Valentin Ffrench tells us about HumansLink.
Version française ici
Can you present your project in two sentences?
We want to be able to live in a fulfilling world for all living beings and are convinced that each and every one of us should be able to express our talents.
This is why we integrate strategy into human nature — and not the other way around — when we support companies to rethinktheir corporate culture.
Our ambition is as follows :
Create by 2040, the most fulfilling civilization that the human species has ever known, through transformation : of work, consciousness, communities and organizations.
Quel est ton parcours professionnel ?
When I was young, I learned the languages of web development on internet and decided to sell my website creation services.
When I was 17, I went to Canada to study Administration of Business at the University of Sherbrooke (UdeS). During my studies, I notably had the chance to chair the Association in Management. It was the opportunity for me to meet a lot of curious, interesting people. We exchanged ideas on possible business projects. Like a game, the idea was to find the most remarkable way to solve an entrepreneurial problem.
Convinced that the influence of man on our environment, it was important for me to bring a global dimension and to better understand the international political scene. I was lucky after a year preparation to participate in the National Model United Nations Conference from New York. A striking experience for which we have been awarded several prizes.
Once I graduated, I decided to create a company to support new entrepreneurs. My business model being a little wobbly, the experience
was not very successful at the time.
There were the start of 2 other startups and an infinity of projects started
and not successful for reasons of time, energy, money, bad partnerships … The school of life ;)
Out of necessity, I decided to find a “job” and became, for a Montreal chain, manager of a high-end leather store. In particular, I learn business and retail marketing. I become a best salesperson in Canada for several months in a row before getting debauched by the number 1 modeling agency in Canada.
The mission, to support them to transform their company to face the great change of their industry.
HumansLink, founded in 2012, has been around all this time.
What do you think is the biggest obstacle to entrepreneurship in the Caribbean ?
Our territories are incredibly human rich.
Mentors we need are not always where we think they are. The sharing
of experiences across all th territories Caribbean deserves to be facilitated.
On the entrepreneurial adventure, it is important to learn and grow constantly. Having access to knowledge, mentors and feedback is a major obstacle in my opinion.
On the French islands, we have to learn English : the amount of essential information, available free of charge in English, is pharaminous. It is a mistake to overlook it.
How could your project have a positive impact on the Caribbean?
We spend about 70% of our waking time at work. 70% of our life experience is spent at work. HumansLink customers discover new paradigms for managing their businesses and radically improve performance and engagement.
In addition, we are organizing the WEEK by HumansLink, the meeting place to entrepreneurs to build the organizations that humanity needs. For a week, we bring in experts and speakers from all over the world.During the last one, nearly 250 people were able to fill up on inspiration, new ideas and significant meetings with 17 entrepreneurs and experts.
HumansLink is now a partner incubator of FrenchTech and FrenchTech Guadeloupe. It is important that we can give everyone the chance to succeed in a business project.
HumansLink will be Carbon Neutral early 2021. We also want to encourage
all of our clients and organizations to seriously engage in an assessment
and compensation for their environmental footprint.
HumansLink = People + Strategy + Planet 🌍
Would you like to come back to the Caribbean? And why ?
Travel has always nourished my spirit and is a great inspiration to me.
At the idea of returning home, I did, a few years ago, the choice not to choose.
Let me explain :
I didn’t want to choose Canada OR Guadeloupe OR France — rather,
Canada AND Guadeloupe.
Today, based in Montreal, I regularly return to Guadeloupe to work.
My wish is to be able to do it as often as possible. This year 2020, I had planned a dozen trips to Guadeloupe. It is obvious that the pandemic we are experiencing this year calls some things into question. I would like to offset the carbon impact of each plane trip by investing in reforestation,
for example.
Contact :
wearethewhistle.com
@wearethewhistle
wearethewhistle@gmail.com
Interview by We Are The Whistle.
Thanks to Valentin for answering our questions.
We are not whistleblowers, we are the Whistle.