Learn to Move Mountains Compassionate problem solvers experience flow in action through social innovation, resilience, hope and entrepreneurial skills
Interview with Elaine France, Founder, Flow In Action | By Darie Nani
“We are at climate tipping points that are calling on us to do things differently; to embrace being fully human, to reconnect with ourselves, others and the planet that supports us, to understand what it is to flourish.” - Elaine France
Tell me about you, what did you do before? I am a coach and consultant specialising in resilience and entrepreneurship for sustainability. I live in the Swiss Alps, in Valais. This is my base and I travel for work within Switzerland and overseas. I’m from the UK and spent my career in London, working on social change in government advisory, NGOs, public sector and social enterprise. I came to Switzerland to visit some friends in 2011 for a two-week ski break and have been here ever since. My passion is connecting people to their wellbeing, so that they are happier and healthier and have the tools to create solutions which sustain people and planet. My first professional qualification as a librarian, taught me to show people how to find answers. This has been the foundation stone of my work in strategic business development for social change.
What inspired you to set it up? What lead to you starting this business? Connect:
Having spent 17 years living in London, I needed to be in nature. I wanted to stay in the mountains because that is where I experienced wellbeing, flow, joy and resilience. So, I took a leap of faith, started to explore these concepts and how they linked to taking action for the planet,
changing how we consume and do business…and that is how it all started.
Tell me about Flow In Action. What problems are you solving? Who benefits? How does it work? Flow In Action helps youth, educators, leaders and entrepreneurs as global citizens, to take action for the planet. We give you the tools to experience ‘flow’ - the pure joy of creating solutions - to become compassionate problem-solvers in your communities. First, we connect you to your wellbeing to increase your creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship skills; and then show you how to imagine and build projects and businesses, designing them around what we know increases flourishing of people and planet. It brings together my 25 years of social innovation expertise with Positive Psychology tools, to place flourishing at the centre of making positive impact for people and planet. We all want a happier and healthier planet, so designing lives and businesses around flourishing, is better economics for everyone. This does not come from consuming more but from learning how to love yourself first, so that you become