Survival of the Fittest: How 9 Years of Uncertainty and Instability Can Turn You Into a Killer Entrepreneur

Yesterday was International Women’s Day.

This month is Women’s History Month.?

Last month was Black History Month.

I’m purposefully jumping on the bandwagon at a purposeful timing to illuminate the stories of people, who quietly demonstrate resilience and grit in the adversity of lived experiences of inequities.

In Beyoncé’s song “Freedom” (featuring Kendrick Lamar), Jay-Z’s grandmother, Hattie White, makes a statement:

“I had my ups and downs, but I always find the inner strength 
to pull myself up. I was served lemons, but I made lemonade."        

These people have a lived experience to tell the tale.?

I’m one of them.

I finally have been granted permanent residency in Australia on International Women’s Day (March 8th, 2023).?????

7 days after I landed on Australian soils, 9 years ago.?

Before you congratulate me (by all means do!), I’ll tell a fraction of the tale that I have lived to tell.

A preface to a book.

A pilot to a dramedy series on Netflix.

A vision to a disruptive business ahead of its curve.

When I shared the news with my parents and brother, I received congratulatory words?in French - which I’m translating for non-French speakers- like, “resilience”, “you sound relieved” and several champagne bottle emojis from the young’n (no need for French translation, there!).

When I shared the news with friends who have known me since Day 1 in Australia, they said “you can now live wherever you want in Australia (with no restrictions)”, "proud of all you have achieved and put up with".

Another asked me “what’s your plan now?”.

My dad chimed in. He reminded me the very beginning of the lows I experienced: “now, you no longer have the restriction to work in government, in banking or anywhere you fancy to work in”.

Let me give you some context.?

As a non-permanent resident in this country, my “freedom” slowly chipped away.?

After 5 years in banking in Canada and listed top 50 employees in the country for the 500%+ sales I made the bank. I couldn’t work in banking in Australia.?

Despite having worked in government and studying a BA in Community, Policy and Public Affairs in Montréal, Canada, I couldn’t apply to any government-related jobs.

I tailored over and over my skills to fit jobs but these jobs were reserved for people with a permanent residency or Australian citizenship. Do you know the difference? Both give you the same rights, but the latter expects you to vote.?

Any other visa has attached conditions to them:

A working holiday allows you to work 6 months only for one employer at a time.

An international student visa allows you to work for 20 hours a week while you’re studying and 40 hours a week when you’re on Uni break.

A graduate visa allows you to work full-time, part-time, casual but with limited options within the industry you just completed your degree in - you need to be a permanent resident or an Australian citizen.

A temporary skilled visa allows you to work full-time, part-time, casual but with limited options within the industry you want experience in - you need to be a permanent resident or an Australian citizen. But, if you work regionally, the limited options still apply. Even if you’re in specific area codes with limited industry options; in addition to the skills list attached to your visa.

Are you confused already? Welcome to the migration minefield!

Ah, and the above can change yearly. So, skip trying to figure it out and continue reading.

Going back to the failing job hunt.?

I started seeing a trend. My eyes quickly scanned to spot the visa conditions before I bothered reading the job description.

“Give up!”, these job postings screamed at me.?

"Wait, not yet!", I persuaded myself.

I walked over to the closest bank near my house.?

Confident, I could introduce myself. Stand out of the crowd. Face-to-face. Smile ear-to-ear.

The “can do” attitude from my years at the bank would get me across.

Instead, I walked out with a new bank account.

The teller revealed a message I desperately didn’t want to hear.

I’m not a permanent resident or an Australian citizen.?

F*ck!?

How have I spent the previous years working at a bank, living and working in three countries?completely opposite to my Canadian and Haitian upbringing, speaking 5 languages and I couldn’t apply any of my skills and experience, because I wasn’t a permanent resident?!

That visa condition was beyond stifling to the opportunities I spotted when I landed on these harsh soils.?

The worse memories were the reminders of living like a caged bird. The subtle reminders that migration does to you to make you crack.

A blessing in disguise, I deluded myself into thinking that I can be entrepreneurial in moments of hardships.

Out of lack of choice, I worked at a restaurant and had to stand out. I lived and worked in uncertainty because of my visa conditions. My only choice was to squeeze out every drop of my experience living abroad.?That's all I had left.

In this moment of spark, I found an opportunity to introduce a combination of cultural similarities to a restaurant, whose live music nights over the weekend was dozing staff and musicians off into a slumber.?

The similarities were subtle:

Australia’s “winter” climate is similar to Canada’s fall climate.

Canadians love a warm drink in winter. But, we also love to hibernate.

We love our live music and music festivals. I experienced one too many sardined Igloofest to know what makes people come out of hibernation.

“Do you know what mulled wine is?”, I asked the restaurant manager, who is Brazilian. I explain its delicacy, its cultural significance, its origins, its ingredients; back these off with stories of how it can bring a crowd in for their live music nights.?

He asked around other staff members, who were Australian, and to the boss who is also Australian, if they had heard of this so-called mulled wine.?

In an instant, the cook passed down to me the privilege to enter their kitchen and cook up a mean batch of red mulled wine. But, there were also heaps of bottles of white wine ready to be wasted. I put it to good use and turned them into a batch of white mulled wine.

The scent of anise and cinnamon drew staff into the kitchen and around me. Ready, everyone held a double wall glass in their hands while I poured them a spoonful of mulled wine of their choice.

Between you and I, I freaking have no joy in the kitchen besides feeding my basic needs.

I had never made mulled wine before.

I was curious to know what they’d think - I did taste test it to get it to my liking.?

The experiment was a success.?

The boss rushed upstairs to change the menu.?

“How are we going to call the mulled wine?”, he yelled.?

“Junie’s mulled wine”, responded the restaurant manager.?

We all started laughing and went with it.

The social media page updated with an announcement of a new menu item with my smiley face as the brand image.

The following weekend, the restaurant’s live music nights turned into a crackling fire.?

The one afterwards, the slumber turned into an awakening.?

The future weekends became a ceremony.?

I was served lemons: ones I was restricted to live with under visa conditions that chipped away at my freedom.?

I made lemonade: one that took several more ingredients than lemon, sugar and water to tone down the bittersweet I had to accept.

Surviving the following 9 years has been like driving a slowly run down race car at 200km/h on an autobahn with frequent accidents per mileage and not getting to the next mileage without getting into an accident. ?

And so in light of the celebrations we’ve been "hooray-ing" about, I want to personally celebrate the many other migrants who are currently, quietly demonstrating resilience and grit in the adversity of the pitfalls of migration.

I hear you from the depths of my soul.?

I want to celebrate your lived experiences that aren’t placed at the forefront of decision-making in business.?

This story goes beyond migration and beyond the surface that you'll never hear about.

It’s why Propel Innovations exist.?

It’s my many lived experiences that have brought a vision within Propel Innovations.?

To go beyond the surface of what you see about people.?

To deeply connect with the hidden needs of people to uncover the pieces of the stories that make you say: “I didn’t think about that”.?

To uncover a whole new perspective that broadens your audience for you to tap into profitable markets you haven’t thought of.?

A boutique of people overlooked, the first Black-woman, migrant, global citizen, polyglot-owned UX business is disrupting how we design products for people. We illuminate people’s multi-facets to drive the way businesses target you in the design of the user experience of tech and products.

When you understand the systems in which you live in, you can design and imagine endless solutions to your wildest dreams. The truth is a lot of us don’t understand the systems as well as we think.

Hard evidence? Just look at the lack of representation and bias that is injected in how technology is designed.

I founded Propel Innovations to bridge the gap between people and product. In this day and age where tech is at the intersection that influences our decision-making, why aren’t we targeting the multi-facets of people to build products that are adaptable?