Qiulae Wong Joins Purposely to share her story and how her upbringing has influenced her professional mission and how becoming a mum motivated her to leave London and return home.
A passionate ‘business for good’ advocate Qiulae points to her upbringing, ‘My family really drummed into us the importance of the collective. It wasn’t about individual gain - although that’s not to say they weren’t incredibly hard working and could see the importance of making money’. In many ways, this combination of influences helped Qiulae get to where she is today. A belief that business success can be measured by profit as well as positive social and environmental impact.
We discuss Qiulae’s return home to New Zealand after a transformative decade in London where she crystallised her career aspirations and became a mum, ‘the UK was great but made less sense when we had our daughter, returning and reconnecting with family became a priority’.
Qiulae is excited to be back home, landing a dream job as Head of B Lab New Zealand. ‘I was so excited about the opportunity, I really wanted it and I did a lot of prep for the interviews, almost too much prep which left me a bit sleep deprived!’.
Qiulae is B Labs first full-time employee in Aotearoa and the decision to hire reflects the increased popularity of ‘business for good’ with more and more businesses choosing B Corp certification.
B Lab is a nonprofit network transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. They certify companies — B Corps — who lead the way. They are aiming to build a movement to change our economic system.
B Lab began in the United States in 2006, and the network has grown across the world ever since.
Qiulae will be busy collaborating with businesses, government, and academic institutions to grow the movement.
