Chief executive of BetterU Education Corp Mr Brad Loiselle shared his life journey, his mistakes and failures before he became a successful entrepreneur during a highly motivational session with students of Global Indian International School in Singapore.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Hindustan Times Leadership series held in April 2018, Mr Loiselle enforced the idea that students should not be afraid of failures as there is always a silver lining in every dark cloud.

“I failed a lot as an adult, and until the age of 25, made a lot of mistakes on the way,” Mr Loiselle said during the interaction which was part of GIIS Leadership Lecture Series, where students get to meet pioneers and leaders  from all around the globe. “I struggled a lot, before I became an entrepreneur,” he said.

Excited students bombarded Mr Loiselle with questions on his life, his struggles, his experiences, his thoughts on education and his dreams and goals for the future. Some of the questions thrown to him included poignant ones like ‘Is an entrepreneur born or made?’

“It is both, and a little bit of luck,” Mr Loiselle remarked, going on to share his story on how a lack of university degree was a stumbling block in his younger years, but hard work can bring in success eventually.

“You go to university, you learn theory. If you don't have the skills, doesn’t matter if you have a PhD, you are not going to get the job that you want. “, he said, advising students to analyze the required skills of their dream job and to work on building on those skills.

The entrepreneur stated the importance of providing everyone access to education as it is a powerful tool to pull someone out of poverty. He also expressed that providing students with a skills-focused education will benefit them in the long run as it will help with attaining and transitioning into an ideal job. The thoughts resonated with students of GIIS, who have first hand experience on pedagogy based on skills. GIIS’s 9GEMS framework imparts the right skills in students from academia to sports to moral values, to prepare them to be well-rounded achievers in the future.

Mr Loiselle also advised students to interact more with people around them. “Force yourself to talk. Ask questions,” he said, stressing on the importance of stepping out of one’s comfort zone and talking to people from different walks of life as it will help build their confidence and self esteem.  

The Leadership Lecture series is part of GIIS’s award-winning 9GEMS educational framework, which aims to impart confidence and critical thinking skills in students to inspire them to be well rounded achievers in the future. It has seen participation from renowned leaders in the past including Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Bollywood star Aamir Khan, Cricket star Virender Sehwag and others.