Carole MONE
Economic Exchanges & Development Projects in Africa
Stella BIDA, in conversation with Carole MONE, Facilitator of Economic Exchanges & Development Projects in Africa
Summarised conversation transcript
This is a summarized version of the conversation. You’ll find even more details and tips shared in the video.
Carole Mone is a woman I met a few years ago. She acts as a facilitator for economic exchanges and development projects in Africa.
STELLA BIDA : Carole, you are today’s inspiring story. What else should we know about you?
CAROLE MONE : Perhaps the personal side: I’m the mother of two teenage girls, almost as tall as me. This morning, I got up in mom mode, I made pancakes for my daughter Laetitia, who is 13 years old, and who was going back to school today after five months, because of Covid. So I have these two teenage girls, Audrey and Laetitia, who are obviously my sources of inspiration too. I’ve been married for about twenty years, I’ve lived in Brussels for about 25 years. I’ve actually been working in the field you mentioned for about nine to ten years.
STELLA BIDA : I understand that your two daughters are very important to you. If they ask you what success is, what do you tell them?
Success is not a matter of great ambitions
CAROLE MONE : I’m lucky to have teenage girls who are quite open-minded and who actually quickly grasp the realities of society. They are mixed race, so they come from two cultures, African culture and Western culture. What I tell them is to be in a dynamic in which they do what they love. I always tell my daughters, succeeding in life doesn’t necessarily mean being an engineer, or a doctor, or a lawyer, or having great ambitions. It’s about being where you are and doing what you love. My daughters still have lots of dreams! I often tell them that no matter what career they want to do in the future, no matter the outcome of their journey, what I obviously want is for them to do what they love with passion. Because I am passionate, everything I do in my life I do with enormous passion. I think passion is important, whether it’s on a personal or professional level. That’s what matters most to me.
Finding your passion again means asking yourself the right questions.
STELLA BIDA : How do we maintain this passion and enthusiasm when life’s twists and turns try to throw us off course?
CAROLE MONE : Indeed, we are dependent on the reality of the society in which we live, and it’s not always easy to highlight this passion. But I think what’s important is really to be yourself, to keep that childlike soul. It’s about that little seed that was deep inside us at the beginning and that allows us to move forward. I’m passionate about theater, I do amateur theater. I’m an amateur theater actress, and I really like it because beyond everything I am, I remain someone who is quite shy inside. I have a hard time putting myself in front of people like that. People sometimes have the impression that it’s very easy because I do it with ease, but every time I have to speak in front of a crowd or my job requires it, I always have this knot in my stomach. My passion has allowed me to keep within me this desire to do what I’ve always wanted to do. With the job I do today, I have to travel a lot, but I try to cultivate this passion like this plant we have inside the house, with care so that it can bloom and flourish. We must be able to fulfill ourselves without extinguishing this spark that is deep within us, no matter our profession. I tell my daughters, if you want to be hairdressers, then be passionate hairdressers, cut hair, style with passion if you want to be!
What I want to communicate through this is that when we get up in the morning to go to work, we keep that drive that allows us to keep that desire. When that desire is no longer there, then it’s time to ask ourselves the right questions. We really have to cultivate that little seed that’s been inside us from the start.
We must have this conviction that we are worth it!
STELLA BIDA : Carole, your job requires you to be able to speak to crowds and important figures, on an international level. What would you say to people who say they are shy and unable to express their leadership? What mindset do you cultivate within yourself to use your words?
CAROLE MONE : I believe in myself deeply. I do believe that I have skills and knowledge that the profession I have given me. I acquired them over time. When I started this profession nine or ten years ago, obviously I didn’t have the ease I claim today. It’s true that being a woman of African descent requires a certain leadership, telling myself that I too am worth it. There’s also an educational role, meaning that we must sometimes educate people. I’ve very often found myself confronted with realities where the people I was talking to were based on preconceived notions, because I’m a Black woman. My role is also to make them understand that beyond stereotypes, I have the ability to bring something of value, something they need. My experience with the companies I’ve been interacting with for the past ten years has also allowed me to affirm the fact that I do indeed have something they need. It’s a perpetual quest, because every time I prepare a project, like those I’ve prepared in Africa – or in the Middle East in the past – I have to take the cultural dimension into account. The place of women is not always a given. I actually had to be able to educate, explaining that they shouldn’t stop at the fact that I’m a woman. The results are there.
If we don’t believe in ourselves, unfortunately, there’s very little chance that others will. Deep down, we must have the conviction that we are worth it.
STELLA BIDA : What do you think are the key skills you need to develop to take your place?
CAROLE MONE : To take your place, the first step is to educate yourself. We live in a society today where intellectual skills are important. Then you have to believe in yourself. Finally, to take your place, you have to learn to share what you’ve learned with others.
What to do with your values when faced with difficult choices?
STELLA BIDA : Many people struggle to make choices when presented with opportunities, especially when their values aren’t fully aligned. Have you ever said “no” to an opportunity because it wasn’t aligned with your values?
CAROLE MONE : Yes, of course. I studied International Trade and Marketing, in addition to a degree in Communications. I had the opportunity a few years ago to work in the lobbying sector, in which you have to be able to influence decision-makers, find influential people who can propose solutions to real-life realities. I once had a personal questioning, wondering if because I’m a salesperson and I know how to sell, should I do it for everything? I also have ethics, I’m a human being, I have my culture, I have my realities, I know what I believe in. I had to tell myself from the start that I was going to say “no,” set my limits, and leave it at that.
I firmly believe that we must be able to look at ourselves in the mirror and tell ourselves that what we are doing is well done, and that we are doing it for a cause in which we believe.
If I were 15 again, I would...
STELLA BIDA : What would you say to 15-year-old Carole if you had her in front of you?
CAROLE MONE : I would reassure her because it was a Carole who wasn’t sure of herself. She had lots of dreams. I would ask her to continue believing in herself, that things will come little by little. There’s a proverb that says: “If youth knew and if old age could…” I would take my arms as today’s adult and tell her that it will be okay.
STELLA BIDA : What vision are you currently holding dear?
CAROLE MONE : I arrived in Belgium about 25 years ago. I’m lucky to work with the African continent, since I organize about five to six economic missions a year in the region, traveling with the Belgian delegation and finding partners. I would like to work in Africa and be able to develop my skills there. That’s something I’d like to do. I’m trying to give myself every possible means to see this project succeed. I made certain choices in the past, but today my daughters are teenagers and they’re getting older. They’re therefore capable of understanding this. I think it would also be a real challenge for me to be able to return there with this Western culture that I’ve acquired, and relearn my African culture in a professional environment. That’s a beautiful dream that I hope to be able to realize one day.
STELLA BIDA : What are the three words of support you would give to someone who is completely “down,” who doesn’t know where they stand, especially during this particular time of the Covid crisis?
CAROLE MONE : First of all, I would talk to them about hope. I’m fundamentally optimistic. I always try to see things from the best possible perspective, and I think we’re in a situation where we need to believe. It’s about believing in what we want to do. Then we have to give ourselves the means to take advantage of our opportunities and be in the right place at the right time, with the right people. That’s how opportunities open up to us. And finally, it’s about fulfilling ourselves through what we want to do.
[…]
CAROLE MONE : We’re also in a feminine dimension. When I’m in projects in which there are eighty or ninety percent men present, and very few women who don’t dare for various reasons, I tell myself that there’s a message to convey from us. Because if we don’t do it, I almost want to say that there’s no one who will do it for us.
STELLA BIDA : Thank you Carole for your contribution.
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