Remember our latest interview with young & successful Victoria Suarez before Unleash 2017? Described as an unconventional three-day event, it really went beyond everyone’s expectations. First of all, it happened in a circus. Yep, that’s right. How many conferences have you attended in a Circus? For us it was definitely the first one. YT reporter Kate Kuznetsova spoke to the organizers and participants to see what was so special about Unleash and what to expect next year.
“Young people with the will to change the world” – this is what Unleash is all about. And this article will provide you with some concrete examples of that.
“When they say it’s unconventional, that’s completely true. The event has nothing in common with the events where you listen to speakers all day long and then it’s over. I think Unleash has a whole different perspective, and the main thing about it is interactivity.” – explained Esther Alós Ordiales, a 19- year- old student from Madrid Public University who has already started her own company, at a remarkably young age, called “Pañales de tela Cats Baby”.
“I’ve dreamt of owning my own editorial company for a few years now. Talking about my project at Unleash and participating in various stages of it, made me realize that my dream doesn’t have to stay a dream, I can actually do it. So many people were on board with the idea, and now I feel very encouraged.” Esther was not, however the youngest entrepreneur at the event.
Participants of Unleash 2017 enjoying Retiro Park in Madrid
Fifteen-year-old businessman Moziah Bridges started his company – Mo’s Bows – at the age of only nine years! “I started my company because I needed an accessory to help me look sharp, but didn’t see anything out there that fit my style or personality. So, with the help of my granny, I started making my own bow ties. I never imagined the baby business I started at my grandmother’s kitchen table in South Memphis would one day be an internationally recognized brand. My dream is to become a fashion mogul. When I graduate high school in 2020 I plan to go to college and study fashion design. I’m living proof that you can be anything you want – at any age. ” – says Mo. And that’s true. Mo has a lot of inspirational ideas for the future and has even managed to meet the former President of the USA, Barack Obama.
Twenty-one-year-old biology student and entrepreneur Chaimae El Mahdaoui, from Morocco, felt really inspired by Moziah’s story. “His example shows that entrepreneurship has no age, when you are willing to do something, you will make it happen whatever it takes. My participation in Unleash 2017 made me think about my personal project and how I can incorporate it in my own country.”
“Unleash 2017 had a perfect organization. Everything was great, and you could even talk with the other attendees and rate the speakers after they made a speech. Everything thanks to the Unleash App. That was a great idea. The best parts of the app were the Agenda and the Live Q&A. I still keep in touch with the people who were at Unleash, and some of them were from my city, Valencia.” – shared Jaime Manjavacas, a 19-year-old programmer.
“Before participating, I already knew what my dreams were. I developed an app called “Save Mobile Data“, it prevents you from consuming data accidentally at your home, and I was at Unleash 2017 to make people understand the potential of the app. It’s available at the Google Play Store; and if everything goes well, I will open a campaign at Kickstarter to publish it at the App Store. But, as I said before, even when you are sure of your path, at an event of this kind you will learn even more. I was going to use a standard marketing strategy, but at Unleash I met a 17-year-old programmer & game developer called Lucía Sanchez. She sent her games to Spanish technology magazines, and that was her marketing strategy, and it worked quite successfully. I think it’s a great idea that I will be able to use for my own product also. This is what I learned at Unleash, but there is, of course, a lot more & I would urge everyone to attend next year.” – concludes Jaime.
Young game developer Lucia Sanchez, from Spain, left a strong impression, and not just on Jaime. “Participating in Unleash and especially the speech of a 17-year-old teen developer changed my perception and mindset on learning from YouTube. It is as simple as it sounds. If I had known about it earlier…” – exclaims 21-year-old photographer from Germany, Jan Hafner. Jan describes himself as “soon-to-be an Entrepreneur who changes the world for the better” and speaks about Unleash quite poetically: “When you enter the gates of Unleash you immerse yourself in a sea of rare and brilliantly-coloured flowers. Each one of them contains an inspirational story within. Listen very carefully to the lessons drawn from both mistakes and successes, decode and apply what you learned to your business. It is unique! You should definitely participate in Unleash if you are looking for peers who are already able to register stupendous achievements at a young age. If you keep an open mind, you can learn so much from them!”
Kate Seliverstova, a 21-year-old graduate of Finland’s University of Applied Sciences & a business manager from Russia, says Unleash really made a difference for her: “I find it really necessary for young people to participate in events like Unleash. The reason for this is that usually nowadays, young people lack motivation about life. They don’t know what to do with their lives, even if they have successfully graduated from Universities. Unleash will prove to everybody that everything is possible. Through hard work, perseverance, and patience we can achieve unbelievable and unimaginable results. Unleash changed the way I think about life in general. By seeing those inspiring young speakers on the stage, I realized that I am no worse off than they were. One idea that I instantly got, is to bring Unleash to my country, to create global recognition for this event. If Unleash were recognized worldwide, just imagine how many people it could influence! It could change mindsets! Isn’t it amazing? I cannot express my eternal gratitude to the organizers, it’s been a fantastic experience that everybody should go through!”
And the organizers agree! “We managed to create a unique atmosphere where not only attendees, but also speakers, artists, and sponsors were inspired. From there, amazing synergies emerged. Let’s say that Unleash connected the right people to make amazing things happen.” – shares Head of Community at Pangea and Unleash organizer Victoria Suarez.
So what should we expect next year?
“Next year Unleash will be much more interactive for attendees. We have some innovative ideas about how to integrate workshops at the event for attendees to get to know each other in a working atmosphere and to interact also with speakers. We want attendees to leave with specific skills acquired and helpful contacts in their contact lists.”
Are you ready for #Unleash2018? Start preparing now!
Photos: Organisators and participants of the Festival
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