From a Fish Basket in Kenya to Classrooms in Europe
When I think about my journey as an entrepreneur, my mind often goes back to my grandmother’s fish basket. She traded fish at the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya—an act that seemed so ordinary at the time, yet it was her livelihood and her legacy.
Watching her carefully sort fish, bargain with traders, and carry the day’s earnings home planted a seed in me: the idea that entrepreneurship is not just business, it is survival, dignity, and a path to empowerment. Years later, as I pursued the Erasmus Mundus Master in Impact Entrepreneurship (EMMIE) across Croatia, Lithuania, and Belgium, I began to see how her work connected with global conversations about sustainability, innovation, and the future of food systems.
That fish basket, in many ways, carried me to Europe. And it is from Europe that I have learned to carry impact entrepreneurship differently—moving from immediate outputs to systemic change, from survival to sustainability, and from local roots to global collaboration.
Expanding Perspective: From Outputs to Systems Change
When I began AquaMnara, my aquaculture venture in Kenya, my focus was on immediate outputs: increasing farmers’ production, distributing fingerlings, providing training. These were tangible results that mattered for livelihoods.
But in Europe, through courses, field visits, and conversations with entrepreneurs from across the world, I realized that impact goes beyond numbers. It is about shifting systems—rethinking how aquaculture inputs are sourced, how fish farmers access financing, how waste becomes a resource, and how technology integrates into traditional livelihoods.
Similarly, with Bionala, my project on upcycling fish waste into high-value bio-ingredients, the perspective is broader than producing protein powders or collagen. It is about closing loops in the circular economy, reducing inefficiencies in fisheries, and creating fairer opportunities for women fish traders. Europe has taught me that impact entrepreneurship means asking: How do we transform entire ecosystems sustainably, not just individual enterprises?
Applying the 3Ps: People, Planet, Profit
The EMMIE program engrained in us the framework of the 3Ps—People, Planet, Profit—as the compass for impact ventures. Applying this lens reshaped how I design and evaluate my businesses.
– People: In AquaMnara, this means empowering smallholder farmers with access to inputs, training, and market linkages. In Bionala, it means giving women traders recognition as key partners in the blue economy. People are the reason ventures exist.
– Planet: Both ventures are grounded in sustainability. AquaMnara encourages practices that preserve water quality and biodiversity. Bionala reduces waste that would otherwise pollute aquatic ecosystems. I see the planet not as a backdrop, but as a stakeholder.
– Profit: Europe strengthened my conviction that profit is not opposed to impact—it fuels it. Profit enables scale, attracts partners, and sustains solutions over time. Embedding profitability into impact ventures ensures longevity and resilience.
The 3Ps are no longer theoretical to me; they are decision-making filters. Each time I design a product, choose a supplier, or consider a partnership, I ask: Does this balance people, planet, and profit?
The Power of Cross-Border Collaboration
One of the greatest lessons Europe has offered is the richness of cross-border collaboration. In every EMMIE city, I interacted with entrepreneurs working on climate tech, circular fashion, digital health, and agroforestry. Our contexts were different, yet our challenges were strikingly similar—fragmented supply chains, financing gaps, policy hurdles.
Collaboration across borders brings perspective and innovation. For example, AquaMnara’s eVoucher financing system draws inspiration from digital microfinance models I studied in Lithuania. Bionala’s processing design benefited from exposure to European bioeconomy hubs.
Impact entrepreneurship thrives when ideas travel, adapt, and return stronger. I believe Africa and Europe have immense opportunity to co-create solutions—leveraging Africa’s resourcefulness and Europe’s infrastructure to address global sustainability challenges together.
Policy and Academia: Essential Allies
Entrepreneurship often celebrates the lone founder story, but in Europe I learned that policy and academia are essential allies for scaling impact.
Policies shape incentives for sustainable practices, open funding pathways, and protect vulnerable groups. In Kenya, aquaculture policies are still evolving, and my time in Europe showed me how intentional regulation can accelerate sector transformation.
Academia, on the other hand, contributes research, testing, and critical thinking. The EMMIE program itself is an example of academia empowering entrepreneurs with tools to innovate responsibly. My thesis on transforming fish waste into bio-ingredients would not exist without academic frameworks guiding it.
For entrepreneurs, this means engaging beyond the business circle. We must learn to advocate with policymakers, co-create with researchers, and align with international agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals.
Entrepreneur Well-Being: The Often Overlooked Dimension
Europe also reminded me that entrepreneur well-being is sustainability too. In Kenya, the pace of building a startup can feel relentless. You keep pushing, sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, and rest.
But in Europe, I encountered a culture that values balance—where productivity is paired with mental health, and where founders are encouraged to thrive personally as much as their ventures do.
I began practicing this by building routines that protect my energy, from reflective walks along the river in Vilnius to moments of pause to celebrate small wins with my team. Well-being fuels creativity and resilience. Without it, impact is harder to sustain.
Entrepreneurship as an Ongoing Journey
Impact entrepreneurship, I have realized, is less a destination and more a continuous journey. It evolves as we evolve.
My grandmother’s fish basket taught me about grit. AquaMnara taught me about designing for farmer empowerment. Bionala is teaching me about circularity and scaling globally. Europe has added a new lens—systems thinking, collaboration, and sustainability rooted in the 3Ps.
The journey does not end here. It unfolds in every partnership built, every policy influenced, every innovation shared between continents. And for me, it is guided by the conviction that entrepreneurship can be both impactful and profitable, local and global, personal and systemic.
A Reflection for You
As I look ahead, I carry both the wisdom of my grandmother’s fish basket and the lessons of European classrooms. Together, they shape how I see impact entrepreneurship: as a bridge between tradition and innovation, between Africa and Europe, between people, planet, and profit.
And so I leave you with a question:
What does living the 3Ps—People, Planet, Profit—mean for your venture today, and how can you expand your perspective toward systems change?
By Elizabeth Okullow – Co-founder, AquaMnara
