7 Questions with Anna Stoykova, 15toGO’s Influencer Relations Associate
Anna is a travel influencer and social media content creator. Her ability to establish connections and create viral content is what has made her a vital part of 15toGO’s team.
Check her Instagram profile
- What is your background and why did you join 15toGO?
I’ve studied Design at the New Bulgarian University. The skills I have obtained are helping me a lot to express my personality through art because I managed to become an influencer, who loves to inspire other people every day. My hopes are to encourage my readers to live a more colorful life, to concentrate more on their personal health and happiness. I aspire to do this through my blog, which is popular mainly among people from the US and UK, as well as South-East Asia, Germany, Italy, and of course — Bulgaria. In my opinion, Americans are a lot more open-minded than Bulgarians when it comes to this type of a lifestyle and to following this type of blogs in general. That’s probably why they are also my main audience.
Joining the team was actually the result of a string of unbelievable events. I was on a trip in Bali when I was approached by a person who had lost himself and who asked me in English if he could use my phone to get in touch with his group of friends. I immediately thought that he could be a fellow Bulgarian because of his accent. It turned out that I was right (Laughing). The next day Todor Gerovski, 15toGO’s co-founder wrote me a message to thank me for having helped out his mate. He also mentioned to me that he had noticed my blog and that he was quite impressed by it. Once in Sofia, he invited me to the company’s headquarters, where I was introduced to Peter Lozanov, the CEO. He told me all about the project and got me excited about the whole venture in no time. To me, this incredible outcome was nothing short of fate.
2. What is your role in the 15toGO team?
I am developing the Instagram profile of 15toGO. Apparently, I’ve managed to convince the team that I am capable of doing this well enough for them to hand over this significant part of the marketing to me. In my humble opinion I’ve managed to push forward our Instagram presence really well and from here on it should only be getting better!
I am also getting in touch with other influencers around the world, who could help us make this app truly viral! They are more keen on trusting other influencers, rather than just any brand because a lot of the brands only want to exploit them. When they know that the person they are communicating with is a ‘’colleague’’ of theirs, who knows about their struggles and has been through the same, they are more likely to listen to him and trust him.
3. What gets you most excited about the project?
The app, definitely. It’s something that I’ve never seen and never used before. It will reduce the cost for the users by eliminating all the middlemen who don’t really bring any value whatsoever. People don’t even know that these intermediaries can be taken out of the equation and now they’ll find out how much cheaper it can be to travel in groups!
Another thing that really gets me thrilled is the fact that I will get to meet a lot of other fascinating people from all over the world, also influencers like me, with whom we could exchange experience. I’m really looking forward to the friendships that I will be able to create through the matching functionality of 15toGO.
4. Where do you see the project in the next few years?
I honestly think that the project will be incredibly successful, because of the push that we are about to give it. In the not-so-distant future people from all over the world will be using the app and even the most famous influencers could start promoting it in their accounts at some point!
5. Which do you think are the main challenges that the project and the team will face?
I think that the introduction of blockchain in the platform could turn out to be a bit of a challenge for the people to fully grasp. Not everyone in the world knows how this technology works and to some, it may even be a bit intimidating. I, myself, wasn’t entirely informed about it prior to this project and I had to read a lot about cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, etc. It’s a good thing that my boyfriend has been active in this space for some time now and he’s helped me understand how everything works. As far as I know, the UX will be such, that the regular user will not be bothered with learning how the blockchain mechanics function — so hopefully everyone will be able to benefit from the tech’s merits without knowing that it actually is there, under the hood.
6. How would you describe the atmosphere around 15toGO?
It’s very chill (Laughing). Even though we are under pressure because of the enormous task that we’ve undertaken, everyone is very cheerful and friendly. It’s a very positive thing to see that the team members are really helping each other out a lot.
7. Tell us one interesting thing about yourself?
One of my greatest passions is being in nature, to me, this is the greatest gift that we have been blessed with. Thankfully, I live in the small town of Sliven, near the mountain. Whenever I have the opportunity, I hit the mountain paths and leave civilization behind my back. I also combine this with my other great hobby — yoga. Doing yoga in nature is among the most uplifting activities one can undertake, I cannot recommend it enough!
