財富年度商業人物之母的育兒經
????大家或許已經從2011年一期《紐約》雜志(New York Magazine)的封面上認出了梅耶?穆斯克。那期雜志封面刊登了這位63歲模特的前衛裸體照片,同時仿照《名利場》雜志(Vanity Fair )封面上的黛米?摩爾進行了合成,讓她看上去像是一位懷胎九個月的孕婦。(這期《紐約》雜志的封面文章“以她的年紀,能否生育?”講述了中年女性生育的故事。)也有人可能通過她的工作認識了她。她是一位關注健康和長壽的營養師。 ????此外,她的成名還有另外一個原因:她三個孩子當中的一位——埃隆?穆斯克——剛剛被評為《財富》雜志2013年年度商業人物(Fortune's 2013 Business Person of the Year)。 ????貝寶公司(PayPal)聯合創始人埃隆?穆斯克是一位具有冒險精神的創新者,他還創辦了另外三家初創公司,即:電動汽車制造商特斯拉汽車公司(Tesla Motors)、太空探索技術公司(SpaceEx)和提供屋頂式太陽能系統的太陽能城(SolarCity)。所以說,在當今時代一些偉大的發明誕生過程中,梅耶發揮了關鍵的作用,而且她本人也是一位創業模范。 ????梅耶?穆斯克的職業生涯可謂一波三折。她出生在加拿大,卻在南非比勒陀利亞長大。她喜歡科技和閱讀,每周去兩次圖書館。她母親的朋友有一家模特經紀公司,于是梅耶有機會參加了選美。從比勒陀利亞大學(University of Pretoria)獲得營養學學位之后,22歲的梅耶嫁給了工程師埃羅爾?穆斯克,然后三年內接連生下了三個孩子。后來,她創辦了自己的咨詢業務,同時利用彈性工作時間來照料自己的3個孩子。 ????梅耶的三個孩子埃隆、金巴爾和托斯卡相處得非常融洽,但他們都有自己的性格怪癖。梅耶說埃隆的內向一度讓她以為他可能存在聽力障礙。埃隆在學校經常被人欺負;梅耶鼓勵兒子說,她小時候也經常被人捉弄,她的雙胞胎姐姐會充當她的擋箭牌,抵擋同學的冷嘲熱諷。 ????梅耶說,她很快就發現,原來埃隆之所以安靜只是因為他在思考。(她的另一個兒子金巴爾和女兒托斯卡更外向。)埃隆十歲的時候,梅耶與埃羅爾離婚,梅耶表示孩子是她生活的全部動力。“只要他們有體育活動——實際上,他們都不擅長體育——或者任何活動,我都一定會拿出時間去支持他們。”與此同時,梅耶的營養師公司也有所起色。 ????埃隆在17歲時搬到了加拿大。雖然她在南非的事業蒸蒸日上,營養學界推舉她在行業活動上發言,但梅耶和其他家人還是跟著埃隆一起來到了加拿大。 ????在加拿大,梅耶不得不從零開始。她和托斯卡住在朋友家,直到她們在多倫多找到一處租金管制的住處,埃隆才搬過來一起住。為了每個月1,000美元的收入,梅耶一邊在多倫多大學(University of Toronto)做研究,一邊上課,來證明她在南非取得的資質。此外,她還為埃隆買了99美元的服裝(西裝、領帶和襪子),還牽線幫他結識了一位營養師的丈夫,此君當時供職于微軟(Microsoft)。后來,埃隆進微軟工作了一段時間。梅耶繼續從事模特演藝工作,后來在模特經紀公司的大樓內找到了一間辦公室。她對辦公室進行了重新裝修,再次創辦了自己的公司。 |
????You may recognize Maye Musk from her 2011 New York Magazine cover, a provocative photograph of the 63-year-old model, nude and photoshopped to make her appear nine months pregnant a la Demi Moore's Vanity Fair cover. (The cover line, "Is She Just Too Old For This?" teased a story about middle-aged women giving birth.) Some may know Musk from her work as a dietitian focused on wellness and longevity. ????And then there's her other claim to fame: One of her three children is Elon Musk, Fortune's 2013 Business Person of the Year. ????Elon, a co-founder of PayPal, is the audacious innovator behind three other major startups: electric car maker Tesla Motors (TSLA), commercial space travel outfit SpaceEx, and SolarCity (SCTY), which provides rooftop solar systems. So Maye played a critical role in spawning (literally) some of the great inventions of our time -- and was an entrepreneurial role model. ????Maye Musk's career path is one of twists and turns. She was born in Canada but raised in Pretoria, South Africa. She loved the sciences and reading, visiting the library twice a week. But her mother's friend had a modeling agency, and suddenly Maye found herself at beauty pageants. After gaining her dietitian degree from University of Pretoria, she married engineer Errol Musk at 22 and then had three children in three years. She launched a counseling practice, allowing for a flexible schedule with the kids. ????Maye's brood of Elon, Kimbal, and Tosca got along well, but each had his or her own personality quirks. Maye says Elon's introversion led her to believe for some time that he might be deaf. He was bullied in school; Maye assured her son that she, too, got picked on as a child and that her twin sister often shielded her from classmates' barbs. ????Maye says she soon understood that Elon's quietness simply meant he was thinking. (Son Kimbal and daughter Tosca were much more outgoing). Maye and Errol divorced before Elon was 10. As teens, her sons spent their weeks with their dad and their weekends with mom, and Maye says she lived for her kids. "If they had a sporting event -- actually, they weren't that good at sports -- so any kind of event, I would make sure I had time to go and support them." All the while, Maye managed to build out her dietitian business. ????When he was 17, Elon moved to Canada. Though she had a thriving practice in South Africa, and the dietitian community sought her out as a speaker at industry events, Maye and the rest of the family followed Elon. ????In Canada, Maye had to start from scratch. She and Tosca lived with a friend until they found a rent-controlled place in Toronto, where Elon joined them. For $1,000 a month, Maye did research at University of Toronto while taking courses to verify her South African credentials. She also bought Elon a $99 outfit (suit, tie, and socks included) and connected him with a dietitian's husband who worked at Microsoft (MSFT), where Elon ended up working for a bit. Maye continued modeling, booking jobs to snag office space in her modeling agency's building. Maye renovated it and rebuilt her practice. |