Episode 138: Minou Schillings Regenpreneur Story - Embracing Uncertainty and Building Capacity as an Impact Entrepreneur

organizational management regenpreneur startup story Sep 19, 2023

Minou Schillings on the Seeds of Tao Podcast for impact entrepreneurs

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🌟 Join us in Episode 138 as we delve into the incredible journey of Minou Schillings, a passionate regenpreneur. Discover what drives her exciting work and how she's embracing uncertainty while building capacity as an impact entrepreneur. Minou shares her wisdom on the early days of entrepreneurship, partnerships, regenerative business, and the essential principles she values in businesses. Tune in to uncover valuable insights and connect with her on LinkedIn to keep the conversation going. 🌍

Show Notes:

2:16 - What got you up this morning and what excites you about your work?
1. Got up at 5am which is not my norm
2. My work is very exciting! It’s pioneering and explorative
  1. People are excited
  2. People are experimental
  3. It feels likes a dance and like play
3. It requires flexibility and there is something new everyday
4:28 - How did you get started, doing the work you are doing now?
1. As a child I developed the mindset that things don’t have to be the way they are
2. Got a Master's Degree in Lateral Thinking
  1. Lateral Thinking in a way that helps us to get away from engrained ways of thinking
9:15 - How were the early days of your entrepreneurial journey?
1. Before starting a business, I was already exploring different ways of doing business
2. My Master's Degree also had many parts to it that helped me in becoming an entrepreneur
3. I started working on a co-living business with a cofounder during my Master's Degree
4. I then got involved and partnered The Green Sprint
5. While in my Master's I partnered with two startups
  1. Looking back, I don’t know how I had social life at that point
6. It was busy, but I learned so much from the two partnerships
12:07 - Any advice for those looking to take on a business partner?
1. Take it slow
2. It’s like a marriage
3. Find a small project you can collaborate on and go from there
4. Know yourself first and get to know your dynamic and part in the partnership
19:04 - What does regenerative business mean to you?
1. First off, I am a regenerative business enabler not a regenerative business builder.
  1. The responsibility for building a regenerative business is the business itself
2. The purpose of a regenerative business is to enhance social and ecological life
24:43 - What are the big challenges to being more regenerative in our leadership?
1. Embracing uncertainty is the number one challenge
  1. Know that we can’t control everything
  2. We can help them to embrace uncertainty by practicing imagination
  3. Things like solar punk visualization are great opportunities for me to imagine something different
2. Startups and smaller organizations have an easier time of embracing uncertainty and being ok to step into the space
35:54 - Helping these businesses to make this transition towards a regenerative economy what would you say your strategy is?
1. A lot facilitation of co-creative processes
  1. Capacity building
  2. Requires a lot of person-to-person work
  3. Finding where they are at and helping where they are
  4. Work to train the trainers
39:20 - What are the big regenerative principles you value most in a business?
1. Life affirming
2. Systems thinking
3. Compassion
4. Cyclical thinking is a more practical principal I like to see and business can adopt quickly
43:07 - Where can we get in touch with you and your work?
1. LinkedIn is the number one place to get involved with me
  1. Great content and conversations on LinkedIn
2. The Camino retreat - a five day hiking retreat in Europe

Guest Bio:

Minou Schillings- LinkedIn Profile

"When you never change your mind, why have one?"

I am here to help you to break with business-as-usual thinking and imagine and realize a regenerative future.

The business-as-usual mindset is broken. For decades or even centuries, this mindset has damaged nature and big parts of society. We have now (finally) got to the point that it is also harming businesses.

Sticking to this old way of thinking will make your business less resilient, less likely to survive an economic crisis and less innovative.

Leaving the business-as-usual mindset behind and striving to create positive impact on people and the planet is now not only the right thing to do, it is also a wise business decision.

I am here to help you to realize the mindset shift needed to transition to a regenerative and just future.

We will only realize a better future once we can imagine it.

I spend most of my time exploring regenerative pathways with business owners, teams and impact-driven individuals. My Dutch background makes me direct, no-nonsense, down-to-Gaia and efficient.