Beautiful Fellows who are creating sustainable and beautiful changes in our society. We support the bright future of the 1st, and 2nd Asia Beautiful Fellows as they grow and support each other's tomorrows. ๐
To the 1st and 2nd Asia Beautiful Fellows, it was a great pleasure in meeting you all! ๐