Podcast
EP026: Ivan Minić, Engineer and Serial Entrepreneur from Serbia
In the episode No26 we spoke with Ivan Minić, an entrepreneur from Belgrade, Serbia. He is known for his nick @burek and as a creator of Moja firma portal and Pojačalo project, for the younger population of entrepreneurs in Serbian community of entrepreneurs. We spoke about some of his past projects, and the importance and impact they had in our local community. Ivan gave us his point of view regarding the state of entrepreneurship in Serbia and gave us some advice on how to improve it, what has been done and is there to be done in the future. We spoke about digitalisation in Serbia and why the process of digital transformations is on a decent level, even though we think that is not that developed.
EP025: Aisa Ijiri, An artist and concert piano player from Japan
In episode 25 we spoke to Aisa Ijiri, an artist and piano player from Japan, currently living in London, Great Britain. She shared with us what does it mean to feel the stage at an early age, early as a 3 years old baby girl. And how she developed into a strong, independent artist that performs all over the world. She also shared with us what are the differences and similarities between an artist and professional sportsmen or women. Both of the apparently different worlds live for just a moment where they show their perfection. We also discussed how pandemic changed her life in just five days, but also how she managed through this tough period and what are her future plans.
EP024: Monica Mohindra, Serial Entrepreneur and Hospitality Expert from Bali
In episode 24 we spoke to Monica Mohindra. She comes from Bali and she shared with us how this pandemic situation changed her life and business, what she has introduced for herself and her team, and most importantly, how she decided to leave a good and sage corporate seat and lifestyle and decided to become an entrepreneur. Key words from these conversations are confidence, learning, education and awareness, awareness as self awareness, awareness of nature and environment and awareness towards other people’s needs and happiness.
EP023: Rafaela Rica, Expert in Marketing and Communications from Albania
In the episode No23 we spoke to Rafaela Rica from Tirana, Albania. She is an expert in marketing and communication and a PhD researcher on the topic of women entrepreneurship. We spoke about how she started her own business Iceberg Communication that celebrates 21 years of existence, from selling ad space at newspapers to successful companies. She shared her point of view regarding start-up and entrepreneurship ecosystems in Albania, and what does it take to shift mindset from Communism to Liberal Capitalism, as well as what is the state of women entrepreneurship in Albania and Balkan region. She told us how much mentorship means to her, and what does it take to be a good leader in industry and within the company. She told us how her business transformed and what challenges her company faced during Covid-19 crisis, and what good came out of it. For the end of our conversation, she shared her message to the world, words full of support and empowerment.
EP022: Shan Luo, Expert in Digital Innovation and Fintech from Taiwan
In the episode 22, we spoke to Shan Luo. She is an expert in digital innovations and fintech industry, with more than 15 years of experience. She shared with us her insights regarding cyber security, data mining and data analyzing. Also, how important are fintech solutions for the future, as we are more and more going to shift to online reality. We leave very sensitive information about our financial status, habits and behavior, which, in the wrong hands can mean disaster for us. For instance, we need to know how to behave on the Internet, what credit card to use when buying online, etc. She shared her thoughts regarding the future of labour market – who is going to be doer and worker and who is going to be a thinker. And in the end, she shared a simple tool how to improve ourselves in just five or ten minutes of practice during a day.
EP021: Akiko Koga, An Artist and an Entrepreneur from Japan
In episode 21, we spoke to Akiko Koga, an artist from Japan. She was a bit uncomfortable speaking in English, so her friend helped her with simultaneous translation.
Akiko shared with us how she became used to being surrounded by art and artists and how she decided to pursue a career in creative industries as a photographer.
She told us how Covid-19 changed her, opened some perspectives, sparked some new ideas for future projects, even though it seemed that we are locked down, she found new and creative ways to overcome the anxiety and find joy in what was given to her. She also shared with us how she fell in love with Serbian culture and cuisine and how she started with the activities of promoting Serbia in Japan.
EP020: Klara Horton, HR and Operation specialist from Czech Republic
In the episode No 20 we spoke to Klara Horton from Czech Republic. She is an enthusiastic and motivated young leader deeply involved in developing start-up ecosystems in Prague and Czech Republic.
We spoke about what it takes to build a business starting from an idea, creating MVP, validating ideo, researching the market and offering a product or a service that solves your personal but also wider population problem.
She shared with us why it is important to work for a corporation and how a person can use this experience to start their own business.
We also spoke about new normal and new values and new leadership models as models for a new era, as old models were definitely disrupted by pandemic.
She talked about the connection between the state and start-up and entrepreneurial environment and how important it is for a government to think strategically in order to keep people, ideas and money in their budget.
In the end, she gave us a recommendation which book to read.
EP019: Bedoor AlSumait, serial entrepreneur and consultant from Kuwait
In the episode No19 we spoke to Bedoor from Kuwait. She is a serial entrepreneur and consultant and also a President of Business and Professional Women Network in Kuwait.
We spoke about women entrepreneurship here and early development as a business woman in early 2000. She shared with us how this pandemic changed her, how she had to think quick and adapt to #newnormal in regard to the market and market needs. We also spoke about the real-estate market in Kuwait and how the prices for square metre of house costs in Kuwait as if you are living in a mansion in the States.
Sho told us how she is raising her five daughters to become independent ladies with an attitude and realistic sense of where does money come from and how easy or hard it is to earn it.
We also spoke about her government’s plan to educate 4000 programmers in just five years.
She also shared with us how much things changed in the last 20 or so years since she started her first business, which was a flower shop.
EP018: Dina Abu Shaaban, owner at Munasabat, online gift shop from Palestine
In the episode No 18 we spoke to Dina from Palestine. She is an owner of Munasabat, a platform that connects buyers of customised gifts with their friends and families. Dina shared with us, how she has started and developed her business, gradually, and how she perceives this pandemic as an obstacle, as a step in development. We spoke about the state of entrepreneurship in Palestine and what their government is doing in supporting and promoting entrepreneurship.
We also spoke about how this pandemic affected her work and narrowed business opportunities, but how she managed to overcome this obstacle.
EP017: Svetlana Stefanović, Feminist, Activist and Mentor from Serbia
In the episode No17, we spoke to Svetlana Stefanović. She is Executive Director of the Belgrade Security Forum and Program Coordinator at Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence. She is a pioneer in mentoring and mentorship programs for women empowerment. Program „Share Knowledge, become a Mentor ” is a program that celebrated a decade this year.
We spoke about her interests and passions, but also about how support and solidarity are most important, especially in these challenging times for everyone.
She tried to explain what is the nature of feminism and also tried to help us better understand what feminism really is, and how important it is, not only for the sake of formal gender equality, but for progress of a society as a whole.
In the end, she recommended a book, that is sort of a handbook for the generations of women leaders.
EP016: Anežka Svobodová, entrepreneur with passion for food innovations from Czech Republic
In the episode No 16 we spoke to Anežka Svobodová from Czech Republic. She currently works in a big multinational corporation and develops her own start-up with a friend, where they try to develop a mixture of superfood that one can consume at home. We spoke about how it is like to develop a new product, what steps we should undertake to make it successful and how important it is to just ask for help, and what are the challenges and obstacles if you want to produce a product that contains an alternative source of protein, like cricket flour. Most of the time, people are willing to share their knowledge and expertise, it is up to us to reach for the help and support.
We also spoke about core values, that can be personal values transferred into a company’s core values, and how important is fair trade and ethical trade.
She shared with us the state of entrepreneurship in Czech Republic and how various support and financial programs are there on the level of European Union.
For the end, she shared two interesting books that she found most exciting in 2020.
EP015: Sofia Terrile, journalist, in love with life from Argentina
In the episode No 15 we spoke to Sofia Terrile from Argentina. She is a young journalist, trying to build her career in most challenging times, both in terms of local economy and pandemic, that hit as all. She shared with us how the monetary market is somehow unstable, how change in government coincided with pandemic and is it possible to try to recover one’s nation economy when everything stopped for almost a year. She also shared with us a vivid life of Buenos Aires, different cultures and traditions that found its place in this city. As an extrovert, she tried to explain how this situation influenced her life, and what she did to just fulfill the emptiness that came with the lockdown. She also told us that it is perfectly normal if you have a bad day. We do not need to be artificially happy all the time.