Andrea Bury

00:00:02:13 – 00:00:28:12
Andrea
I started collecting old Berber bags like hand embroidered bags that, originally NE were men’s bags. And I wore them also in Berlin. And then some of my friends asked like, hey, this is cool embroidery and bags, like where did you get it? And then I told the stories of the bags and, and this is how I actually started selling bags.

00:00:28:14 – 00:00:53:03
Andrea
And I created a breed and Abury Foundation as a social business, kind of selling bags and using the money to invest it in schools and, education programs. And so that was the beginning.

00:00:53:05 – 00:01:26:10
Claudia
Hello, and welcome back to Shift Happens. Today I’m in conversation with Andrea Bury. Andrea is based in Berlin. She’s an entrepreneur, marketing strategist and founder of a brewery, a social business that bridges culture craftsman shift and education, focusing on women and girls. Andrea’s shift began when she moved to Marrakesh after having worked in sports sponsoring Formula One, the Laureus World Sports Award.

00:01:26:12 – 00:02:10:11
Claudia
She basically had lived in a men’s world. Her career was always supported by men. Women’s empowerment was something she never really understood. But then in Morocco, she met so many bright, passionate, empathetic women, yet realized and witnessed that they never once were asked what they dreamed of for their lives. Please listen to how this moment changed everything for Andrea and what has been unfolding over the last 15 years.

00:02:10:13 – 00:02:16:23
Claudia
So hello, Andrea from Berlin. Andrea Bury, welcome to Shift Happens.

00:02:17:01 – 00:02:20:01
Andrea
Thank you so much. I’m looking forward to the conversation.

00:02:20:06 – 00:02:31:14
Claudia
Yeah. Me too. Me too. We know so many people in common and have somehow crossed our path is quite a bit, as we found out. But we’ve never met, so it’s wonderful to see you here.

00:02:31:16 – 00:02:32:19
Andrea
Yeah.

00:02:32:21 – 00:02:45:18
Claudia
Before we start, I want to ask you some questions. Apple or oranges? Apple. Still a sparkling,

00:02:45:20 – 00:02:48:10
Andrea
I actually like to mix.

00:02:48:12 – 00:02:53:02
Claudia
Okay. Ice cream or sorbet?

00:02:53:04 – 00:02:55:02
Andrea
Ice cream.

00:02:55:04 – 00:03:01:12
Claudia
Can you say something or do you remember something that really made you laugh this week?

00:03:01:14 – 00:03:03:11
Andrea

00:03:03:13 – 00:03:19:00
Andrea
Actually, yes. Yesterday evening we were at an at an event and we talked about, religion and, about the three monotheistic religions. Yeah. So.

00:03:19:02 – 00:03:19:10
Andrea

00:03:19:12 – 00:03:32:13
Andrea
And one of the people in the round like they said, mono gam okay. Instead of monotheistic. And that was like so so funny, you know. But that’s a really nice.

00:03:32:13 – 00:03:34:23
Claudia
In the context of religion particularly. Yes.

00:03:35:05 – 00:03:36:23
Andrea
Exactly. Like. Yes.

00:03:37:01 – 00:03:38:03
Claudia
That’s pretty funny.

00:03:38:05 – 00:03:45:03
Andrea
Yeah.

00:03:45:05 – 00:04:14:08
Claudia
Okay. So in this season six of shift happens we are talking yes about shifts. But I’m talking to women who all at some point decided and pivoted into a career or on a path where they decided to use their skills to do something good. And you’ve done luckily, the same. Which is great because I read your bio and you seem to be a whirlwind and a real doer, and I think leaders with impact are really, really needed in this field.

00:04:14:09 – 00:04:21:13
Claudia
And you also said that you kind of moved away from a men’s world and, not out of hate.

00:04:21:15 – 00:04:22:12
Andrea
No, no, no.

00:04:22:12 – 00:04:28:21
Claudia
Not at all. No, no, not at all. But maybe you can speak a little bit about this bridge that you crossed.

00:04:28:23 – 00:04:29:08
Andrea
Yeah.

00:04:29:14 – 00:04:35:19
Claudia
Yeah. From where you started. And then when you decided that you want to take on a different path.

00:04:35:20 – 00:04:47:03
Andrea
Yeah. Well yeah. First thank you for inviting me. I think it’s a really great podcast. And also opportunity that you give to women to shine a light, on us.

00:04:47:05 – 00:04:47:13
Claudia
Thank you.

00:04:47:14 – 00:05:22:01
Andrea
So, that’s really great. And and we both started, I think, the same environment, like, like, 30 years ago, like marketing, sponsoring PR and sports. And, so I was at formula one, events, tennis, esports, sponsoring lifestyle entertainment, lots of fun and a lot of environments. Male driven. But still, I have to say, like I said before, I had also a lot of really great male mentors.

00:05:22:03 – 00:05:55:21
Andrea
So they actually pushed me in my career and often thought that I was capable of things that I didn’t think I was able to do. So that’s also a good thing about men, that they sometimes see something in you that you don’t see yourself. But then having said that, like, especially the formula one years, like two years, I spent there, I thought, I want to use my skills for something different, like more, with more positive impact in the world.

00:05:55:23 – 00:06:39:02
Andrea
And so I started first thinking about, sustainable events. Yeah. And now I’m talking about more than 20 years ago. And so at that time, it was still something new. Yeah. Or like. Yeah. And but then I also felt that’s that’s not enough. And with my ex-husband together, we then decided we wanted to create a think tank, and we moved to Marrakesh because we thought it’s a great place to have something like a, location where you can think about the future because it brings so many different influences together.

00:06:39:02 – 00:07:09:12
Andrea
You see the donkey cart next to the SUV. You have the covered woman next to the woman in high heels and mini skirt. You have the tennis golf course next to the village without water. So? So there are a lot of things that inspire you to think about the environment and to make a long story short, I moved there and lived in Marrakech for three years, between 2007 and 10.

00:07:09:14 – 00:07:14:23
Andrea
And I think that’s the biggest shift I made in, in my life.

00:07:15:01 – 00:07:15:08
Andrea

00:07:15:11 – 00:07:23:16
Andrea
Because first of all, it’s a completely different culture. And so you are for the first time like the foreigner.

00:07:23:19 – 00:07:24:02
Andrea

00:07:24:04 – 00:07:44:16
Andrea
And in a country and. Well I have lived in, in the UK before and in France but you know it’s still Europe. You don’t feel so foreign as when you get into like an African or Arabic country. At least for me it was like this. And and then you start.

00:07:44:17 – 00:07:48:20
Claudia
Oh how was it, how was it to establish your life there.

00:07:48:22 – 00:08:23:08
Andrea
To be honest it wasn’t, it wasn’t easy for me to first like understand the different codes, to also accept them because this is what we always say, like, okay, people come here, they should accept our codes. Now I go there, I want to accept or learn about their culture and and their codes. And there are a lot of like little fights inside yourself, because on the one hand, you kind of, tell yourself, well, this is the culture you are now living in.

00:08:23:08 – 00:08:46:22
Andrea
And I try to understand, like try to where they come from, be open, be tolerant, and at the same time you think like, okay, why is this man not shaking my hand? Why is he not looking in my eyes? Why are there no women, selling things? Because they are not allowed to be outside the home. Like.

00:08:47:00 – 00:08:47:07
Andrea

00:08:47:09 – 00:09:07:00
Andrea
So you know it’s a, it’s a lot of like I got really involved in all of these thoughts like. And also asking like what’s right, what’s wrong. Why do I think this way. What’s my socialization. Where do I come from. I have this thinking but is it really the right thinking. Like yeah, you know.

00:09:07:05 – 00:09:15:02
Claudia
Well it’s always good to be outside of your own comfort zone, right? Yeah. It actually does a lot of good.

00:09:15:04 – 00:09:45:00
Andrea
Yeah, exactly. I think so too. Like. But what what happened is that like for the first months or even a year, I actually was very passive. I was like mostly observing. I tried to learn and understand. I joined a youth organization, its Tag act, which is the youth organization of the Rotary Club. They also exist, there and they, they work with villages.

00:09:45:03 – 00:10:14:04
Andrea
So I just joined them like when day went to give clothes or books or food or, Ramadan packages to kind of learn how it works. Like, like how does the culture work? And at the same time, I read a lot of studies, about gender gap, like at, like one of my favorite studies is the world gender gap report of the World Economic Forum.

00:10:14:09 – 00:10:15:03
Andrea

00:10:15:14 – 00:10:37:05
Andrea
I think it’s super interesting. And I learned that Morocco like since they started to do the analysis, Morocco is always in the top ten from behind. So after Morocco you have Yemen, Afghanistan Mali. And so I thought, okay, why is that. You know

00:10:37:07 – 00:10:38:06
Andrea

00:10:38:07 – 00:10:53:03
Andrea
Yeah. So this is how, how my thinking started and, and actually there was like a certain point that I just thought I was so lucky to be born as a woman in let’s say Europe.

00:10:53:05 – 00:10:53:13
Andrea

00:10:54:00 – 00:11:04:03
Andrea
With all the opportunities where I had so many choices of what I can wear, what I can learn, what do we take.

00:11:04:05 – 00:11:06:07
Claudia
What we take for granted.

00:11:06:09 – 00:11:46:19
Andrea
Exactly like. And then and then I, I obviously I met a lot of women on my path and they are they are great. They are funny. They’re damn right. The only thing is they they have never been asked, what’s your dream in life? What do you want to become? Because it’s clear, like you, you marry the cousin of the daughter and then, you have some kids and a nice household and, be with your friends, if everything goes well.

00:11:46:21 – 00:11:47:12
Andrea

00:11:47:14 – 00:11:56:18
Claudia
So that was, that was the big moment. Yeah. And so that these women really weren’t asked what’s your dream. What is, what do you really want to do.

00:11:56:21 – 00:12:16:23
Andrea
Exactly. And, and I didn’t, I did interviews then with women in, in the villages and I was a translator. I don’t speak Arabic, unfortunately, but. And I asked them because we gave them some that started very small, like gave them, offered them some training and reading and writing.

00:12:17:04 – 00:12:17:23
Andrea

00:12:18:01 – 00:12:21:01
Andrea
And then I as in like what do you want to do when you can read and write.

00:12:21:06 – 00:12:21:13
Andrea

00:12:21:16 – 00:12:32:02
Andrea
Like what’s your. And then they were looking at me and the like okay what does she want to hear. You really could see that they think what’s the right answer to this question.

00:12:32:08 – 00:12:32:21
Andrea

00:12:32:23 – 00:12:44:03
Andrea
And they, they, they just have never been asked before like what’s your dream. What do you want to do with your knowledge. And so they just didn’t understand what I was asking.

00:12:44:05 – 00:13:05:10
Claudia
Amazing. Yeah. Yeah. It’s almost it’s almost unthinkable for us. Right. Yeah. To not have an answer of what, you know, what we want to do with something and so on. Yeah. And then from there on, you really, focused on on this life. And then you left Marrakech, but you already had started, right? To build something. Yeah.

00:13:05:12 – 00:13:37:08
Andrea
Yeah, exactly. Funny enough, like, things happened parallel. I started collecting old Berber bags, like hand embroidered bags that, originally NE, were men’s bags and, and I wore them also in Berlin. And then some of my friends asked like, hey, this is a cool embroidery and cool bags, like, where did you get it? And then I told the stories of the bags and, and this is how I actually started selling bags.

00:13:37:10 – 00:13:54:11
Andrea
And I created every and every foundation as a social business kind of selling bags and using the money to invest it in schools and, education programs on site. That was the beginning.

00:13:54:13 – 00:13:54:22
Andrea
Yeah.

00:13:54:23 – 00:13:59:03
Claudia
And so now how many years has your foundation been running.

00:13:59:05 – 00:14:00:11
Andrea
Now it’s 15 years.

00:14:00:14 – 00:14:03:09
Claudia
Wow. Congratulations.

00:14:03:11 – 00:14:04:14
Andrea
Thank you. Yeah.

00:14:04:14 – 00:14:23:14
Claudia
And I saw that your, work has been recognized internationally, and, that you really are a recognized driver of social change. And, what? You know, once you had this capsule, what’s developed from this?

00:14:23:16 – 00:14:57:11
Andrea
Yeah. Well, it was definitely still is. And probably always will be a a great learning experience. Over all this time because, like, I didn’t study development aid or nor fashion. So two industries I had no idea about, but, so now with the Avery Foundation number one, obviously you can never do it by yourself. So the first thing is find people who share your passion.

00:14:57:13 – 00:15:23:02
Andrea
And, I’m lucky, like, really lucky enough to have found really amazing women who who share this passion and and drive the foundation with me now. And through this, we we are now like we, we employ eight teachers in Morocco and, we are a team of seven in Germany.

00:15:23:08 – 00:15:24:00
Andrea

00:15:24:02 – 00:15:40:18
Andrea
So we are not big, but we, we are now like a real group of people who, who drive projects and and also intercultural development. It’s, it’s it’s really fun as well.

00:15:40:20 – 00:15:41:12
Andrea

00:15:41:14 – 00:15:55:06
Claudia
Well that’s great. And you also started an academy. And that is particularly focusing on young women. Right on, on girls about to leave school.

00:15:55:08 – 00:16:24:10
Andrea
Yeah. Actually we have two academies. So we, we have one which is in Marrakesh, which is called the Hospitality Academy. And this is a nine months, education program for young women between 18 and 30 to make the first step into the hospitality and tourism industry. Obviously, tourism is one of the biggest growth factors in Morocco.

00:16:24:13 – 00:16:25:06
Andrea

00:16:25:08 – 00:16:54:16
Andrea
In 2030 we have the football World Cup coming also to Morocco. So a lot of investments in hotels and in infrastructure is going to Morocco at the moment as well. And what we learned talking to hotels is like they have staff for management, you know are a lot of schools and universities. A lot of obviously also international people running the big hotel chains.

00:16:54:18 – 00:17:31:19
Andrea
But then finding really good train staff, local staff for housekeeping, for service, for flowers, for like all the things you need in big hotels. That’s one of their challenges. And this is when we we thought like, this is such a great opportunity for women to find an easy step into independence, into the workforce and, not just doing like things in the gray market, but also be employed, have health insurance, Social Security and these kind of things.

00:17:31:19 – 00:17:48:06
Andrea
And, and we found, partners like that. And Gina, four Seasons Oberoi and our girls of six months education with us and three months they are in an internship.

00:17:48:08 – 00:17:48:15
Andrea
Yeah.

00:17:48:16 – 00:17:49:23
Claudia
That’s fantastic. Yeah.

00:17:49:23 – 00:17:51:17
Andrea
It’s really, it’s really cool.

00:17:51:19 – 00:18:04:15
Claudia
Yeah. And also it’s fun. I mean it’s funny that then in 2030 the soccer world championship sports comes back to America. Yeah. It’s kind of like like. Yes, sir. Your circle is closing.

00:18:04:17 – 00:18:08:02
Andrea
Exactly. Yeah, exactly. I’m actually really excited about it.

00:18:08:07 – 00:18:18:09
Claudia
Yeah. You know, I can imagine. So by then, you have four more years. So it’s quite a number of, young women that you will enable to go down that path.

00:18:18:11 – 00:18:28:18
Andrea
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. We started now the, the first, cohort with, 15 girls, like 14. Got to the final.

00:18:28:21 – 00:18:29:19
Andrea
Yes.

00:18:29:21 – 00:18:52:19
Andrea
And like next semester we want to double it. And on top we have where we are currently talking about a bigger investment of funding that we actually can already train 100 people next year. Oh wow. So that would be fantastic if that would come because then we can scale much, quicker.

00:18:52:21 – 00:19:04:10
Claudia
Have you built, like, a steady donor base over the years, or, are you working with particular? I don’t know, donors companies all the time.

00:19:04:12 – 00:19:20:14
Andrea
Yeah, that’s a good question. We have, one like we have the Lufthansa Help Alliance, as one of our, partners and, who is, like, really supporting also on a long term basis.

00:19:20:18 – 00:19:21:07
Andrea

00:19:21:09 – 00:19:38:09
Andrea
We had to deutsch a postcode lottery Germany for to start and we are applying for the second cohort as well. And hope we all get the, the funding, the ongoing funding from them as well. On top we have, we have something like a circle of friends.

00:19:38:11 – 00:19:38:18
Andrea

00:19:39:22 – 00:20:00:12
Andrea
Who kind of supporting on a regular basis and help us keep like the basis running. Yeah. But we need, we need the big donors on top. We’re also working with she, she has it. Like the German because they have for international collaboration.

00:20:00:17 – 00:20:01:03
Andrea

00:20:01:04 – 00:20:02:08
Claudia
Society.

00:20:02:10 – 00:20:07:02
Andrea
Yeah. So yeah these are our bigger partners.

00:20:07:03 – 00:20:14:18
Claudia
Yeah. That’s probably a constant, not a place of a worry. But I mean yeah especially nowadays.

00:20:14:20 – 00:20:49:12
Andrea
Yeah I have, I forgot one thing. And that’s actually also really really cool is the 25 hours hotels. Like yeah. Like who knows them like one of my partners. She is, she is related to the 25 hours hotels or was let’s say. And like this we got we convinced them to become partners. And what we have is like all their hotels, they for like two months a year, they donate housekeeping to us like they donated all the time to different charities.

00:20:49:13 – 00:21:10:00
Andrea
So that’s like their way of giving back. But Abury and the Abury Hospitality Academy in particular is partner for two months a year. And so when you go to 25 hours a day you will be asked if you want housekeeping or not. And if you say no they donate the part that they don’t use.

00:21:10:02 – 00:21:11:01
Claudia
Oh that’s great.

00:21:11:01 – 00:21:18:21
Andrea
And that’s actually it sounds like that’s a small thing. It’s a really big impact that that it makes.

00:21:18:23 – 00:21:25:13
Claudia
Yes. It’s a smart idea. Yeah. Very good, very good. And you mentioned that you have another academy.

00:21:25:15 – 00:21:32:10
Andrea
Yes. We. Oh, yeah. This is called the, Every Girl’s Gearing Up Academy, which is in Berlin.

00:21:32:16 – 00:21:33:08
Andrea

00:21:33:10 – 00:22:02:22
Andrea
We partner with, girls gearing up an NGO which is based in Berlin. They started the program and we partner since a couple of years, and it’s bringing together teenage girls from all over the world and put them in an environment that inspires them and like, gives them the empowerment that they believe in themselves. I think that’s especially in these years, the most important thing.

00:22:02:23 – 00:22:35:22
Andrea
And so we go, go visit Google, Microsoft RTL. They look behind the scenes, they meet managers, like female managers, obviously, who tell them how how did they become what they are like? What are their challenges? What has been the challenges? And at the same time we do a self-empowerment workshops. How do I speak up. Especially in African countries, a lot of the girls, they speak really slow like really low.

00:22:35:22 – 00:23:23:01
Andrea
You can’t even hear them. So we try to make them present and help them to like raise their voice. Define their dreams and then they go back. They have an international network number one and they are mentored one year. Oh with a digitally so that we help them to really implement their dream. Like if it is like for themselves learning something or if it is creating their own girls club in their school or becoming an ambassador for another foundation, like no matter what, we kind of accompany them and a lot of them come back and as peer leaders or yeah.

00:23:23:03 – 00:23:26:02
Claudia
It’s yeah, that’s really fascinating.

00:23:26:04 – 00:23:50:14
Andrea
Yeah. We, we identified that like the well identified. I think it’s very clear that this phase like before you are in roles before you are married or in, in certain structures, it’s like everything is it’s the easiest to change. Yeah. You to implement like some seeds in the heads of the girls you know.

00:23:50:15 – 00:23:51:13
Andrea

00:23:51:17 – 00:24:09:12
Andrea
And so, so that’s the, the best age to actually work with them and see like what how they change. It’s it’s really incredible to see how they blossom when you just like put a little bit of water on them. It’s just like great.

00:24:09:14 – 00:24:15:15
Claudia
Yeah. And do they, do they keep in touch with you. Yeah. After this year and. Yeah.

00:24:15:17 – 00:24:34:15
Andrea
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. We, well, they, we obviously have, girls who run it and they stay mostly in touch. Yeah. And, but we always follow, we give, like, the Avery Foundation gifts. Also scholarships, especially for Moroccan girls.

00:24:34:16 – 00:24:34:22
Andrea

00:24:35:03 – 00:25:06:08
Andrea
And for these girls, we have an alumni circle. They, are connected to each other. Then whenever there is something that they need, like, for example, a year ago, one of the girls was like, I want to learn coding and I cannot afford a laptop. And then if we could help her get one. So next time I went to Madagascar, brought a laptop, an old one recycled, but like empty so she could use it.

00:25:06:09 – 00:25:19:07
Andrea
And, And half a year later she sent me a photo how she was on stage, receiving a prize in our age group for a cyber security project. Hahaha.

00:25:19:09 – 00:25:48:23
Claudia
That’s great. I mean, yeah, that’s those are, you know, the moments you you do it for, right? And and you live for. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. So what would you say is a big learning out of this shift and, and the decision to dedicate your time and your focus to empowering and really, do you know, hands on implement, hands on help.

00:25:49:01 – 00:26:00:07
Andrea
Yeah. Well, learning for me, it has become it’s like really I feel I am exactly where I am meant to be.

00:26:00:09 – 00:26:01:13
Andrea

00:26:01:15 – 00:26:31:15
Andrea
You know, so obviously if you look at it it’s kind of very stressful. You have also a lot of setbacks obviously. Yeah. You also start projects that don’t turn out as you have imagined them. And then you have to kind of rethink. And not all the girls are always taking everything positively and. Do you also have to find the side with parents.

00:26:31:15 – 00:26:42:19
Andrea
So, so really be like everyone in Abury. We all love it. And this is why we are resilient.

00:26:42:21 – 00:26:56:23
Claudia
Yeah of course I mean one doesn’t think about it right when one hears about it. It’s all sounds, you know, so impactful and amazing. But of course you have many, many, stones that you can fall over or. Yeah.

00:26:57:01 – 00:27:02:13
Andrea
Yeah. And then what I also learned is it’s a lot of bureaucracy.

00:27:02:15 – 00:27:02:23
Andrea

00:27:03:04 – 00:27:33:14
Andrea
Like I’ve, I’ve become a really. Yeah. I know a lot of things now that I never thought I had to know or learn about. It starts with, one soil. Oh, like these things. You know, if you bring things from one country to another, employing people in different countries, cultures, customs. Yeah, exactly.

00:27:33:15 – 00:28:02:11
Andrea
Thank you. There are so many things, but it’s interesting, I, I and I’ve read a lot of laws, papers, theoretical papers, but it’s, it’s interesting. Like, for me, it’s interesting. And we, we divide the work between like, the people who are also hands on and on side. And we also really strongly believe that it should be run.

00:28:02:13 – 00:28:17:12
Andrea
And like the project in Morocco should be run by Moroccans. So yeah we need, we look at ourselves more as like we give a starting point and we empower but we like they run it.

00:28:17:14 – 00:28:24:08
Claudia
Yeah. Great. I mean that’s what is necessary right. Isn’t it. Like the the the and teach them how to fish.

00:28:24:10 – 00:28:25:02
Andrea
Exactly.

00:28:25:02 – 00:28:47:06
Claudia
And then they can self provide and that’s what everybody wants in the end. Right. Yeah. To be responsible for yourself and live a fairly independent life. Yeah. So that’s really great. And, can you name one of the biggest hurdles you had to overcome on this journey? Did you ever think to give up?

00:28:47:08 – 00:28:51:01
Andrea
No, but I had frustrated moments.

00:28:51:03 – 00:28:52:02
Andrea

00:28:52:12 – 00:28:59:15
Andrea
I think after like five years, I was thinking like, does it really make sense what I’m doing.

00:28:59:17 – 00:29:00:02
Andrea

00:29:00:04 – 00:29:27:11
Andrea
And after eight I saw the first like changes and then like it just takes of or it took at least in my case it took a long time to see changes that like I saw changes like small changes in one person before. But I’m talking about systemic like. That you see things change. That takes really longer.

00:29:27:13 – 00:29:27:21
Andrea

00:29:28:02 – 00:29:40:13
Andrea
And then obviously, building a team because you know, you need it and you want it because it’s also much more fun to work together with other people.

00:29:40:15 – 00:29:41:23
Andrea
And.

00:29:42:01 – 00:29:43:21
Andrea
Not having huge funding.

00:29:43:23 – 00:29:44:18
Andrea

00:29:44:20 – 00:29:46:13
Andrea
Like you know.

00:29:46:15 – 00:29:47:17
Claudia
No.

00:29:47:19 – 00:30:06:18
Andrea
Yeah. That was at the beginning also a huge challenge. Struggle let’s say. Yeah. And I’m, I’m, that’s why I’m saying I’m really lucky to have found like three women now in who joined in the board.

00:30:06:20 – 00:30:07:03
Andrea

00:30:07:03 – 00:30:12:12
Andrea
And who, who work pro-bono.

00:30:12:14 – 00:30:13:19
Claudia
Yeah. That’s great.

00:30:13:21 – 00:30:22:15
Andrea
Yeah. So, so we, we also worked with time on Avery, but we have a governing board including myself.

00:30:22:17 – 00:30:23:07
Andrea

00:30:23:09 – 00:30:39:13
Andrea
Who don’t like, take money out of the foundation. And either like myself and another woman day like we work still undecided. It’s funny to say we still we work on the side but.

00:30:39:15 – 00:30:39:20
Andrea
Because.

00:30:39:22 – 00:30:43:17
Claudia
You, you work so much for, for the other side. Yeah.

00:30:43:19 – 00:30:45:19
Andrea
Yeah.

00:30:45:21 – 00:30:51:04
Claudia
But I can imagine that it’s a feel that also brings a lot of joy.

00:30:51:06 – 00:30:52:09
Andrea

00:30:52:11 – 00:31:26:16
Andrea
Yeah it does. It’s I’m that’s why I’m saying I wouldn’t want to do anything else. Number one today. Now working in this female environment. Is, it’s very rewarding and we are all very nice towards you, towards each other like very respectful. Also curious like learn about the different cultures because they’re like women from completely different backgrounds.

00:31:26:18 – 00:31:46:02
Andrea
In the team. And that’s really like we, we, we also empower ourselves, like, within within the group, you know, and and I think that’s that’s really nice. And different age groups and it’s yeah, it’s just really beautiful.

00:31:46:05 – 00:31:57:09
Claudia
Yeah. Wonderful. So what is next for you? Is it the academy in Marrakesh that you are just building up, or is there anything else that you have on your agenda?

00:31:57:11 – 00:32:29:04
Andrea
Yeah. Well, obviously we want to grow the academy and most Vitality Academy Marrakesh because we see a lot of potential also in, creating a train to train a program so that other foundations could build on our knowledge that we created in, in their environments because we don’t want to actually expand to other cities. But we can imagine that we support other foundations to create something similar.

00:32:29:06 – 00:33:00:02
Andrea
Like, you know, that’s one thing that that we are working on. And the other thing, I cannot help it. The World Cup is coming. Obviously one of my dreams is to create a soccer project with girls that focuses on health and leadership topics because also like diabetes is like one of the biggest, health issues in, in Morocco.

00:33:00:06 – 00:33:30:14
Andrea
Oh, because it’s so much sugar. And then still women, especially in the countryside, as soon as they’re like, let’s say 15, 16, they are not really allowed to wear tight clothes and do sports outside so that men can see them. So women usually don’t do much sports. And they eat a lot of sugar. So the health issue is one thing that we want to address with the, with the project.

00:33:30:14 – 00:33:40:03
Andrea
And the next one is obviously team playing. I think soccer is an amazing team sport. Yeah. For learning some of the leadership qualities.

00:33:40:09 – 00:33:46:05
Claudia
Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Team. Yeah. And it doesn’t cost much. I mean, all you need is a ball.

00:33:46:07 – 00:33:46:21
Andrea
Exactly.

00:33:47:00 – 00:33:47:17
Claudia
In the end.

00:33:47:21 – 00:33:53:10
Andrea
Yeah. So that’s, That’s a dream as well. But we looking for a sponsor.

00:33:53:12 – 00:33:58:20
Claudia
Okay. I will also put that into my show notes.

00:33:58:22 – 00:34:22:20
Claudia
We will shout it out. Okay. Well, I thank you so much. This was such a, interesting peek into a world that is, Yeah. Driven by so much passion and by so much willingness to share with others and so much willingness to accept struggles and and hurdles in what you’re doing, but you’re doing it so fantastic.

00:34:22:20 – 00:34:32:14
Andrea
Yeah. Thank you. It. Like I said, it’s also very, rewarding. And I think yeah, a really, really great environment to work.

00:34:32:16 – 00:34:47:07
Claudia
Okay. Well, Andrea, thank you so much for your time and for telling us about the Abury Foundation and yeah, all the best. And I hope the sponsor will show up very quickly.

00:34:47:09 – 00:34:51:16
Andrea
Thank you so much. And thank you for also empowering women through your podcast.

00:34:51:21 – 00:34:55:13
Claudia
Oh thank you. Thank you. Okay. Bye bye. All the best.

00:34:55:18 – 00:35:09:07
Andrea
Bye.

00:35:09:09 – 00:35:31:05
Claudia
Another whirlwind personality. What fantastic energy Andrea holds. And she is so determined to do good to grow and expand and to include others in her growing. Bravo!

00:35:31:07 – 00:35:48:20
Claudia
Thank you for listening to Shift Happens. Please follow and subscribe to this podcast. It’s an easy hit for you with a huge impact for me. It helps me grow even further and bring you more conversations with women from around the globe.

00:35:48:22 – 00:36:07:01
Claudia
Shift happens has been created and is hosted by me. Claudia Mahler editing Andy Boroson, social media Magda Reckendrees. I hope you felt connected and heard by listening to Shift happens.