Many people have emailed me asking how I could go from top MBA program to top renewable energy company to happy nomad. This is the fifth post in a series of short posts explaining the steps I went through in recognizing that I wasn’t living the life I wanted, how I tried to unsuccessfully fix it, and how I ultimately came up with my new plan and took the plunge – in other words, how I went from corporate tool to nomadic idealist. Click here to see all the posts in this series. Hopefully parts of my story will resonate with you if you are considering your own plunge! Feel free to submit your story or contact me!
After I read The Art of Non-Conformity, while I was thinking of what to do, a good friend of mine sent me a video about The Emzingo Group.
I am friends with the co-founders. We went to business school together. I was familiar with their company and their goals before, but wow. The video hit me like a ton of bricks.
They are doing amazing work in South Africa. When I first got to business school, I had never heard of corporate social responsibility. This may not be surprising since I worked in the oil industry. But within the first month, this new reality of business being a force for good in society had drawn me in and made me a believer. I knew I wanted to work toward making the planet better in my post-MBA career.
Clearly, Emzingo is doing exactly that. I want my to pour my professional efforts into making a difference somehow. Though working at Siemens Wind Power is part of the larger effort of combating climate change, it’s not the same and my contribution is extremely diluted. There is no human-to-human interaction in my career the way Emzingo is making a difference at the ground level.
I guess the most striking takeaway from this was that my friends were “doing it”. They were out there making a measureable difference in the lives of both MBA students and the people in South Africa. It wasn’t some Ted Talk or some book. They were people I knew and they were out there making an an impact. I realized I could do it to. I could follow my dreams. I could make an impact.
But first I had to go to Prague and then I had to figure out what my dream was…
About Adam Pervez
In mid-2011 I left my cushy corporate job and took the plunge into a life incorporating my passions of traveling, writing, volunteering, learning, educating, and telling stories. I study what happiness means to others, offer what I can from my engineering/MBA background as a volunteer, and try to leave each place better than how I found it. Read more.
Photo Friday – A Sky That Glows – Puka Pukara, Cusco, Peru
Yauya, Peru – Extremely Rural Life Deep In The Andes
Willkawain – Pre-Incan Ruinas, A Four-Year-Old Businessman, And My Life Being Threatened
Huaraz, Peru – Easter Week, Mountains, And Eating Guinea Pig
Happiness Plunge Inc.’s Q3 “Report To Shareholders” – Still Great Outcomes, Still No Income
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