When Harshal Jain, a Master in Management (MiM) student at ESSEC Business School, left her apprenticeship at global sensory experiences company International Flavours & Fragrance, she had no clear idea what she wanted to do next.
Instead of immediately applying for another corporate role, she used the free time to do something she had never considered before: volunteering abroad.
Within months, she would go from caring for animals on a farm in Germany’s Black Forest to living with a large French family in a 17th-century château (that’s French for palace).
“It’s been a life-changing experience for me in a way because now I have a very clear direction,” says the MiM student originally from India. “I want to live a thousand different lives within this one lifespan that I have.”
Harshal was introduced to volunteering through a friend’s friend, an idea that immediately intrigued her. She asked for the website and soon found her first volunteering opportunity in Germany’s Black Forest. Source: Harshal Jain
A difficult period opened an unexpected door
Harshal had just gone through a breakup after a seven-year relationship when she decided to take a solo trip to Switzerland.
She was feeling low and needed a change of scenery.
While there, she met a friend who told her about volunteering on a Swiss farm. The idea immediately caught her attention.
She asked him for the website and soon found an opportunity in Germany’s Black Forest.
For three weeks, she lived and worked at an animal shelter with horses, cows, goats, sheep and bunnies. The entire farm was run by one woman in her 50s.
“It was just me and her on the entire farm, and I wasn’t even allowed to use my phone there,” she says.
Harshal eventually asked permission to record some of her activities so she could share them on social media. Otherwise, the farm remained a strict no-phone zone.
It was a stark change from the pace of her life in France and the corporate environment she had recently left. But it also gave her a chance to experience a completely different way of living.
The decision to step away from the corporate world and immerse herself in an unfamiliar environment naturally came as a surprise to her family. Having seen Harshal build a corporate career, they were simply curious about what had prompted her to take such a different path.
The idea of volunteering in a role involving household and caregiving work was unfamiliar to them, particularly given the different social perceptions such work can carry in India.
Despite that, they remained supportive of their daughter’s decision. As Harshal began sharing more about her time on the farm, her parents gradually began to see how much she was learning from the experience.
“I was sharing everything with them, and eventually, they were like, ‘Wow, you’re opening your mind and experiencing so many things.’ They were very happy for me.”
After her first volunteering experience, Harshal began gaining traction on social media. That’s when the château’s owners discovered her profile and invited her to join their family. Source: Harshal Jain
Her social media led to even more opportunities
The experience in Germany also changed Harshal’s relationship with social media. As she documented her journey, more people began following her. Within the first week or two, she had gained around 10,000 followers.
That growing audience opened another door.
The owners of a 17th-century château in France came across her profile through the volunteering platform and contacted her.
“They said, ‘We’re very interested in your profile, and we would love to welcome you to our family,’” Harshal says.
The opportunity was unpaid, but accommodation and food were provided. More importantly, it offered Harshal another chance to step into a world completely different from her own. The family had around 30 people living together in the château, including about 12 children.
After spending weeks on a German farm, Harshal was now about to experience life inside a historic French estate.
For two weeks, Harshal immersed herself in French culture, experiencing its nuances firsthand and living what felt like a dream. Source: Harshal Jain
Living and working inside a French château
When Harshal arrived, only the grandparents were there, with the rest of the family due to arrive over the weekend. She had barely stepped onto the property before she was overwhelmed by its sheer size.
“I entered the property, saw the house, and my first thoughts were, ‘Oh my God, am I in a dream or something? Is this where I’m living?’ It was so huge,” she says.
She was given her own room and bathroom on the top floor, but life at the château was far from a holiday. Her responsibilities included preparing meals, setting the table, and helping with household tasks.
Once the children arrived, her mornings became particularly busy. She prepared breakfast for around 12 children, cutting and grilling baguettes and serving them with butter and jam. She then helped prepare lunch and dinner and set the table for the family.
In total, she worked around three to four hours a day.
Coming from a corporate environment, Harshal initially struggled with how to view the work. “At first, in the beginning, you feel like, ‘You know, maybe I’m a housemaid,’ or you get that kind of feeling,” she says.
But that perception soon changed. Harshal noticed that despite their wealth, the family itself did much of the work. The grandfather drove a tractor around the property, while family members took care of their horses and the surrounding grounds themselves.
“They were so rich that they could hire many gardeners and people to do all their work, but they also did everything themselves,” she says.
Seeing this firsthand challenged Harshal’s assumptions about manual work and social status.
“In France and Europe, doing things with your hands isn’t looked down upon,” she says. “It’s very normal for people to do household work and take care of things themselves. It’s never seen as something beneath you.”
That lesson became one of the most meaningful parts of her experience. Gradually, Harshal stopped viewing herself as a volunteer simply helping with household chores and began to feel like part of the family.
The volunteering experience has been life-changing for Harshal, giving her a clear sense of direction while remaining open to where life may take her. For now, she hopes to “live a thousand different lives” within her lifetime. Source: Harshal Jain
She no longer wants one conventional life
The experiences in Germany and France led Harshal to change the way she thinks about her future.
Rather than choosing one career and staying within it, she now wants to experience as many different ways of living as possible.
“I want to experience life as an artist,” she says. “I want to experience life as an actor, as a plumber — I want to experience the whole range of life.”
Her two volunteering experiences had already given her two radically different perspectives: one as a farmer in Germany and another as part of a wealthy French family.
“Now, I want to experience many different lives like this,” she says. “I want to see life through the perspectives of a thousand different people.”
That idea is now influencing how she uses her growing online platform. Her content has connected her with designers, artists, comedians, and music producers she would previously never have had access to.
Rather than simply asking them about their careers, Harshal wants to understand how they live.
She has already started reaching out for conversations and coffee chats, with the longer-term hope of spending time with some of them.
“I’m trying to get on calls with all these people and humanise myself, so that later I can convince them to let me come and live with them for a few days and see life through their perspective,” she says.
Harshal embraces difficult situations, believing that staying comfortable would prevent her from experiencing new things and growing. Source: Harshal Jain
Leaving her comfort zone opened new possibilities
Harshal’s volunteering journey began during one of the lowest periods of her life. She had left a job that was making her unhappy and was also coming to terms with the end of a seven-year relationship.
Looking back, however, she sees that difficult period as what pushed her beyond her comfort zone and towards experiences she might never otherwise have pursued.
“It’s always the tough times that push you to step out of your comfort zone and test your boundaries,” she says. “And then you discover so much more.”
The experience also changed the way she looks at difficult situations.
“Whenever I’m in a difficult situation now, I actually get really excited,” she says. “I’m never scared of difficult situations.”
If anything, she hopes to keep encountering them. “I hope I keep facing more difficult situations in my life so that I can push myself to experience even more of life,” she says.
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