"To solve a problem, you first must look directly at the problem, consider principles that guide decisions, then create solutions." - Jasmine Lawrence
Watch full interview with Jasmine now: https://youtu.be/HJfMEzUbzvU.
In the latest interview for the School of Social Justice, I interview Jasmine Lawrence, Founder, EDEN BodyWorks. EDEN BodyWorks is a concerns-based brand which seeks to create products that help people achieve health outcomes. After founding her company, she then worked for Microsoft, helping create the platform and rules for millions of people on Xbox to create online clubs to connect and play. She now works at Everyday Robots, creating machines to help ordinary folk with everyday things.
In this interview, she provides a wide-ranging set of learnings from her wide-ranging career. When she was a kid, she lost most of her hair to relaxer, and she sought to solve this problem, and ended up creating a company that provides natural products for wellness and beauty. She talks about the process of how she became a successful entrepreneur, resulting in her being interviewed by Oprah twice. She talks through the challenges of building fair, open, free, and safe online gaming communities.
Last week, I needed a haircut, so I reached out to my barber. Sadly, he was fully booked, so, I took a risk: I tried another barber. Big mistake! The cut was uneven, the shape-up was bent, and the fade was not a fade, more like a step! I felt pain! It was unreal how a bad haircut can really affect you. Half-joking aside, there are things that make us feel good, and help us as individuals be our best selves in the society we are a part of. Solutions that help us feel better, help make us do better, and help us put our best selves forward. For folk taking on serious social justice matters and sometimes dangerous problems, it is that much more important to take care of ourselves.
Jasmine is inspiring. She founded a company that has helped many women feel better and be healthier. She’s then gone onto help build the online infrastructure for people to have the freedom to be themselves in the metaverse, and the systems to protect vulnerable communities online.
My two main lessons from this conversation are that: (i) Taking care of yourself, mentally, physically, psychologically, and spiritually, is a crucial foundation for improving your ability to take care of others; and, (ii) An entrepreneurial mindset is primarily one which seeks to solve problems well: this approach can be used in a professional setting as an employee, or as an activist, campaigner, or volunteer.
Highlights:
- Compassionate governance is a helpful framework for making rules and decisions.
- Gaming companies have a hugely influential role in shaping millions of people's day-to-day lives, and there must be social justice considerations in the gaming world.
- Mentorship can help you navigate novel possibilities.
- One thing that comes with privilege is ignorance.
- The thing that inspired Jasmine to create something to benefit humanity was a film. It reminds me of the power of the media and films to shape people's lives.
- Identity, experience, and exposure are important considerations in defining your purpose.
- Have a plan. In fact, have three: 1. A personal development plan, 2. A professional career plan, and 3. A philanthropic plan to give back.
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Full interview available now:
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/HJfMEzUbzvU
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5KFm0PaVxeGBH0R82uHIK0
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Want more? Watch one of the other nine episodes out now: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLorHVeo7smn7xKAW1zaK3_oG_PfgP6CfY
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Hope you enjoy the conversation, and learn as much as I did. And I hope that you are able to use the lessons to go on and change the world.
Alvin
Founding Director
schoolofsocialjustice.com