“I grew up in Toronto, left at seventeen to study political science, and somewhere along the way I built an events and nightlife company. I then moved to England to do my Masters Degree at the London School of Economics. From there I moved to Shanghai - learned Mandarin, and completed the second year of my Masters Degree at Fudan University while also working at a local advertising agency in the city’s French Concession.

After my time in China, I moved to Germany with no plan, no contacts, and no knowledge of the German language. Within months I was leading marketing initiatives and market entries across Europe and the US for a leading German luxury brand, and speaking the language fluently with my colleagues.

I then translated that experience into consulting; advising brands on market entry strategy and international business development across Europe, North America and Asia.

As the world has become more volatile, more uncertain since then, that led naturally into what I do now - delivering strategic foresight for leaders who want to stay ahead.

Looking back, one thing is clear - I have always existed in two worlds simultaneously. On one side: higher education, politics, intellectual rigour, strategic thinking. On the other: on-the-ground cross-cultural experience, the path less taken, and the practical, often painful lessons that came with it.

I value what I have seen from the world’s underbelly just as much as what I have seen from its heights. And while I cherish my time spent studying, I have made mistakes that taught me things no classroom ever could.

All of that has shaped the way I think.

It is why what I do is the most natural expression of who I am, as it requires the combination I have spent my life developing: intellectual rigour without intellectual rigidity, and an ability to think about the future without being captured by the present.”

-Aaron Chamberland