Johan Hajji is one half of the partnership that is leading UpperKey, a thriving PropTech success, through vastly trying times. Despite the challenges of the moment, he continues to engineer solutions that mean he consistently comes out on top.
Johan Hajji learned, from a very early age, that hard work delivers success, ingenuity creates opportunity, and the rewards they provide, allow him the luxuries that fascinate him, and to care for those he cherishes the most.
Taking solid cues from his parents-from a very early age-he followed in the footsteps they laid out before him; to put others first, and to value and protect those he cares about.
Growing in a family that met the needs of a child with autism as part of everyday life, Johan has learned to treat his work team as real people, instead of stepping-stones to his own success. For him, it is essential to understand their differences, strengths, and needs, to be able to create a finely tuned machine out of those human cogs, for each of them to thrive while meeting their individual and combined challenges, to realise the communal goal.
A family facing the challenges of autism together
Johan was born in 1985. What began as a typical childhood, life was soon to take a much less conventional path. The Hajji family were to face a host of unexpected new challenges with the arrival of his little sister when he was just 6-years-old, later found to be on the autism spectrum.
Traits of autism revealed themselves over time, and the methods and effort to manage their daughter's unique behaviour became a prime need for Hajji's parents. They worked hard in the face of each new challenge, just as they did in all areas of life, providing the best opportunities for both of their children. This became the example Johan was to adopt throughout his childhood and into his adult life.
Both of Hajji's parents were respected intellectuals. His father was a diplomat, a doctor of economics, and a professor. With the competence and passion for sharing his wealth of knowledge, he developed and launched his own business school. Hajji's mother, too, was a revered university professor. It was as innovative academics and as loving parents that they set to provide the opportunities for a nonconventional family, to excel using the gifts each were born with.
"I watched my parents fight for their family, every day," says Johan, "and from being a young child, it felt natural to do the same. I knew I had to contribute to building our family and into providing long-term security. The drive never waned, and that lead me to work as hard as my parents did, to be able to provide the kind of financial and emotional freedom my sister would need when my parents were no longer able meet those challenges."
Taking lessons learned from growing up into a world of hard business
When Johan talks about his sister, it's obvious that isn't just an obligation; it's driven by genuine care and connection.
"She has shown me the strength that allowed me to surpass myself. To strive, to work even harder, and to become who I am today."
A family, like a business, is a component of smaller, individual parts. Living within a family whose life is turned upside down with any diagnosis of disability, means those parts need to work together as one, even more succinctly than ever.
"It seemed a natural part of life to prioritise my sister's well-being. We were united, a small family, but a strong one, to overcome the difficulties that lay in our path. We focussed our combined energies into finding happiness for her, and even though I was only a child myself, it seemed the most normal thing to do."
With little in place in 1990s, to assist families managing autism, the family moved a lot so their little girl could receive professional help from a newly developed organisation and centre-La Passerelle-while Johan embraced his studies.
Paris
In 2001 the family left for Paris. While awareness was growing in the field of autism, the family remained in close contact with the hospitals considered as the specialists of their time, and Johan's sister joined a centre in Paris for those with autism. This choice
was to benefit both children. Despite the special care his sister demanded, Johan's parents were aware that they had two children with differing needs, and both deserved the best opportunities available for each of them.
Johan Hajji thrived in school. Excelling in special and higher math, he was awarded a place in a prestigious engineering school in Paris. He had learned just how much strong-will, hard work, and persistence had paid off while watching his parents fight to provide for his sister.
Fuelled by his own hard work and backed by supportive parents, his ethic and methods of thriving in business grew from those early seeds into the man we see today.
"Sustained, regular, and above all, persevering work-this is the secret of my successes," he tells us. And success is what he delivers.
A career that grew through hard work and relentless ambition
After leaving university, Johan joined a private equity investment fund based in Paris and London. At 23-years-old, this probably wasn't an ideal time to learn about business, especially amid the 2008 financial crisis, but rising to challenges is what he is programmed for.
Rising to the challenge and delivering the kind of results expected from someone with vastly superior experience, he knew he had outgrown the company in the three short years he'd been there, and sought out a brand new challenge with an old childhood friend.
Investing both of their time, money, and relentless efforts into growing a specialised rental business in the hotel industry, their company now operates within many European capitals and employs over 100 people.
"I have always wanted to help others," he says, and it's easy to see where that want grew from. "I quickly realised that the only way to succeed was to work hard for what I wanted."
His entrepreneurial success allows him to continue to support the cause of autism; it's still very much an active component in his life. Yet the underlying ambition that drives him through almost every challenge he rises to is founded on what he considers his true vocation: to give of his time and of himself.
An example to others-in business and to those coping with disabilities
One of the points Johan takes very seriously throughout his support of autism is that not all of us are created equal. The courage and determination his parents delivered, to find the best avenues to pursue for their family, wasn't always available to others.
Coming to terms with a family member that has unique needs, or suffers any kind of disability, can be incredibly overwhelming. Fighting for support and funding, the way his parents were designed to, isn't something everyone can take on in the same way.
Throughout their journey, Johan's parents shared their knowledge and support to many others in similar positions. This regularly manifested in locating funds, desperately needed so that the children with autism within those families could access the care centres designed for those just like them.
Their support-as a family-for the La Passerelle facility has continued since his sister's return to the centre in 2006. They continue to visit centres around France, learning more of the advances in the field, and sharing new and innovative methods proven to help wherever they can, replacing old ideas with options that really work, standing to help not just themselves, but the many.
"Just as we want for my sister, we also want to help create the best chances for other children with autism to get the most out of life, and to find the best ways to cope with their situation on a daily basis. It's why continuing to support La Passerelle and organisations just like them, is so important to us. It's a lifelong commitment, in just the same way as family is. I will endeavour to thrive at business, to create the resources I need to better my sister's life, as well as my own family's. The tools I continue to use to realise my goals will always be those I developed watching my parents: hard work, determination, and passion, and because of the value in the goals themselves: security and happiness for those I care about the most."
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of sciencetimes.com
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