Writing about myself is weird...(part two)

You were many who encouraged me and gave such nice comments to my story, so here comes the continuation of my story and if you haven't read part one, just click here and you will get the background,

The couple...

During our last week in Thailand, we lived on a beach… .and in the bungalow next to us lived a Swedish middle-aged couple that Roger thought seemed very interesting. He told me the whole week that we should start a conversation with them, but I was not that very interested…I just wanted to enjoy my last days on the beach before heading back to Sweden.

But so. On our last night, we were on our way home from a restaurant visit on the beach. Both our children had fallen asleep and we carried them in our arms. When we arrived at our bungalow we saw that the couple was sitting on their porch and we stopped and talked. It was a very nice conversation.

We stood there safely for a whole hour. It started to hurt our arms to carry the children. But then when we were to say good night to each other, the man asked us what we were doing back home in Sweden? - so then we introduced ourselves to each other and when the man was about to introduce himself, he told us that he worked for… .. the United Nations… …

Roger and I looked at each other and started laughing.

I told the man about my strange dream and how I had turned the computer back on in a kind of abandonment. Then the man told me: ′Based on what you have told us about your background and what you are working with, you should use code D1 when you apply for an assignment′.

I got goosebumps.

The key...

I knew right away that I had been given the first key to my dream. From that moment on, I simply couldn't let go of the dream, how strange it was.

How I would get to the UN I had no idea, but I had to use my creativity and lead myself to the UN by finding my path.

Over the years I have been given more keys.

I have attended UN schools and studied how the UN works and have understood how large, complex, political and difficult it is. I have also understood during these 12 years that the UN buys goods and services for SEK 160 billion per year. Sweden is the 6th largest aid-giving country to the system - SEK 12 billion / year but that we are poor at doing business.

This led me to become interested in the UN market - how Sweden could enter the market. And I began my work to understand how the UN buys goods and services and what other countries do to succeed in breaking through.

In the fall of 2015, something amazing happened - an event of its first kind in history. Where 193 country leaders come together and agreed on an agenda. To eradicate poverty, reduce injustice and inequality, and solve the climate crisis by the year 2030.

The agenda consists of 17 goals with 169 sub-goals and measurement points, indicators. This my friend, I believe is the world's largest project of its kind!

It has a clear beginning and end, goals, intermediate goals, and measurement indicators - where each country is responsible for its contribution.

When the Agenda 2030 were presented to the world and when I understood the meaning of such a big project, I got goosebumps!

I suddenly knew what my dream was all about and I knew that this was the market I was going to work with – to ensure that the UN procured goods and services from Sweden that were sustainable, innovative, and good for society.

But I had a problem. The UN has to ensure sustainable procurement according to SDG 12.7 – which means companies need to integrate the SDGs into business strategy and communicate it. Transparently.

Overcoming my problem...

In 2016 Swedish companies haven’t done the work of integrating the SDGs and wouldn’t qualify for procurement.

So what I did was to overcome my problem - by integrating the SDGs in business processes at that specific company I worked for. And I had success. I earned Swedens' first and largest frame agreement within IT-consultancy services for the United Nations for this specific Company I worked at that point in time. A worth of 350 M SEK.

Ultimately I transformed myself – and I had applied my knowledge from business and created a new recipe for sustainability - to deliver business growth while also contributing to societal growth - which was then, unique!

So in 2019, I quit my super well-paid job as a C-suite to start my own company – VATI of Sweden, https://vatiofsweden.com/ – which originally was a company educating and certifying professionals on how to integrate the SDGs into business core strategy. VATI of Sweden was the first consultancy in the world to issue certification on integrating sustainability into business strategy. I dare to say that what I did and the way I did it, no one else had done.

In May 2020 I started my second company VATIs Common Ground, https://vatiscommonground.com/.

I felt that a platform was needed to gather people who are passionate about sustainability and who want to make a difference and create a better world. Even though it was at the beginning of the pandemic, I dared to start my second business and it has gone very well. Today we have a loyal community of more than 25,000 people who are committed to creating a better world by running businesses that promote sustainability, equality, and diversity.

With our tribe and community, we stand on a common ground to create a better world by doing good business with the global goals for sustainable development as a framework.

More and more companies are now accelerating their sustainability work, which also leads to an increased demand for auditors who can verify companies' sustainability work. It’s no longer enough to only communicate and market that you as a company work with sustainability, but you also need to be transparent and trustworthy about how you’re working with sustainability and verify your work through an accredited independent third party.

This is the background to the start-up of the company VERIFY Agency of Sweden, https://verifyagency.com/about/, which is my third company. An accredited company by SWEDAC, who belongs to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and reports to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Nordic Affairs in Sweden.

VERIFY Agency is also the first company in the world to offer verification of the ISO26000 Self-Declaration.

The breakthrough...

I am so incredibly happy, proud, and grateful to have finally reached my destination of where I am today.

The road towards my destination has not been the straightest or for that matter the easiest that I have done, rather the most difficult.

As you may remember, it all started in Thailand almost 12 years ago on a tiny little island.

I woke up one night from a dream that was so powerful that I simply could not let go…. The dream took my way to the UN and later to the Sustainable Development Goals and the mission to teach companies, about how they can work sustainably and at the same time do good business.

The summer of 2019 was a breakthrough year!

It was at a small café in Almedalen, Sweden that I met Kristina Hallman acting CEO of SWEDAC.

I told her about my dream - to be able to certify companies' sustainability work. She told me there was no standard to certify against but that I would contact her colleague Magnus Pedersen who might be able to help me further.

It turned out that Magnus was very helpful. He guided me further on to Tina Bohlin - project manager at the Swedish Institute for Standards, SIS, who in turn nominated me to the technical committee that worked with the ISO26000 - standard for sustainability.

For many years, many of us worked with the standard and associated self-declaration. It was sometimes sweaty and tricky and yes… sometimes quite frustrating.

In the meantime, I made a life-changing decision….

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well, this was also a long read...let us continue tomorrow. The last part. I promise

I'll tell you all about my life-changing decision and how it will affect me, you, and the world.

All the best Eva

#businesswoman #story #entrepreneurship #Startup #sustainabilit #sdgs #agenda2030 #daretolead #thefutureisequal