Women With Impact #41 - Sofia Appelgren
Welcome to Women With Impact, a newsletter all about the journeys of mission-driven women and how they have a positive impact in our world.
I’m Clara Richter and this is the 41st edition of Women With Impact. If you enjoy this issue, please share it with a friend and like it above.
For this edition, I interviewed Sofia Appelgren, Founder of Mitt Liv AB and Founder of Mitt Livs Val Foundation. Based between Sweden and Switzerland, I met Sofia at the St. Gallen Symposium 2024, where I had the great honour to speak on a panel with her. With the social enterprise Mitt Liv AB, she is advocating for equal job opportunities and conditions in the labour market. As CEO for nine years, she transformed Mitt Liv into Sweden's largest mentoring program for academics with a foreign background and a renowned Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultancy, training over 14k+ individuals annually. Sofia was featured as one of Time Magazine's Next Generation Leaders, received Sweden's Best Social Entrepreneur award by Ben & Jerry's, and was named one of the 125 most influential women in the Swedish business community.
Wishing you a pleasant read!
Best,
Clara
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The Journey
Who are you and how do you most like to spend your time?
I'm Sofia. Mom to Alice, 19, and Viggo, 16. I am 42 years old and maybe in the happiest place I have ever been. I love to read, spend time in nature with my dog Messi, paint, write, and do lots of sports (golf is my favourite). I always end up in my own little bubble, observing and trying to figure things out. Someone told me I'm very "nustyrd" (Swedish), which means "I do things here and now”. When someone tells me that something is not possible, I always need to try it out. Most of the time, I have been positively surprised that things works out even if people around only saw hinders. I don't fear trying new things (except those involving heights and spiders) and I am sometimes too curious for my own best. So far, life has been one big adventure. I think I need to write a book one day about all the craziness and what life has brought me and I still wonder what all the situations I've been through are preparing me for. What is the final battle? Is there one, why do I need to build up all this strength, what for?
I enjoy the small moments of my daily life my morning coffee, my kids, and my dear. It’s the little things I appreciate the most, like the smell of freshly made coffee in the morning, a hug from someone I love, a moment with my best friends and family, having time to reflect, putting together beautiful colours in a painting, going for a run and enjoying the different seasons in nature.
When starting your career, did you have a clear picture where it would be heading?
I had absolutely no idea when I grew up and have never thought of a career. I was shy as a child but later as teenager, I started my first company in the gymnasium where I read economics and realised I enjoyed all the pieces of running a company with all the 100 different “hats” you need to wear. Starting a company gave me room for my energy and stimulation intellectually and I found out that I was pretty good at holding things together. I also started to be very interested in labour market politics and topics like inclusion, integration, and human rights. I read psychology, sociology at university and I took some courses at the UN. I had friends who went to the UN HQ in New York, but I didn’t think the chances were big for me as a young mom to find a job there. Instead, I founded my own company in 2008 and decided to see if I could start my own little ”UN” focusing on the topics I was deeply interested in. I quickly felt that I had started something meaningful. It had an impact on those who joined and my curiosity brought me to a world of exploration and deeper understanding. And still after 16 years, well, here I am. I love our mission and the energy it gives back to always reach higher and increase our social impact.
It took four years before we did our first business strategy. I was too much into "exploring by doing" to make sure we did the right things for the right target groups before we had a plan. Since then, I have worked a lot, constantly developing both the business and myself. It’s more a lifestyle than a job for me. It has been fun, challenging, and interesting - the experiences brought me out into the world, which I always dreamed of. As long as the challenges are big enough, there is space for creativity and the learning curve is steep, I feel that I'm in the right place. And I truly believe the best is yet to come :-)
As the founder of Mitt Livs Val Foundation and the social enterprise Mitt Liv AB, what is your vision?
Our vision is to work for an inclusive society and a labour market that values diversity.
What are your key takeaways when it comes to building a social business?
There are so many key takeaways after 16 years. I am currently lecturing at Stockholm School of Economics on this topic for their EMBA students. I love to meet the students because they challenge me a lot with their questions. It's about how to build a “social” business with financial results, social impact, a great team, shareholders on board. Additionally, it is also about developing our services in a very complex topic including a great variation of opinions, emotions, legislation, cultures and values. The big questions we and I ask myself are:
How do we create long-term results while supporting individuals in the job market "here and now”?
How do we scale without compromising the quality we have?
How do we navigate as a social enterprise between the public and private sectors, the commercial space and volunteering?
How do we bring this internationally on another scale?
It’s not easy, but that’s what I like - these challenges are what keeps my brain on fire 24/7.
Most recently, you announced that you are expanding to Switzerland. Could you please share a little about what excites you most when growing your company here?
I was asked by the Swedish-Swiss Chamber of Commerce to facilitate their first DEI seminar a year ago. That was the starting point of exploring if there are challenges and potential for us to bring the pragmatic way of working with DEI to Switzerland. I couldn’t find any similar solution and still don't to this day. DEI is much broader than just gender (gender is not less important), and I'm now looking forward to working with our CEO for Switzerland, who join us full-time in September, to broaden the mindset around DEI in Switzerland in a long-term and sustainable way.
Together with for example ABB, Adecco and our other funding partners as well as new partners in Switzerland, we aim to move the needle towards a more inclusive society and a labour market that values diversity. By offering hands-on tools and actions that have been tried and evaluated for over 16 years in Sweden and internationally, we know we make change. We also have an amazing Swiss investor in wonderful Monique Bär. She is a true role model who gives me so much positive energy on this journey. I feel privileged to have met her and now learn from her and partner with her on this journey.
What situation in your life have you most grown from?
Too many. I was asked to participate in a study as a “real case” on how to become resilient. I don’t know where to start. I think it's in life's challenges that we grow the most. I have been through hell for example when my kids' father had cancer but in heaven being a mom of two. My kids grow up in 2 cultures which is enriching, but also comes with challenges and opportunities to grow. I was financially challenged building my own business (I had 1000 CHF in salary the first two years, always giving everything to the company to be able to grow and a minimum to myself).
Moreover, I had a childhood journey where I was never really the one who followed the crowd and was shy on top. But thanks to my parents who were always supportive, I was confident to do my own thing. I grew up in a safe and loving home, but had a challenging time in school surrounded by kids who were much more though than me. Thanks to my lively and rich fantasy (maybe because of my introvert traits), I can always go there whenever I want or need to, even if I was struggling with the attitudes and values you “had to have” to be included in school. There is a reason there is a saying “what doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger”. What we focus on grows, and for me, my imagination makes me stronger.
What is the best advice you have been given recently?
It was actually BTS founder Henrik Ekelund who reminded me of the importance of “try first,” then add strategy and great people to the journey. I created the case with Switzerland with both mentor programs and collaborations before we decided in the board to give a “go.” That was also how I started Mitt Liv from the very beginning. I simply started exploring the idea “on the market”. I think many fail because they have a good idea on paper, a nice presentation, and want financial stability and everything at once before they even know if the idea works. One of my shareholders, when I'm too impatient, reminds me that “it most times takes a life to build something great”. I also met an amazing leader in South Africa recently, who said “if humans can do, we can undo”. I took that with me. We can always change and most importantly, should never stop trying to do better, as well as never fear to fail. In all successful companies, someone at some point was brave enough to try and did not fear of failing.
Anything else you would like to share with our Women With Impact community?
I meet so many amazing people and I feel very fortunate and humbled to have the chance to learn so much from great people. I think that the most important advice would be: always surround yourself with people who like to see you grow, who support you unconditionally, and where you feel loved even if they challenge your ideas. Cut the “no sayers” who haven’t done the journey themselves, and don’t listen too much to everyone who wishes to tell you how to live your life. You know what’s important for you. For me, I decided from the very beginning of my “Mitt Liv journey” to include the kids as much as possible. I wanted it to be a common adventure since I knew I would work a lot to make this happen. My kids and I are deeply connected even (or thanks to?) if I'm not the typical mom with the life I have and the journey I have done with Mitt Liv so far. But trust yourself and be confident that you know what’s best for you and your kids.
So keep shining, do your thing, and surround yourself with people who trust and are confident enough in themselves to support you with love and are genuinely happy for you when you reach your goals. Never forget to give back and never forget those who helped you.
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