“Entrepreneurship is a way of life”, believes Victoria Larsen.
Victoria is a model, actress and is perusing Business Studies. Being born to a successful Indian Entrepreneur mother Nicole Rodrigues and Danish father Henrik Larsen, Victoria values attributes such as honesty, passion, determination, and confidence. Since her family has multiple businesses, currently, she is contributing her part and experiencing the day-to-day activities and creative ways around them.
Being born a roman catholic to parents who believe in being a good person more than ritual cultural beliefs has helped Victoria develop with quiet a broad mind. Having the value system from the east and the exposure of the west gives her a great advantage. She enjoys sports a lot from the likes of tennis, swimming, and many more extreme sports. She also enjoys the arts and is an avid dramatics student with a keen academic influence that makes her well rounded. Victoria is a strong believer of manifestation and believes that everyone creates their own barriers and their own opportunities, as complaining, and blame games lead nowhere in life.
Victoria is of the opinion that an entrepreneurial mindset is a set of skills that enable people to identify and make the most of opportunities, overcome and learn from setbacks, and succeed in a variety of settings. It is a way of thinking that enables every individual to overcome challenges, be decisive, and accept responsibility for their outcomes. It is a constant need to improve their skills, learn from their mistakes, and take continuous action on their ideas.
An Avid Learner & Observer
Victoria Larsen believes that this great big world is an oyster for today’s generation to be creative yet responsible. She believes that having a strong sense of accepting all types of people with zero expectation gives a good head start to being able to focus on adding value instead of making judgements. Having a keen interest in the arts and business gives her a sure shot advantage.
Presently, she is aggressively working on learning all she can and being accommodating to new suggestions and ideas, which helps her in instilling the rules of life and business. She spends a lot of time around key individuals in the business world and diplomatic arena and shadows her mother.
Being in the midst of her development years, she feels that the right attitude of humility, kindness and obedience is the first step to one day hopefully becoming a great leader in her arena. From the greatest rulers to the mere garbage man, everyone has something to teach. As they say it takes a whole village to bring up a child.
Victoria emphasizes on being aware of self and surroundings. According to her, people around us act as mirror and going deep into managing one’s own emotions, random thoughts, and judgements are key factors. It takes prioritization of time, clarity of thoughts in a timely manner, and being responsible and respectful of other’s needs to maintain a balance.
Constantly Developing
Currently, Victoria is working on building herself through small jobs in the media industry by meeting and working with creative minds in the industry. Managing her own development teaches her how to deal with people, negotiate, be responsible and deliver more than what she promises with the right attitude. She is constantly developing herself by fighting her own resistance or defiance.
Victoria opines that there are pros and cons to both establishing a company and building a new one from scratch. With establishing one’s own company, one has no boundaries of what one can try and make mistakes along the way with what one has great passion for. The disadvantage is that one’s chances of success are in the midst of very high competition. On the other hand, scaling an already set business when everything is already set could be easy from the outside. The disadvantage is that one needs to constantly stick to the path and vision set which can curtail the youthful ideas however right or wrong and the risks and stakes are much higher.
Social Media is a Powerful Tool
Victoria asserts that for today’s generation social media is a powerful tool, as it is a platform where people from all over the world can connect and interact with each other. It has gained a lot of momentum in the past few years. As almost everyone has a smartphone with them, it becomes easier for them to use social networking sites. She is of the belief that everyone will have at least one account in any one of the social media websites. Students are also using social media extensively. While there is a general perception that students end up wasting lot of time in Social media, it can be used for many benefits. Learning & Networking, Expressing Creativity, Experience Global Exposure, Employment Opportunities, Social Media Marketing are some of the benefits they are gaining. Being fortunate to have travelled to all the continents on the planet has drastically helped Victoria in opening her mind to different races, cultures, lifestyles, religions, and way of lives. She is very intrigued and attracted towards the Japanese way of life and can strongly relate to it.
Essential Attributes
It is quite evident that no one likes to do business with people who are arrogant, selfish, dismissive and egotistic and Victoria believes that any business venture is a reflection of the entrepreneur’s personal values, attitudes, and beliefs which were instilled during growing up and is part of the upbringing. Entrepreneurship is not a values-free, amoral process. The very act of starting and building something of significance should require a consideration of values — of combining what is done with how it is done. There’s also a very practical reason for a values-based, morally rigorous view of entrepreneurship. That is usually the only viable way for an entrepreneur to do business in the long run.
According to Victoria, some of the essential attributes that every business leader should possess are:
Bravery: In recognizing and pursuing an opportunity, an entrepreneur requires bravery. Bravery, which springs from natural creativity and a determined spirit, helps the entrepreneur deal with discouragement and even defeat in the early stages of company formation.
Vision: Vision guides the entrepreneur through the business planning process, clarifying the opportunity and setting goals for the organization. It allows the entrepreneur to see past, his or her current position and beyond, and limited resources to more fully appreciate the potential of the venture.
Respect for self and others: Respect for one ’s self and others is essential. It enables every individual to appreciate his or her efforts, relate effectively to family and community, and motivate others. This respect, which stems from pride, hope, and enthusiasm, frees entrepreneurs from the obstacles of low self-esteem, hopelessness, and anger.
Trust: Trust is an indispensable part of the marketing effort as the company grows. Trust, which results from reliability, compassion, and gentleness, permits the entrepreneur to overcome mistrust, selfishness, and ruthlessness as the company deals with employees, customers, and vendors.
Honesty: An entrepreneur must be honest in financing the company and managing the assets of the firm. Honesty, which emanates from decisiveness in taking risks and making choices, lets the entrepreneur avoid false security and stay calm amid confusing situations.
Generosity: In directing the management and operations of a growing business, an entrepreneur should be generous. Generosity, which develops from supporting and leading others, permits an entrepreneur to eliminate racial bias, reduce resistance to change, and heal dysfunctions within the organization.
Fortitude: An entrepreneur requires fortitude to keep a business strong and eventually bring it to harvest. Fortitude, which stems from persistence, realism, and consistency, strengthens the entrepreneur against scattered thinking and giving up.
Accept it & Progress
When asked about the opinion on current landscape of business given that the pandemic has been adversely affecting every industry, Victoria mentions that many situations bring opportunities along with it like more time to reflect & consider, speed and innovation, better and more efficient meetings, modesty & acceptance. Instead of resisting it, one needs to accept and be super creative. Each individual has their own distinct experience, and while some may suffer others may create their own opportunities and shine like a phoenix.
Taking into consideration that event industry is expecting a change due to the new normal and virtual events are on rise, Victoria asserts, “We humans always find a way around to connect and establish our creative ideas. There are changes and we adapt to them understanding the macro impact on mankind. It might slow us for a short period to help us develop other aspects of our ability to create more interactive events.”
Being an extremely positive and joyous personality and having the intact ability to enjoy her solitude, this period has helped Victoria better connect with her family and clearly jot out her future goals as individuals and family. Her way of life is going through some interesting times and changes. She plans to do her further studies in the US and is also looking at options in NYC and LA in Business.
