Fellows Friday is a weekly series on the TED Blog that profiles one TED Fellow each week. We have asked the Fellows to answer our question below to share their knowledge and advice with other social entrepreneurs, innovators, and changemakers who are coming up with big ideas that can change the world.
Esther Chae’s one-woman show, So the Arrow Flies, is about North Korean espionage, post-9/11 themes of conflicting ideologies, government sanctioned torture, and how changing political tides affect one’s family. After learning how the piece resonated with international audiences, Esther is eager to take her work to a whole new level. Like the protagonist in Glass Mask (Yu-ri Ga-myun), the epic comic book that inspired her as a child, Esther is meeting new changes in her life with energy and strength.
Sokunthea: There are many aspiring social entrepreneurs out there who are trying to take their passion and ideas to the next level. What is one piece of advice you would give to them based on your own experiences and successes?
I think to really be a changemaker, there needs to be a lot of brew time and gestation period given to oneself. That’s where I think my experience as an artist can offer something to social entrepreneurs: I’ve learned to take things in, absorb them, and let them digest and stew, and then distill the essence of what I am trying to tell and impact into a one or two hour performance.
I know social entrepreneurs, just like artists, are under so much pressure to secure funding, develop business plans, and produce. So I think the suggestion I offer social entrepreneurs is all the more valuable. It takes self-imposed rigor to give oneself brew time, but I think it’s very important.
Read the rest of Esther's Fellows Friday interview here.
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