Chelsea Campbell co-founded CambAha, a social enterprise that builds trust in local and sustainable products to positively impact families in Siem Reap and Battambang, Cambodia. Leading with purpose implies knowing yourself well, setting boundaries, aligning other’s expectations, and having a north star for your team. That is what Chelsea experienced in her capability program. The program inspired her to engage in projects in her company and community. This is her impact story.
Share with us 3 important facts that people should know about you. One of them should be a fun fact if you like:
I have been working with Hilti for the past 5 years where I originally started with Hilti South Africa and now Hilti Great Britain.
I have two beautiful Boston Terrier dogs who have also travelled with me from South Africa.
My partner and I co-founded an Escape Room company, and we love them so much that we have an Excel list rating each room we have played over the years in various countries.
Why did you decide to participate in the program?
I joined BOOKBRIDGE because I wanted to challenge myself in creating something wonderful, and unique. My goal was to help create a long-lasting sustainable impact in a country that would help communities less fortunate than myself. I also wanted to develop my leadership skills and be put out of my comfort zone, and wow - I didn’t quite understand how much of being put out of that comfort zone would actually feel like with so much self-learning and self-reflection over such a short amount of time!
What does purpose-driven leadership mean to you?
It's in the name, it all comes down to purpose! Finding that vision, which inspires and motivates me to want to do better and be better, and to share this experience with my colleagues and team. From the beginning once our team created our unique purpose for our social enterprise, CambAha – We knew we could always bring our tasks back to this purpose to ensure we always worked towards our visionary goals, holding each other fully accountable to see our capability program through to completion and then further improvements.
For me, the beauty in BOOKBRIDGE is that we are all so unique and come from various backgrounds and cultures with different perspectives, but our sole purpose and core values remained the same and each of us knew why we were there and the change we wanted to implement in the Cambodian community.
What impact has BOOKBRIDGE had on your private and professional life?
Personally, it’s been a very fulfilling journey with an amazing team where I have learned a lot more about myself and my own capabilities, such as how much further I can motivate myself with many other ongoing tasks happening at the same time. I have taken away a multitude of additional skills, such as planning my weeks and days using a priority system, keeping a learning journal which focused on self-reflection, and specific areas I wanted to develop.
These included having the courage to say no at times and setting the expectations of others which has also in turn helped me learn how to delegate – an area that I have previously battled with in my career.
What did you learn from Saloth, BOOKBRIDGE's Community Hero?
I learned how passion can lead a person to fulfil their purpose in life, Saloth is extremely driven to enrich the lives of the local families in Cambodia and she shared this with our team from the get-go. Even though we started this journey virtually, the message was clear and we felt emotionally connected to her throughout the entire process which helped our team stay focused and fully motivated. Learn more from Saloth here.
One last question, what is your commitment towards a world of purpose-driven leaders?
I have now had a taste of creating a social enterprise with BOOKBRIDGE, and I want to help others also experience this fantastic opportunity. I will continue sharing our CambAha story with friends and colleagues to help inspire others to get involved! I am also open to, and actively searching new ways to get more involved with outreach projects available within Hilti and in my local community.
Thank you, Chelsea, for sharing your impact story with us. We are grateful for your commitment to the bridgebuilder community! 🧡
Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone? Do you believe in leading others effectively? If you are a motivated professional, with solid spoken English and at least at least 2 years of post-graduate work experience, join us for a unique learning journey.