Crowdfunding is to my mind one of the biggest shifts in the finance industry of the modern age. Getting more women entrepreneurs up and running will have exponential positive impacts on the world we live in. Sitting at the intersection of those two worthwhile endevours is Mouna.
What’s your story?
I was born and raised in Tunisia, the jewel of North Africa. I have enjoyed 13 years of an exciting career where I designed and built bridges both in Africa and in Asia. I have enjoyed both corporate roles and running my own businesses. Today, through Woomentum I find myself still building bridges but this time between people. Founding Woomentum has a very strong connection to my personal journey when faced challenges in pursuing an exciting career while juggling responsibilities of raising small children. I am very passionate about entrepreneurship and my vision is to live in a world where all women play along their own rules and define their own terms of success.
What excites you most about your industry?
Crowdsroucing and the Human to Human connection that is revolutionizing our B2B and B2C models and reshaping the way we do business, education, research and politics.
The thought of tapping into the crowd wisdom to solve problems, or the fact that crowdfunding is democratizing access to funds is to me the biggest hook. It offers entrepreneurs endless possibilities.
Entrepreneurship is about collaboration, sharing knowledge, information and resources. That is why I have created under the umbrella of Woomentum Hercolab.com and CrowdFundHerLive.com, two crowdsouring platforms to serve female entrepreneurs to help them solve their challenges and raise funds. The ultimate goal is to see them build sustainable and profitable businesses. The most exciting thing is that the crowd is part of their success!
What’s your connection to Asia?
I have lived more than a decade in Asia. My Asian journey started in Japan when I decided to pursue my masters degree and work there as an engineer and then as a regional manager of a technology company based in Tokyo. Today, I am enjoying my work and I am very much appreciating the cultural experience in both North East and South East Asia. Currently, I live in Singapore with my husband and two daughters and we have made it our home.
Favourite city in Asia for business and why?
By far Singapore, although my connection to Tokyo is very strong I find Singapore a much more accessible and favorable environment for entrepreneurship. It’s modern, safe and efficient, all I need to both run my family and my business.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
I was told by my mentor, never compromise on two things when building your business:
- on your resources: Hire the best resources when starting a business because compromising on the quality of the job to be done may lead to redoing everything all over again which will incur losses and sometimes even the end of the business. Whenever I think of hiring I prefer to hire the highest caliber part-time resource rather than a full-time resource that doesn’t offer the same level of quality expertise.
- on your business values: when the values are clear, knowing what’s right is easy and makes negotiations and the decision making process so much easier. When in the process of making a decision for your business, always think of the smartest thing to do as opposed to the right thing to do. Go for the right thing! This has served me tremendously in the way I run my business.
Who inspires you?
I have many people who inspired me along the way and still inspire me in both my personal and professional journey. Some of them are influential leaders and some are ordinary people who are doing ordinary things.
I get inspired every time I meet a woman entrepreneur starting-up a cool project. Just recently, Naomi Wolf was in town and I absolutely loved her talk and vision about bringing women in tech globally together. Part of my work is around that and her drive and vision are truly inspiring.
What have you just learnt recently that blew you away?
That the failures I had were in fact the best things that ever happened to me. Only recently have I realized the importance of failing and that my success could never happen unless i acknowledge and leverage on my learning from that failure. It has shifted the way I think, the way I work and interact with people around me. And yes that is to me mind blowing!
If you had your time again, what would you do differently?
Definitely focus on acquiring more life skills. For example, take on a training in public speaking, believe more in my visions and don’t wait until I’mm forty to make a change in the world. And certainly learn coding!
How do you unwind?
I mediate very regularly. At least ten minutes a day once a day.
Or simply, play with my two little ones (making sure all my devices are out of the way!).
Favourite Asian destination for relaxation? Why?
Japan – I am addicted to the mountains, the hot Onsens, the Ryokan and the Japanese culinary experience. By far it’s my favourite place in Asia.
Everyone in business should read this book:
Depending on the type of reading, but one book that really inspired me and to which I strongly connect is written by Adriana Huffington Thrive: The Third metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder
Shameless plug for your business:
The crowdsourcing platform that will redefine the terms of success for women around the world. www.woomentum.com
How can people connect with you?
Linkedin: sg.linkedin.com/in/mounaaouri
Facebook: facebook.com/woomentum
Twitter: @woomentum
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This interview was part of the Callum Connect’s column found on The Asian Entrepreneur:
Callum Laing has started, built, bought and sold half a dozen businesses in a range of industries across two continents. He is the owner of Fitness-Buffet a company delivering employee wellness solutions in 11 countries and he is also the CEO of Entrevo Asia, a company that runs 40 week Growth Accelerator programs.
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