Gróska's banquet hall was packed when Halla Tómasdóttir and Andri Snær Magnason, writers and former presidential candidates, reunited to discuss how we can change society for the better. Brought the KLAK duo to discuss the contents of Halla's book, "Hugrekki til hifar sik", in connection with Dafna's harvest festival.
In the book, Halla shares experiences from life and work as well as stories of companies and people who have mobilized their energies for good deeds and thus achieved both great success and found inner joy.
Andri Snær has not been afraid to propose a solution to accepted attitudes in society and the world. With his books Draumalandið and About the Time and the Water, he has put major nature conservation and environmental issues into perspective, given people the means to understand and express their feelings and thoughts, and encouraged them to participate in discussions that lead to action.
In the hall in Gróska there were so many entrepreneurs, investors and mentors in the startup community.
Andri and Halla covered Halla's journey since the end of her presidential bid, but she waited 12 months to decide on her next steps and then hired herself as CEO of the B-Team, which is an association of managers of large companies who have decided to use their power and take care of companies to make the world better. She had to fight her own nagging voices when she was fighting for this job and directed the entrepreneurs in the room not to let these nagging voices hold them back and to have the courage to make their dreams come true.
Halla and Andra were bombarded with questions from the audience, and very lively discussions ensued about entrepreneurship, the importance of values and having your own compass to follow when you have to make difficult decisions and persevere in difficult tasks.
"I firmly believe that all progress starts with one person who has the courage to make an impact and get others on board. This is what entrepreneurship is all about, harnessing your energy to solve social problems and projects in collaboration with others. Individuals and companies that embark on such a journey with a clear vision of their purpose and values reach further, deliver better profitability in the long term and contribute more to the development of our society, which truly requires courage to think so much anew,” said Halla.
"I was really scared when Dreamland came out. I knew I was consolidating strong forces in society and had no idea what the reaction would be. But I felt I had to tell this story" said Andri about the challenge of going against prevailing beliefs.
"If we choose to participate, do good and make a difference, then in practice our brightest times are ahead. When I listen to all these brave leaders gathered here in Groska, I know that the future is bright.," said Halla.
It was a great conversation, and at the end of the event, the audience rose from their seats and thanked Halla and Andra with thunderous applause. People left richer and had plenty to think about from Halla and Andra's message.
"The poet Mary Oliver asked: Tell me, what will you do with your one wild and precious life? There she urges us that the most important choice in life consists in choosing consciously what we do with our creativity, labor force and limited time. I am always filled with admiration for the courage of entrepreneurs who choose to create something new and use their energies to make our society a little better today than yesterday. Courage is the driving force that moves individuals, companies and societies towards the future," says Halla Tómasdóttir.
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