Interns of EvrekaCrew are Telling II: Isabelle Castro from Dokuz Eylul University
After getting great comments with our first post we have decided to continue with Isabelle, our lovely Growth Intern, the dearest Isabelle!
Hello! Tell me about yourself!
Hello! I’m Isabelle, a business-graduate, coffee-lover, travel-addict, third-culture kid, and for those of you that know, an enneagram 8. Yes, I’m one of those enneagram-lovers. I was born in sunny Rio de Janeiro and moved to rainy Wales when I was 6 months old. About a year later, I moved to the best city in the world: Izmir. Spent 8th grade in Texas, Erasmus in Germany, and quarantine in Bulgaria. Why am I counting all these countries here? Because I think that this multicultural background has had a huge impact on who I am today.
Can you define your role and duties for this internship at Evreka?
I work together with the Growth Team, reaching out to prospective clients and presenting our solutions. I especially focus on the Portuguese and Spanish speaking countries, to help overcome the language barrier. Portuguese is my native language, but Spanish was never really my forte, yet there was I, the girl who didn’t even like to talk in Spanish with her own friends 2 months ago, leading meetings in Spanish with high-level executives from companies across the globe.
How was the experience working with EvrekaCrew?
In one word: Amazing, and I am not using that word lightly. After interning both at a corporate multi-national and a tech start-up, I knew that the start-up culture spoke more to me and at Evreka I was once again reminded why. The EvrekaCrew is a very hardworking crew that also knows how to have fun. Everyone was very welcoming and I’m pretty sure I heard someone from HR say, “Those who are not crazy are not hired.”
In light of this internship experience, how have your personal goals evolved?
This internship was the first time that I ever worked in a company where I knew no one and I knew nothing about the sector in which it operates. So, it was a huge step outside of my comfort zone. Every time we step outside of our comfort zone, it opens up a whole new world of possibilities. The more we push ourselves further, the more courageous we are to go even further. So, for me personally, my goals have gotten bigger and bolder.
Do you recommend anything for our candidates towards working for a startup/scaleup?
A lot of people dream of becoming high-level executives in multinational corporate firms. It’s a dream that has been passed down from the previous generation, but I feel like the start-up culture speaks more to our generation. The structured and formal approach to company culture isn’t the best presentation to our fast-paced culture in which creativity and communication are valued. I know that the start-up culture isn’t right for everyone, but I would highly recommend our generation to at least try it out. In fact, try both. Internships are very important to get a feel of the culture and the working conditions, no strings attached. So, use your university years wisely, and see what kind of culture really speaks to you.
How can you describe the culture and the values of EvrekaCrew?
Evreka has a culture that values people. It’s a culture where instead of keeping track of mistakes and personal faults, personal success is celebrated. It’s a safe environment where you are encouraged to do things outside of your comfort zone, to learn new things, and to communicate fearlessly. And the best part? You don’t have to hide your weird quirks or your craziness because everyone else is like that! It’s a culture of Work Hard, Play Hard. We work very hard, but we also know how to have fun.
Would you like to add something else?
I think that the meaning of work changes so much when you believe that what you’re doing is creating a positive impact on the environment in which you live. Of course, we need money to continue our livelihood, but work can be so much more than just a means of getting money. When you believe in the change that your product is creating, you get this internal motivation. You no longer live for the weekends or wake up in the morning just to get paid. You work to create change, to create a positive impact, and the money is just a nice benefit that comes along with it.
