Aude Debenest

Full transcript: Aude Debenest on London Real

0:00 I am here with Aude Debenest, recent graduate of the London Real Business Accelerator. Aude, tell us about yourself. Who are you? No, Brian, I’m 31 year old French lady and I moved here to find my first job. And you asked me in the focus group, what does it, why am I a French person here, what does it do to my French perspective?

0:24 And initially I just moved here because then I was looking for a job that was half commercial, half ethical values, and I could not really quite find this in France. There was very commercial companies and then charities with only volunteers, but moved here and there was at the charity there more of a business model here, with a commercial arm and all the shops, and that was the best of both worlds for me.

0:47 That was a charity but run around like a business, with a commercial arm with fair trade and organic products, and that’s what I’d been looking for. And so yes, UK gave me my first job, that was the best of both worlds. Sorry. Hey, what kind of things were you struggling with internally before you decided to join us on the Accelerator? Why start thinking about making a change in your life?

1:04 So I’ve moved away from that great charity to challenge myself in London with a different, well, slightly different job in a more private company, more commercial, and our ISM, so an ethical audit manager, organizing ethical audits of factories abroad so that we can show compliance for brands and retailers of there that we working with.

1:28 But even though there was all of this ethical program, I don’t think the company I was with was very ethical. They were just doing this as a formality. It was just a huge initiative bargain for them. They would have preferred not even to have this toss to do, and they just want to get it done within whichever way, and not having to care about workers’ safety, working conditions or the environment.

1:51 And so yes, I didn’t really feel like I was the ethical matter really empowered, and I feel that things could be done in a better way, I’m simplifying the processes and trying to release a little bit that phenomenon called audit fatigue, where, but, we get over-audited. Supposed to be a positive thing, and ethical compliance, transparency, but when you have all these systems adding up, all these new databases to train people on that we don’t have time for, all the systems are duplicated and it becomes unmanageable and it becomes a task that no one wants to do.

2:28 So that was the friction that I noticed in the market. Okay. Did you have any fears personally before starting the course? Like, should I do this, should I not do this? What were you thinking? Yeah, I feel like it was the first year you marketed it even to people who did not have a business idea and who were not even sure they wanted to do that, but you, we are short as they were, you had tools to help us find that as well.

2:53 So no, after serving in the Academy as well, I felt that I was really ready for it, and suggest for people who are thinking of joining the Accelerator to get into Academy first. They’ll get used to vlogging, they’ll get used to getting vulnerable and deep thinking about themselves and building a routine and thinking what they want to bring to the world. And so I’ve gone through the process is the new Academy and, no, I felt quite ready.

3:17 When you, you reach out to me, no, no, it’s part of your business model, of course. You’ve been watching, here’s what we’ve been doing, and I was, me, I was mature for this. And why London Real? How’d you find out about in the first place? What were you attracted by?

3:32 I think are still quite an economic and international trade state of mind at the time. I think it was a very economic, an economy subject. I was, an Italian man who was working in Wall Street, but with, no, it’s like lots of people, I don’t remember which one was my first. Day, as you said, also as part of their, part of the business model, isn’t it? Maybe sneak in and no one remembers how they got there. But, and so, that’s my case. I don’t remember how. I think in a good way, ’cause it’s all the positive changes in my life, but I don’t remember.

4:03 Okay, and to actually decide to go ahead with the Business Accelerator, was that a difficult decision or did you just feel like you could really trust us and trust the process? No, I felt like, yeah, no, I did describe myself as a trusting person, and he had a method, and I knew we would encounter resistance at the stages as planned. Yes, of course the money is the scariest, scary, man. I think it’s the most expensive thing ever bought in my life, but they got just enough fun, hi, have a savings accounts and everything I gathered together.

4:43 No, it went quite quickly. I think I registered towards, me, and you’re about to close the, and then tip the big leap, and it went, afternoon, had to do it all in a few hours. What were those first two or three weeks like? Do you remember? What, yeah, what was it like? What were you feeling? What would it like to interact with the community?

5:00 The first few weeks, there’s, no, okay, because you’re working a bit in your bubble on your product, but after that you have to start to launch it publicly and reach out to people outside, so it’s hard. But the first weeks are quite satisfying and you’re thinking about your product in your niche, you build your own videos for yourself and for the group. But after that it becomes, as things become seriously, ’cause yes, to start reaching out to people in your network, people who, yeah, were not expecting this from you, or KPIs in the industry. So yes, it don’t build this two, maybe three or four, starts becoming.

5:39 What did you enjoy most and then what did you find the most challenging? Yes, no, I enjoyed really looking in me, what I could really bring to the world. I thought, I’m already, too, I’m not really buying out, I’m not really having children, has really trying to settle in my life. So doing this kind of project, I mean, yeah, why not? I mean, I want to build something, and I felt the Accelerator is really the deepest, most personal thing you can ever build, we are from, yeah, with yourself and the circle of people that you work with on the Accelerator.

6:15 It’s one of the most personal things and most charming thing you can do in your lecture. Felt really positive about that, so that’s my baby. And what was difficult about the course? What was the hardest thing for you? And then what’s harder is to see your face on camera when you vlog. I mean, you get tired with the sound of your own voice. You have to film yourself so much, and you have to repeat this pitch so many and talk about yourself and talk about your project, to talk about it so many different people and so many different formats.

6:46 And maybe it’s like artists when they make that beautiful song, I mean, and then they have to record it on studio and you have to play it a hundred and fifty times, and then they have to play it on tour, and that’s the thing, they might get tired of it at the end. But hopefully if you really believe it’s a readable, love what you do, you not get tired with your own message. But yes, you have to know that you’ll be doing some repetitive task to protect them. What’s the class like? What were some of the people you really connected with and what did you get from them?

7:15 Yes, a lot of warmth and support, even from sometimes the people who have felt like me, sometimes were struggling the most, or, yes, people who seem to be struggling the most, but he’s saying it out loud, because lots of us were struggling without saying it. We’re just working with, but everyone was being very positive outside, so to keep that positive vibe. But yes, when I talked about some of my doubts on the Facebook group, the people who I thought had been more on their plates to deal with were the ones who still has more resources to give to me and more encouragement.

7:55 And yes, yes, you think you’re going to arrive and people would complain about the same things, but your eyes, and you say something, you say you expect a doubt and you don’t expect that. Yeah, people listen to you. They’re not waiting for their turn to speak there. Everyone is like this in the Accelerator, as long as it’s very generous, and yes, you always find a positive answer wherever you look.

8:17 Did you get clarity on something through the course where you realized, okay, I want to do this instead of this? And yes, I’m worried I have to pivot on my idea, because I feel like if I helped this over-auditing system too much, then I might be maintaining a system that’s not really working. So as you said, that one is pivoting at some point in the course, so I might have to think out of the box and think about a third way, not more auditing, a different way of knowing your factories.

8:49 And so after reaching out to maybe my old co-workers in the charity sector, I found that maybe, yes, the trend was not exactly what I thought. Thank you. I was trying to fix something very dysfunctional, but maybe it was only the company I will within, and you see the biggest picture there. So yes, definitely some pivoting happening now.

9:12 Yeah, it’s natural, I think. Yeah, people don’t say that, I worry, and usually you have to do things to pivot. Like, you have to make a few, you know, things, they don’t work out, and then you realize when you do your market research, then you realize someone is already, someone’s already done that. I was thinking of, I was finding way with spreadsheets to find this, to simplify the overall thing, and, whereas there was lots of software to do this, so not sure I could compete with a software. Maybe I can, or I can do it differently, but yeah, that’s part of it. You know, the market research, then you realize, you know, to learn and listen, you may not be the first one to assault about it, so unique, if they would do it better or differently, but just a lot of competition.

9:46 What are some of the tools you’re going to take away from the Accelerator, you’re going to use next year? Is it this idea of doing market research, is the idea of just trying a bunch of things so you can pivot? What are you going to take away? No, other pivoting will happen naturally, I think. And the technical module, I mean, the surgeon and forth, where you tell us how to reach out to a network on Twitter, not verified, we get, it does not get disclosed, if you Google, part of your head with no secret, so we paid for. But yes, some of those technical aspects, actually, I hadn’t heard before, and so I will use those.

10:22 Yes, the fact that we belong on websites, but that might just be the page, and then people click and then you take this to a completely different process. The fact you don’t have to put everything on your website, or the knowledge you taught us about what’s the landing page for. Yes, this kind of technical aspect I think take away.

10:47 Okay, and what would you like me now if you hadn’t taken the course? Do you think you would be different? Would you miss some clarity? Would have been like if you had skipped on this course? And so I guess I forgot say that halfway through that new job in London I was made redundant, and as part of the hero journey that I was doing, this auditing job, we, well, I thought, I don’t know, didn’t get any warning, but the company is like that. They didn’t give me any valid reason. That the hour, I had already started the Accelerator by then. There’s nothing to do with it, because they didn’t know I was doing it.

11:18 But yes, that’s very true, it kept me going, and I would have completely quit this area of work, I think. I would’ve thought, I don’t want to help these guys with their all, they think, leave me alone, I don’t want to hear about it. But I’ve got started and got committed to the Accelerator, so like, kept me on my feet.

11:34 People were wondering, why am I so busy with, when you’re unemployed? What are you doing more? What do you spend all your time with, your webcam? What are you doing in the living room, and the lights? And what are you doing? My housemate said, what, I know you’re unemployed, don’t get comfortable, I don’t get nocturnal. Just, I was like, I’m not comfortable. I’ve never been so uncomfortable in my life, because I am not getting comfortable, I’m getting vulnerable, I’m opening up, I’m thinking deeply about what I want to do. So it would get it, yeah. Clear hitter kept me here, keep me working hard.

12:06 And if you had to describe the Accelerator, what is it really? What is the Accelerator? Yeah, yes, a tool to stop and reflect on yourself. And yeah, if you, of course, if thinking, I know, of your life has a finite resource, what can you build now? Yes, what would be. Or, um, it’s dated, Daniel Priestley, they, Daniel Priestley inferred, yeah, and they know Christy says, I’m, talked about how to write a book.

12:37 I mean, he said you should write a book, and in a way there’s too many books out there and is over-publication, so should you really write a book? But he says writing a book helps you to crystallize your ideas, and think about, if you were going to write a book, what would it be about? And or if you had an hour of your life to talk to maybe children, what would you tell them with that one hour? And you have to get really focused with that. And yes, the book is almost just a tool, or the Accelerator is a tool, but to crystallize what you really want to do on which you can bring to the world.

13:08 And what advice would you give to someone who’s thinking about taking the course but aren’t sure? What would you say? Yes, I would say, I mean, first watch all the episodes. I said, you don’t understand why some people would not watch the episodes, because this sort of good quality, and he said, you would do understand why people would. So yes, I annoyed when I meet somewhere as we focus group that may have not watch the episodes. I think there’s your best resources from the beginning. You should watch them all.

13:40 Could stop on Mark Wright, who’s in The Apprentice with Lord Sugar, he’s one of them, but yeah, all of them give you all the tools. You make, you give summaries of what we should take away from each of the episodes.

13:55 That, yes, right, we should watch the FBI’s first, and if they’re not sure, though, I know, I don’t know how you’re going to know where that, you get, you got it all planned for her, you get the modules, it’s progressive, and you’ve already, yeah. I would say tell interest you and the team. You’ve done it with a few generations of business people now, and know there’s a get method, and yes, I’m just, did you trust the process. Good, good. Aude, wishing you all the best next year, and put this up into practice, and stay in touch with the team in the group, and let us know how we can help. Yes. All right. Yes, can we continue to reach out to you? Yes, definitely. I think you’d be on the shoulder. Thank you.