Meet Elatia Abate: Futurist & Global Keynote Speaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elatia Abate and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elatia, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
When I left the corporate world in 2013 to start my business because of the phenomenon that most of the planet, 87% in fact, is disengaged or highly disengaged at work. I read this as bored to miserable, or worse. It is INSANE to me that 87% of the working planet spends more than half of their waking hours this way. What a waste of human potential and possibility! How much better could the world and all of our lives be if we were able to transform this – even a little bit.

So, I created a solution to solve for this problem, called the Mosaic Career™. The Mosaic is a values-based system that transforms unfulfilling jobs into catalysts for freedom and fulfillment. I’ve been teaching this in classrooms and companies around the world ever since.

Then, in August of 2016, I pivoted my core business focus to help people and companies translate the fear and uncertainty that comes from the disruption and change that’s happening in our world (hello, pandemic!!!) into excitement and empowerment that leads to impactful strategy and positive results.

I had begun to notice trends like the impact of technology on work and our working experiences (47% of jobs in the U.S. will be computerized or taken over by robots in the coming years). And, I wondered, “What are we going to do with all the people?” Or, better said, “How might we empower success in the face of great uncertainty?”

So, in January of 2017, I put everything I owned into storage, save what fits into a carry-on suitcase, to go in search for answers to those questions by learning about the technologies that are creating the impact and learning from those who are masters at managing change. (I even got to do a TEDx about this journey called, “Pioneering the Future of Work.”)

Today, my clients range from Fortune 500s to early-stage start-ups and large universities. I speak on global stages (virtually and in-person) for companies like NY Life, VRBO, Deloitte, and BelCorp to help people understand the massive changes that are afoot. I teach entrepreneurial and career resilience, and have been named a leading female futurist by Forbes. What a journey!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I help humans and companies around the world thrive in the face of great disruption, prepare for the ever-changing future ahead, and design new ways to create growth, scale, and fulfillment.

Since leaving my high-flying executive career in 2013, I’ve immersed myself in the data and research around the future of work, business and life as we know it — and the systemic shifts required to make solutions possible.

As a result, I’ve created a series of strategies, tools, frameworks, and methodologies with a simple goal: to help individuals and corporations build resilience and flexibility. With these tools at their disposal, they can thrive among the often-unpredictable shifts unfolding across industries, cultures, and technologies.

My work’s mission is to help you face and conquer the evolving challenges of today, and prepare for tomorrow by turning strategic, future-focused solutions into manageable, executable systems you can test and scale today.

More than anything, I love challenging assumptions and social and business status quos through data trends and action-oriented tactics. My work doesn’t just help companies and individuals test possible answers to future problems — it also allows people to use their skills, grow, and be their most joyful, creative selves (at work and at home).

I think there are two things that set me apart from others. First, my ability to see beyond what is present and into what is possible. I see the world we are in now, but am able to see beyond it into what could be to help people make sense of disruption and change. Second, my ability to transform and translate academic and etherial concepts into concrete ideas and actions. OK. Great. You learned something new, but what are you going to DO with it?

In everything I’ve done over the last several years of my entrepreneurial journey, I’m particularly proud of and excited by the opportunities I have had to impact tens of thousands, if not millions of people around the planet. Like when Trevor Noah interviewed me about the gig economy and its impact, when Tony Robbins featured the Mosaic Career on his podcast, or when I got to speak on a virtual stage to almost 3,000 people in 15 countries for Belcorp.

Of course there have been challenges. For me, the biggest has probably been focus. I am an inherently curious person with A LOT of ideas. So, to focus that energy on building and scaling has been the biggest learning along the way.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love sharing what I love about L.A. with other people. Assuming all the things were open… there would be surfing lessons up on Malibu, hiking in Topanga, the Griffith observatory, and walks on the beach in Santa Monica. For eats, Little Dom’s, brunch at The Montage, and poolside at Beverly Hills Hotel. The week would have to include the flea markets in Abbott Kinney and Silverlake.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people to thank and from whom I’ve learned along this journey. I’ll take this opportunity to thank Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis for being the catalysts in my entrepreneurial pivot to become a futurist.

It was August 2016, and I was sitting in a freezing cold conference room in Las Vegas, NV at the Tony Robbins Business Mastery program. He had just leapt off the stage after a rousing session on business strategy.

Then, Peter Diamandis, the futurist founder of Singularity University and X-Prize got up on stage and began to talk about self-driving trucks. He detailed how they would disrupt industry, logistics, transportation, essentially business as we knew and understood it. On the one hand, I was THRILLED. I love innovation and change and possibility. I could see what was on the horizon.

However, a split second later, a question hit me like a lightning bolt, “But, what are we going to do with all the people?” It turns out that truck driving is the most popular job in 26 states in the U.S. If the truck drivers and all the people who work in the ancillary businesses around trucking lost their jobs, what would happen?

That encounter led me down a path of research, discovery, and opened the door to the futurist consulting work that I do today.

Website: www.elatiaabate.com

Instagram: @elatiaabate

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/elatiaabate

Twitter: @elaabate

Facebook: @ElatiaAbateFutureofNow

Image Credits
Nick Onken