Quit The Conventional ft. Tessy de Nassau
It is the Global Economic Women in Leadership (WIL) Forum 2017. The feeling of being overwhelmed by the scale of the conference is quickly replaced by a sense of purpose.
The mandatory photograph with the official backdrop has been taken. The atmosphere at the Ritz-Carlton envelops you with the sounds of easy conversations over bite-sized food.
A panel discussion has ended and attendees are rushing from their seats to interact with the panellists. One particular panellist has caught everybody’s attention and a sizeable group has gathered around her.
During the panel, the Moderator had read a long list of, equal parts amazing, astonishing and incredible, accomplishments to introduce her. She picked up the mic handed to her and said, ‘Hi, I’m Tessy.’
From serving in the army, to Princess-hood and now through her work as Co-Founder of Professor Without Borders among her other projects, Tessy, mother of Noah and Gabriel, is on a passionate mission to promote education, global health and women’s rights.
After patiently waiting in an unofficial queue to speak with her (15 minutes, no less), an announcement breaks my flow of thoughts - the conference is reconvening and the next panel is commencing. It is time we return to our seats.
Acknowledging that I’ve been waiting my turn, she says with a broad smile, ‘We’ll talk. Definitely.’
‘Is it okay to speak with you as an interview? We can do it outside the hall. 10 minutes.’ I pipe in quickly.
When the penultimate break before lunch hour is announced, Tessy, Noah, Gabriel and I quickly make our way out of the hall.
We find a (relatively) quiet corner and begin.
At this juncture, I admit, it’s a shame that the footage of the interview has been irrevocably lost. A picture tells a thousand words, one can imagine the power of a video. I’ve attempted to capture our conversation with words only. (As the Plain White T’s crooned - It’s only words and words are all I have to take your heart away.)
***
I mention that I know her as Tessy and the fact that the side screens displayed a long list of titles and accomplishments. When I ask her how she would like to introduce herself, she replies with a smile,
As Tessy.
When asked about the one thing that she is most proud of, she responds immediately,
My children. Obviously. These two guys.
Tessy had mentioned during her panel, that she makes it a point to travel with her sons to work events. ‘It teaches them about important issues. These are things they need to know about and appreciate. So whenever I can, I make sure they’re with me,’ she had said.
She introduces her sons, seated next to her trying their best to not make any noise.
This is Gabriel, he will be 12 soon. And Noah, he’s 10.
They say Hello with a smile. Gabriel goes back to reading a newspaper he’s found while Noah searches for something in his backpack.
With that we jump into the thick of things.
We always talk about ‘We Can Do This’ attitude. If we have to quit something, what do we quit?
Fear.
Fear of failing. I think if you have fear of failing, you already put some negativity around your ambitions. Just go for it.
Yes, you can fail, but that needs to be seen as an opportunity to do something better.
What is the one thing that you’ve quit? Disconnected from it and said. ‘Thank God! I’m not going back there again.’
She pauses to reflect and replies with the calmest of voices I’ve ever heard.
Actually, there’s nothing.
Nothing at all?
No. Everything I have learned and everything I encountered, every job I did, I grew so much.
At this point, Gabriel and Noah have called timeout on a game they were playing amongst themselves, which had gone unnoticed by me. They disagreed on something and now there’s an argument brewing.
Tessy the mother, has been keeping an eye on them. Sensing a potentially loud argument in the next couple of seconds, she calls out to them. The boys call a truce and we’re back to our conversation.
Having heard a host of speakers, from Afra Atiq performing a piece on breast cancer to H.E. Dr. Al Maskari dispelling (read: destroying) stereotypes about women from the Middle East and beyond, in the span of a few minutes, it has been a lot to take in.
I can’t imagine what’s on her mind and I decide to ask her as much.
What are the three random words that come to your mind right now?
Empowerment, success,
She pauses to think of a third and I can’t help and chime in.
Food?
Food as well, for sure! I’m hungry.
Tessy pauses once again to ask the boys to take a walk about the room and see what’s happening. The boys are off. With live TV interviews happening simultaneously as the now empty plates are carried out by members of the hotel staff, there is plenty for a pair of curious minds.
Her watchful eyes linger on them momentarily before returning to me.
Understanding that there is limited time, I move on swiftly.
If there were three words or sentences that you would like to teach someone, in a language of your choice, what would they be?
‘Toujoursavec respecter’ (French)
Always respect, each one and another. That is universal. Respect means the same in every language.
‘Always love’ (English)
There’s an American film I watched that had a line that has really stuck with me.
“When you really feel the world is horrible and down, just go to the Arrival Gate at the Airport”
There’s only love around. There are people meeting each other. Friends, family, daughters, mothers and there you can really see that love is around us. And I saw that in a movie and I loved that. It really, put things into perspective.
Fantastic! Let’s just take a trip to the Airport. And the third one?
It’s in Luxembourgish. Because love for me is Luxembourg, my country.
Number three would be, ‘Courage’ (While spelled similarly, the pronunciation in Luxembourgish differs from English.)
Always have courage. There’s nothing you cannot do, unless you do it. You know, just try it. If you fail, that’s okay. But courage, courage to do what is important to do.
The camera lets me know, we’re just shy of 10 minutes. Noah and Gabriel return and have the brightest smiles on. I say my thanks to Tessy and special thanks to the boys for being such a sport. Before we head out in different directions, I request a photo.
James, her Manager and an utter gentleman, agrees to capture it for us.
I ask Tessy if it would be okay to include the boys.
Sure, she says and asks them to join us. Noah has a half eaten cupcake in his hand. He realises it after James has clicked a couple snaps. He lowers his hand till the cupcake disappears behind my head and safely out of view. James clicks a couple more and asks me to take a look to see if they’re okay.
Everybody seems happy. Gabriel is at his charming best while Noah is having fun and being cheeky. Tessy has her arms wrapped around her boys. The picture conveys everything and more.
At LiveWire, we are glad we have a front row seat to all the success that comes Tessy’s way and hopeful that we collaborate in the future. She is Tessy de Nassau and she has #QuitTheConventional.
For LiveWire,
Ayesha (Eye-sha) Naseem
Co-Founder & CEO
