Portrait of Graham

This fearless entrepreneur risked everything to come to work France, even though he didn’t speak the language.

Graham started working in our organization in 2012 in Dublin. At the time, he was coming back from a trip to the USA where he had been working in field sales already. Before this he had jumped from job to job without finding his place. Being a graduate in sociology, nothing pushed him toward a brand ambassador career apart from his will to become an entrepreneur.

I’ve worked in a lot of areas, but every time something wasn’t right: salary, manager, slow evolution… Every time I felt I was wasting my time, so I left.

Graham always wanted to have his own business but didn’t have a business idea or a precise plan. He is one of those people who wants to work for himself and reap the benefits of that, not to benefit someone else.

When he started his brand ambassador career in Ireland he needed some time to adapt to the job but was quick to get consistent with achieving promising results. His sponsor saw great potential in Graham and entrusted him very quickly with the management of a new coworking hub. It was a great challenge for Graham who had to learn how to manage an office on his own and fast.

Not everyone wants to be a business owner, but it’s not to do with bravery: my brother can surf next to a shark, but he wouldn’t want to oversee a business.

After a few years, Graham was in line to take over the Dublin coworking hub as his sponsor was moving to France to expand our organization there. Although Graham would eventually move to France he didn’t speak a word of French at this time so stayed in Dublin.

In February 2015 Graham left for Belgium, leaving his personal network in Ireland for an intense French immersion in Liege. One month later he joined the newly created coworking hub in Lille as a brand ambassador and began building his network from the ground up.

I used to hate French class at school but I auto motivated myself and started to learn on the go.

In the field he couldn’t understand the people he was trying to sell to. Being up against this challenge seemed too much at times and Graham came very close to quitting and going back to Ireland at the start. At this point Graham started asking for advice all around him and worked day and night on his pitch and his French and was seeing results.

Putting everything in, Graham started seeing real results and started growing his new personal network with pace. With the language barrier he wasn’t the best in the field so instead focused seriously on his personal recruitment.

The brand ambassador community has always helped me: I can ask for advice for free and directly to entrepreneurs in several countries.

After four months his sponsor left Lille to open a new coworking hub in Lyon. Graham took over Lille’s coworking hub. A few months later, he officially became the manager before leaving and opening a new coworking hub in Bordeaux along with the core of his network.

Today, Graham aims to develop the newly opened coworking hub in Bordeaux to become the highest performing office in the country. He considers himself as an entrepreneur, and wishes to help the members of his network to develop as his sponsor did for him.

I’ve seen our business change lives. My sponsor believed in me and changed my life. Now it’s my turn to pass on this opportunity to others.

As a franchisee Graham profits from all the support geninc provides him. He sees this entrepreneurial experience as a way to learn how to grow a company. He plans on investing in other businesses while still being working for himself.

Graham hasn’t forgot his love of travelling. He still wants to continue his world tour that he had stopped in 2012 and visit South America and Oceania. The only difference being that this time he’ll be travelling first class.

I’m aggressive with my work ethic and my training but patient with my results.

His advice to a future franchisee:

• Take the first step
• Be open minded
• Be patient, and work hard