Erica Mackey
MyVillage
Bozeman, MT USA
"Follow your gut intuition. If something feels like you’re being uniquely useful and motivated and passionate...lean into it with courage."
Career Roadmap
Erica's work combines: Business, Entrepreneurship, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
Build a solution to a problem you have. Even if it is small, go through the process of creating something out of nothing.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of California-Los Angeles
Graduate Degree
Business Administration and Management, General
University of Oxford
Life & Career Milestones
I've taken a lot of twists and turns
1.
Growing up, I split my time between living with my mother in California and my father in South Africa.
2.
My first experiences in South Africa coincided with the end of apartheid, which sparked my passion for social justice and change.
3.
Attended UCLA where I received a bachelor’s degree in ecology and evolutionary biology.
4.
While in college, I got the opportunity to go to Tanzania to work with an organization that was helping people living with HIV.
5.
After graduation, I returned to Tanzania to run that organization—and for the next seven years, built it into an organization that made government health services accessible to rural communities.
6.
Wanted to further develop and refine my business skills, so I pursued an MBA at Oxford University.
7.
While at Oxford, I met my co-founder and started Zola Electric, which delivers clean, renewable energy to communities in Africa.
8.
After giving birth to my daughter and dealing with the struggles of becoming a working mom, I was inspired to start MyVillage, a community of high-quality in-home childcare programs.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
This problem is too big, too complex and too broken to fix. The economics will never work. A for-profit business is the wrong approach with which to tackle the childcare crisis.
How I responded:
Focus on the positive and stay connected to your motivation. Ask yourself - "you want this because you want..." and "you want this because you want..." and "you want this because you want..." When you get to your core motivation, it is always much bigger than the hurdle you have in front of you!
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I am a young, white woman and my first business was building a large energy company in Africa. I stuck out like a sore thumb in every situation. Focus on your strengths and get mentors that will guide you and help you improve.
After I gave birth to my daughter and started working again, I was told that it was irresponsible to have a baby at such a busy time in my life. I launched MyVillage to solve the problem that myself and so many others had with getting childcare.