12 Tips For YLAI Preparation: A Pre-Arrival Checklist To Support Your Success
Congratulations y Felicidades YLAI Fellow!
You’ve done it! You’ve been selected as one of the most promising, socially conscious young people in the Western Hemisphere through your leadership efforts in entrepreneurship, and/or civil society alongside a desire to solve important problems and help others in some way.
For me, being selected for the inaugural Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Professional Fellows Program was one of the proudest moments of my professional career. I was thrilled and honored to have been selected. At the same time, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect although I knew that I was ready for the adventure ahead. In the end, I was able to say that the YLAI Fellowship Program went well for me and that I made the most of the opportunity.
Now, one year later, I am thankful and honored to have been selected to serve this growing community which forms the YLAI Network as one of the featured speakers at the 2017 YLAI Launch which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia from October 4–6.
My only goal in this role is to help you create MASSIVE and MAXIMUM success from your upcoming YLAI Fellowship experience based on what I did and learned during my fellowship program.
In Atlanta, I will be sharing my experiences, ideas, and mistakes in order to help you visualize and engineer your success at YLAI and beyond.
However, as entrepreneurs, leaders, and professionals, we know that PROPER PRIOR PLANNING PREVENTS POOR PERFORMANCE. Therefore, I hope that you find these 12 tips useful as you prepare to officially begin your YLAI journey. Vámonos!
1) Goals and Plans
I’ve put this point first because it is one of the most important ones.
Success becomes easier to achieve as we become more clear about what it looks like for us, based on our unique dreams. Take some time to think deeply about your personal, professional, and organizational objectives for this YLAI Fellowship in order to create clear goals for yourself.
When you have the goals, work to split them into a plan that you can follow weekly and daily over the course of the program. It doesn’t have to be perfect and it will definitely change as you go. That is normal and expected.
Still, a written personal plan will help you to enter with a clear focus and serve as a guide to fall back on when things inevitably get busy amidst all of the activities that you are about to be a part of.
2) Get Your Technology Ready
As the world evolves, it is increasingly difficult to escape the use of technology. The various tools of the digital era are used heavily in the U.S.
Additionally, you will have a great opportunity to document your journey in the form of videos and photos, for your personal memories and/or to share with others.
Your tools may include laptops, tablets, mobile phones, digital cameras, audio recorders, tripods, selfie sticks and memory cards.
3) Go With Google
If you aren’t familiar with Google tools yet, now is a great time to learn.
A Google account can be obtained for free and is highly recommended as you are likely to use Gmail, Drive, Photos, Maps, Contacts and Calendar quite heavily during the fellowship.
Many U.S. organisations use the Google Suite of tools for their enterprise operations. This was the case at my fellowship host, 826CHI, where I used Gmail, Drive and Calendar to communicate, view documents, and coordinate my activities with my host and her team.
Google Maps will be essential to helping you navigate your city, especially in the first week or when planning your next Uber routes. Google Photos will be extremely helpful for backing up all of those photos and videos, including the many selfies and ‘selfwes’.
If you are using a temporary phone in the U.S., all of your media will be safely stored online in your Google account, along with that hard-earned contact information from many networking events.
4) Search and Map Your Cities
By now, your City Hub has probably been confirmed and you know what type of clothing you will need for the expected weather.
We talked about Google Maps above and it’s a great idea to open your digital map and explore what’s around your city. You can start by exploring what’s close to home and work and highlighting select locations on your map.
Don’t worry too much about understanding the details of transportation in your city since you will be assisted with this when you arrive at your City Hub. However, it will be easier to soak it all in quickly if you are familiar with your area in advance.
5) Be Socially Aware
I learned that the U.S. is a truly diverse place. You can find a range of cultures, races and beliefs within one city and this diversity expands as you spread your view across each state and the country itself.
It’s helpful to be aware of the current affairs on a national level, as well as the state and city levels. This can be a great conversation starter as you interact with your host and U.S. citizens.
This information can also help you to make smarter and/or safer decisions as you naturally explore your cities. Take an interest!
6) Shortlist Meetings and Places of Interest
Speaking of interest, long before reaching U.S. shores, you should have at least made contact with your host for an initial greeting and exchange of contact information (which should be now saved in Google Contacts).
However, it’s also a good idea to reach out to others with whom you hope to connect once you arrive. I’ve found business persons and professionals in the U.S. to be quite open and willing to meet as long as you can present a clear agenda for meeting and a genuine indication that you are not going to waste their time.
If you can be efficient with your work, then you may have more time to play! While planning, be sure to highlight places of interest that you would like to visit for sight-seeing as you express your inner tourist.
7) Read Your YLAI Peer Profiles
The Opening and Closing conferences are your two opportunities to meet any of the other fellows. However, the daily agendas are likely to be quite intense making it nearly impossible to properly meet everyone by the end of the Fellowship Program. The amount of people that you will see and meet can even be overwhelming.
I found that it may be helpful to review the YLAI Fellow profiles in advance and shortlist persons who you think you would really like to meet based on your backgrounds, goals and interests. Reach out to them via online platforms for an initial introduction and set up a meeting time and place, once feasible.
8) Organise Your Travel Documents (ASAP)
You don’t want to miss your flight because you are missing documents. Please make sure you get them all sorted as early as possible and that you have them packed safely before heading to the airport.
I am sure you will hear more about this in your official online orientation on the Portal!
9) Bring Your Gifts. Bring Your Flags!
This gift idea was originally sparked by Alian Ollivierre, another YLAI 2016 Alumnus, who recommended gift-giving as a great way to connect and express appreciation for others at international events like YLAI, based on her experience.
I tried it and found that most people genuinely appreciate gifts, especially when they come from far away. It shows that you were considerate enough to plan ahead. I left tokens of appreciation and souvenirs from Barbados all across Dallas, Chi-town and Washington D.C. with my host, mentors and other fellows!
I even had the chance to hand-deliver a gift to Sir Richard Branson and leave one for the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, as well as the First Lady, Michelle Obama.
These gifts were extra special since Barbados was celebrating its golden 50th Anniversary of Independence in November 2016.
In the gift to The Obamas, I also included gifts from my host at 826CHI in the form of two books which were published by 826National and composed entirely of letters which were written by children across the USA!
Since YLAI 2016, to my pleasant surprise, I have also been receiving gifts in return from new-found colleagues in the U.S., posted all the way to Bridgetown, Barbados.
***Note: Please bring your national flags to represent your nation. We are going to do something fun together at the YLAI Launch. I promise!***
10) Brands and Business Cards
Remember that you, the individual, are a brand which is independent but connected to the brands of your products, businesses, or organisations.
Bring samples of your work such as products and portfolios so that you can easily show others what you do. For example, I traveled with multiple copies of my Pilly the Pelican Children’s Books and even left some with potential partners in Chicago.
Be sure to have at least a few business cards for the opening event. Once you arrive in your City Hub, you will be able to buy or order more cards from sites like VistaPrint, which I also recommend.
Please remember to use a professional e-mail address and update your professional website and LinkedIn Profile as well, if you have them.
11) Practise Speaking Slowly and Clearly
Another useful tip is taking some time to practice speaking slowly and clearly. Remember that some people may have never heard your country’s particular accent, even if you are both speaking the same language.
The Barbadian version of English can be quite fast naturally and someone who is unfamiliar with our accent may have challenges understanding. Over the years, I’ve had to learn to speak more slowly when giving international presentations as it is essential for effective communication. Practice helps!
12) Team Up For Press Releases or Interviews
Before leaving your home country, another good idea is sharing your achievement with your fellow citizens via television, radio or newspaper interviews, or press releases.
This is often done in association with the U.S. Embassy in your country and it would be best to team up with them and your national YLAI peers to do this.
Who knows which young person may be inspired by learning about your story and this achievement? Share your success with your country.
Hablemos Pronto — Let’s Talk Soon in Atlanta
YLAI came at a pivotal moment in my life, one year after leaving my job to make the difficult transition from employee to full-time entrepreneur. YLAI gave me new faith, new hope, new contacts, new insights, and a new vision of what is possible for myself, my community, my country, and my region.
This is the start of a lifetime journey for you and there is a long road ahead. I look forward to helping you make the absolute most of this opportunity, no matter where you stand at this current stage of your life or enterprise development.
Please connect with me on LinkedIn and feel free to read more about my work at Life Engineer and Pilly the Pelican.
I look forward to seeing you in Atlanta! ¡Hasta pronto!
