This time we talked to OLIVIA GREEN – a Modern Languages and Business Studies Student at Newcastle University and a Presenter of Newcastle Student Radio Breakfast Show. Olivia worked with us in 2019 as an intern at the studio with a role of a Content Manager and Business Developer at Eloquens and a French-English Translator at Wimi. She felt honoured to have been asked to participate in the interview, agreeing to share with us a few words about her experience at a venture studio and explain how it has contributed to her personal and professional development.
When asked how her adventure with us started, Olivia honestly admitted that going abroad was an obligatory part of her degree at the university: As I study French, Spanish and Business, I was always going to spend a year of my studies in a foreign country. I knew that I wanted to do something more practical during that time and get some experience in the business world. In the French speaking business world to be precise. That’s why I started to look at job offers in Paris.
Olivia also had a second criteria about her job: she really wanted to work for a company that has a purpose, a business that contributes to the common good. It was the idea behind Eloquens that appealed to me the most. I could see that people actually benefit from the Eloquens’ activity and I was incredibly attracted by this fact. I really liked the hands-on approach that is present there as well. I was sure that I would learn a lot and I saw it as a unique opportunity as you don’t naturally get graduate jobs or internships in start-ups. I was ready to jump onboard and get started.
I was buzzing after the interview – I really wanted to work there. Eloquens felt like something special to me.
< < < Eloquoon: Mascot at one of our portfolio companies: Eloquens.com > > >
Olivia shared with us her memories about the very first days at adVentures: I was nervous. I already had worked a fair amount, but this was my first office job. I was unsure of how I would perform. Everything was new for me: the project management solution we were using, our customer relation management tools, website creators that I had to master to create aesthetically appealing blog posts, video editing software… It all took me a while but how much was I learning! It was incredible.
Olivia said that during the internship, she became much more technologically competent and gained great time and project management skills. She learnt to make efficient decisions on tasks priorities (which is useful in both professional and private life) and, what she finds the most important, had a chance to explore different areas of business activity and see which one appealed to her the most. What was it then? What she largely enjoyed was the marketing related part of her internship. I loved marketing tasks! The creative aspect of it all: creative reading and writing, making videos, structuring newsletters. I had chosen marketing at the university and working at adVentures has proven to me that it was a right choice. It is definitely a path that I could go down in the future.
Finally, it was time for a question: how did you find yourself in the start-up studio environment? I really liked the start-up studio environment. It was relaxed in a sense that everyone’s work was their work and there was no negative competitiveness. So many young people being together, so trusted and respected, it was great. Olivia admits that her internship has changed her view on what she wanted to do in life and confirmed that she has to find a place where she would have a sense of purpose and real impact: Before I was switching from job to job, it was with a view that ‘everyone has to work and you work to earn money’. Working at adventures made me realise how important it is to work for something you believe in. In fact, you must find such a job. I didn’t really appreciate this fact before.
I was really lucky to have the opportunity to work at adventures: great people and great business environment. My internship in 3 words? Dynamic, lively and free-flowing.
Olivia’s plan for the nearest future is to finish her degree at Newcastle University, go travelling the world for the following 2 years (There is no need to get too serious too early – as she explained) and to plunge into working in a organisation linked to women’s rights reinforcement after that: I want to work in an organisation that contributes to the betterment of rights of women. I’m not saying that I can change the whole system, but I want to make the little impact that I can.
The only impossible journey is the one you never begin. (Tony Robbins)
^ Olivia’s motto
We wish you all the best Olivia! Thank you for your time with us!
Interviewer: Patrycja Cybinska
< 🎁 BONUS 🎁 > Olivia’s top tips for future interns:
- Go in with a lot of positivity and 100% effort, then just see where the cookies crumble!
- Don’t worry too much: the Team and yourself will quickly identify what you’re best in and you’ll be getting tasks that you’re good and will enjoy.
- Integrate with the Team – it makes all the difference.
- Check the salad place called Mongoo, you will love it! 🙂
