This month I interview Valentina Aleksieva. She’s a Girls in Tech ambassador and has moved her life from Macedonia to Stockholm. In January, she left us to study software development at KTH and has since won a programming competition. She is now looking to continue developing her skills as a junior java developer.
This is Cathy from Impact Hub Stockholm chatting with Valentina who spent 6 months with us as a community host.
Tell me about yourself Valentina.
V: I moved to Sweden one year ago. I come from Macedonia from the warmest town. I have a background in e-business – a mixture of IT and economics. I’ve always had a passion for IT and coding so when I moved here, I volunteered at Impact Hub and got accepted to a program at KTH for software development. That was kind of following my dreams – learning to code. Right now I’m working on my own project.
Can you tell me a little bit about what inspired you to go into programming?
V: The passion for building things and I think that coding is very creative and very logical and you have the freedom to build whatever you want and that takes time to learn but I really enjoy it. I’m not saying I’m a professional but I’m going there.
If you could build anything, what would it be? How would you want to impact people? What would you want to be remembered for?
V: I think it doesn’t matter what you’re doing. The main thing that is important is the purpose why you do it. If what you’re doing is impacting people and helping them and makes them feel happy, it’s okay. My dream is to have my own startup or company one day. It’s probably going to be connected to sustainability and IT. That’s my major passion but at this point. I‘m not sure what it’s going to be. I have some ideas but maybe it’s too early to mention it.
Why did you decide to come and volunteer at Impact Hub?
V: I knew about Impact Hub, what the organisation was – a community for changing lives, changing people’s lives in positive ways. So I thought if I try to be a part of this community, it will be the best experience for me to learn a lot of things, and also to belong to a community of this kind of people.
What is it that you found most meaningful from your experience?
V: I think that the people that I met there and kind of seeing how they are trying to change the world was the most beautiful thing… I would say the most positive thing that I have experienced ever. And also I can tell that I’ve met people there who are still my friends and I call them my family.
How would you say that you’ve developed as a person from your experiences here?
V: I think that I’ve grown a lot. I’m taller now. Without heels. I’ve grown a lot and I think that I’ve always been an emotional person but right now I’ve learned that being an emotional person is not a bad thing. It’s very positive if you know how to focus it.
What has been your biggest challenge with working with different kinds of people?
V: You need different people around you. You need diversity. Otherwise you’re going to be stuck with all the same and if you’re with the same things, the same people, and nothing is changing around you; you’ll never grow and you’ll never learn. Because when you meet with different people and you meet with diversity, you learn about them and learn about yourself.
Can you explain a little about the project that you’ve been working on at KTH?
V: It started during the academy. We had a challenge to make an app and it was a competition for participants in the academy. We all had to make some kind of a game, and we came up with an idea. We had only one month to develop it. We needed to develop the game and do the market research, to make a business plan – how are we going to make money from the idea. We did a lot in one month and we won the competition so it was an amazing opportunity, an amazing experience. I learned a lot. We were a team of 7 people and we were all developing and at the same time doing everything else. When we were pitching the idea, most of the professors were like “Wow!”.
It’s a location-based game. It’s mostly for newcomers and tourists to learn things about Stockholm. But at this point, I will share that little information.
So what’s next for you Valentina?
V: I’m continuing to develop myself as a developer. That is really my passion. Right now I’m working on some of my own projects just to practice and learn better, and the rest of the time I’m improving my Swedish.
Before you came to Sweden you were involved with Girls in Tech. Is that correct?
V: Yes. Girls in Tech is an organisation from California that tries to get girls more involved in the IT industry. So this organisation started in Macedonia and we were picked to be ambassadors so we were creating events and games and things.
What would you say to anyone else who is looking to get involved with social entrepreneurship or tech? What advice would you give them?
V: Everyone should get involved. I’ve met a lot of experienced tech people in Stockholm and I think that it’s more important that they all focus on making startups or companies but with ideas that will change the world, not just making selfie apps. You can use that knowledge for something more useful. I’m trying to build my own idea so I can be an example for that. We’ll see what happens.
What would you say to any girls right now who are thinking about going into tech considering the gender imbalance may be an issue?
V: I don’t see why people see it as an issue. We really don’t need to make a focus on that. If you really want to learn that, just take a step and learn it. You don’t need to think of other things except learning. If you really want to do it, you’re going to do it. I’ve never been bullied. I have the full support of every male near me. So you shouldn’t think of it as a reason not to do it.
Is there anything else yo want to add?
V: We need more people at this community at Impact Hub because people here are awesome. They’re really changing the world. It’s very inspiring. That’s why I’m always coming back to see my friends, to see the members I’ve met here. It’s very inspiring.
AUTHOR
Cathy Xiao Chen is the Community Manager at Impact Hub Stockholm. With a background in food sustainability, she advises and connects startups with collaborators to maximise impact.