My 2-year career pivot from Corporate to Climate with Pauline Frison
Hello, I’m Pauline Frison, the CEO of Second Life. We are a social enterprise that fights plastic pollution in Southeast Asia. How do we do that? We collect waste from coastal areas and recycle it.
I started my sustainability journey two years ago. Back then, I was the Asia Director for a food and beverage company in Taiwan, and I wanted to do something different with my life. But it wasn’t easy. I had two main challenges: first, changing location, and second, not coming from the industry, which made it difficult to break into sustainability.
So how did I do it? I reached out to a lot of sustainability professionals on LinkedIn and asked to meet for coffee to hear about their experiences and maybe gain some contacts. I also joined many networking events and took online training courses to improve my knowledge. And one day, bingo—I responded to an internship ad for a business development manager at Second Life, and I got in.
I took the risk of moving to Thailand for a salary five times lower than what I was earning. But it worked out. One year later, I’m managing the company and I’m finally able to create real social and environmental impact.
If I have one piece of advice for people who want to join the sustainability movement, it would be this:
- First, define your objectives—maybe one to three—and break them down into small steps. That way, it feels less overwhelming and you can track your progress.
- Second, don’t be afraid to take risks.
- And finally, connect with people.
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