Monday Series: Social Impact Through Entrepreneurship

August 10, 2020 (San Francisco)

This past Monday, on August 10th, Harmony Plus continued our Future Entrepreneur Challenge (FEC) talkshow. For our ninth episode, we interviewed Alex Huang, Paulina Gutierrez, and Melissa Garcia, three high school students with a shared passion for paying it forward. They are all each involved in their schools and communities, giving them their own unique insights into what it means to give back.

The three met through Harmony Plus’ FEC program, and were quickly able to work well as a team through a shared vision and clear communication. The result of that vision was Charis, a non-profit volunteering platform directed towards high school students who are low-income and/or people of color. The idea was born of Alex, Paulina, and Melissa’s experiences with getting involved with their communities, instilling in them a personal motivation to provide volunteer opportunities for students who many have a difficult time doing so.

“Personally, for me, I have struggled with that experience of wanting to do volunteer hours, but because I just don’t have the time or I have other commitments or just the lack of resources… it’s a big issue. We also realized that a lot of volunteering opportunities that we knew about [required] you to commit a lot of time, and a lot of students of color or low income don’t have that type of time, and so they can’t put that commitment… So we wanted to find pop-up opportunities where they can just go in and have an experience where they can feel good about themselves and take away a skill or an experience that they learned.”

— Melissa

They also recounted the beginning stages of the team, in which there were early steps and hurdles that the team overcame. When it came to differences of opinions, which occurred frequently, the three engaged in clear communication by being honest and then cooperating to find an acceptable solution that satisfied everyone. This also extended to their time management, as Paulina and Melissa were in Pacific Time while Alex was in Eastern time, where prompt and open communication prevented frustration from building.

“It doesn’t matter if you have conflicts, just know how to talk about them openly and resolve them with your teammates. Also, [the importance] of having a good team and good teammates is second to none when trying to [engage] in entrepreneurship. If you don’t have the skill, your teammates can always fill in. If you think your idea isn’t good enough, your teammates can always contribute.”

— Alex

As for the future of Charis, the team also provided some insights as to what their plans were. Although all three are passionate about Charis, they also have other commitments as high school students, most notably applying for college. For the time being, they’ll apply the skills they have learned from their time together to their own lives, but the team does plan to return to Charis in the near future.

“I want to make sure that our whole team is involved because, at the end of the day, [not only] do we work well together, but we all contributed a large part into creating Charis. It was a team effort… and I would only want to do this if my team is on board.”

— Paulina

They also provided advice from their own experiences for students who are interested in pursuing entrepreneurship. Melissa stressed the importance of proper communication, as well as not taking anything personally in a professional setting. Paulina recommended that aspiring entrepreneurs stay in the moment and be open to learning, as that allows skills to be continually developed for future use. Finally, Alex re-iterated the importance of finding a good team, as well as not needlessly pressuring one self to having to deliver as soon as possible.

“You really do have to divide your own feelings and business, because a lot of it is not personal, it’s not about you. It’s literally about the business.”

— Melissa

“Maybe you won’t make the next million-dollar company, but you’ll be learning every step of the way, and that’s going to be [very] valuable in the future.”

— Paulina

“Don’t always feel like you ‘have to put out something’ or ‘have to have this product’. Take your time and do some research. Argue for 45 minutes about what color the presentation should be. It’ll be okay. It’ll turn out well in the end.”

If you are interested in learning more about Alex, Paulina, and Melissa’s story, you can watch the full video here.