Read about the story of Georgina Cooper (New Entrepreneur from UK)
The Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme gave me the great opportunity to be part of local culture in a Development Center and spread creativity in one of the most thought provoking regions in the world - Ancient Olympia.
My experience of 10 years as a creative writer with philosophical elements of reflecting on society in Kent, UK, had created the conditions to become an independent entrepreneur and start up a business with an idea to make profit from selling greeting cards.
When I was on an Erasmus+ funded KA1 youth exchange, a participant mentioned gaining Entrepreneurial skills and experience through the EYE Programme. As soon as possible, I grabbed the closest computer started to search for areas of particular to interest, and suitability to exchange ideas with my startup business idea- LittleBig Cards. After some research, it became clear that Greece would provide great insights towards celebrating the connections between people with an innovative approach.
The sector was very specific and I found a very interesting company to which I proposed to be part of the Programme- Dione, a local development centre in Ancient Olympia. My host entrepreneur, Vaso Charitopoulou, the founder and general manager, proved to be extremely available to accompany me on this adventure. We started the exchange and I transferred press releases and collaboration information during my ongoing experience, to Patris News located in Pyrgos.
The four months exchange provided to be quite fruitful as a learning and sharing experience. I was able to generate content in many fields; I learnt the cultural differences and attitudes to products and how to adapt to an international context; I was able to attend conferences such as The Health and Nutrition Awards 2016 , Stranger Equals Danger -Human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi. I also had the opportunity to follow the cultural development in a country completely different from the UK, learning the various types of methodologies, and I am now more engaged in Community Forums in my hometown. Furthermore, I have developed my writing and created a social enterprise named GEECO that advocates positive environmental change.
Vaso Charitopoulou continues to support Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs initiatives to this day and engages in various collaborations between previous and new exchanges, expanding the network and providing innovation. I wish to thank you all for this great opportunity. It has set me with well defined goes for my social enterprise - GEECO and with larger prospects for the future.
http://www.patrisnews.com/promoting-preventative-medicine-through-olive-oil/,
http://www.patrisnews.com/nobel-peace-prize-winner-shirin-ebadi-shares-advice-with-ilias-local-0/.
Georgina Cooper (UK)
Development Associate at GEECO_SE. Ashford, Kent, United Kingdom .
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