

I was walking around my kitchen, and it hit me: it would be really fun, as an entrepreneur, to run not just a business, but a whole country. Then, I thought of my country, Malawi, as a business, and immediately cringed at the idea of running Malawi as a business.
Over the past few years, I’ve witnessed this conversation bubble up online — often concerns around Malawian politicians and their frequent international travels. One user asked (genuinely, I think), “Don’t they come back inspired? Don’t they want to make things better after seeing how things work out there?” It’s a fair question. One I’ve asked myself many times — not just about politicians, but even about myself.
When we talk about creativity, we often romanticize talent — the singer born with perfect pitch, the painter who sees light in ways the rest of us don’t, the writer whose prose makes your heart skip. And now.. in the age of artificial intelligence, talent is no longer just about skill.
For a long time, I have been met with skepticism and criticism for building a non-profit. In the world of business, especially as a woman founder, running a non-profit is often equated with being “less of an entrepreneur,” as if only for-profit ventures validate business acumen. This semester, however, a business communications course provided an unexpected source of reaffirmation—our class project focused on OpenAI.