cover story: MindChamps
From Refugee to AwardWinning Entrepreneur who Built a Global Movement The Personal Journey that Led to a Learning Revolution While the companies “ featured in my prior books (Mercedes-Benz, The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company and Starbucks) demonstrate impressive brand power, none has been in a position to fundamentally shape society on par with MindChamps.
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- Dr Joseph A. Michelli, No. 1 Bestselling Author New York Times & Wall Street Journal
‘She’s asking what your name is, Stupid!’ David Chiem, MindChamps’ Founder CEO, can still clearly remember being called ‘stupid’. It was on his first day of school in Australia in 1978. David, aged 9, and his family had arrived in the country as ‘boat people’ after fleeing war-ravaged Vietnam, surviving a close encounter with murderous pirates and enduring life in a Malaysian refugee camp. “I arrived not speaking a word of English — not even hello,” he explains. “I can remember being called stupid in my own language by another student because the teacher was asking my name, but I didn’t understand her.” Education was highly prized by David’s family, a mindset reinforced by their 10 Franchising MAGAZINE USA
traumatic escape from Vietnam. “My father had a strong philosophy of never taking anything for granted, and my parents always said that the one thing no one could ever take from you was your education,” he says. “This gave me a very strong mindset, and I was determined to make a contribution.” That strong focus on education, coupled with his earlier trauma, pushed David to excel in his studies because his father had always wanted him to be a doctor. At the age of 14, David landed the starring role on Butterfly Island, becoming the first Asian-Australian to be given a lead role on mainstream television and appearing on TV screens around the world. As a result, although he aced his Higher School Certificate, rather than studying medicine, he chose the path of his new-found passion to study acting and filmmaking.
As he studied the craft of filmmaking, David had an epiphany. He became fascinated by the idea that there could be another way of teaching children. They faced far greater demands on their education than previous generations, so, instead of rote learning, drilling and memorising content, why not help children to understand how to learn and more importantly develop the mindset of enthusiastic, life-long learners? “While I always did well at school and enjoyed it, I saw that many students didn’t do so well. I became curious as to why. I began to suspect that it was because their education experience simply didn’t engage them,” he explains.
From the Stage to the Classroom In 1998 he decided to follow his passion and founded MindChamps — a groundbreaking early learning educational organization based on strategies derived
