Halfway through my Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs experience, I can already say that the exchange has been much more than a period abroad: it has become a real transition point in the way I see my professional future.
I arrived in Luxembourg with a solid background in international development and EU-funded projects, but also with a very specific question in mind: how do you turn years of professional experience into a sustainable entrepreneurial activity? Working alongside my Host Entrepreneur, Silvia Anastasia, has helped me start answering that question in a very practical way.
During the first part of the exchange, I have been involved in the development of ideas for European projects, background research, early proposal work, partnership discussions and communication-related activities. What has been particularly valuable is not simply doing these tasks, but understanding the reasoning behind them: why one opportunity is pursued and another is not, how an organisation decides where it can add genuine value, how partners are selected, how responsibilities and resources are discussed, and how a project idea must fit within a wider organisational strategy.
This hands-on exposure has changed the way I look at EU project management. I was already familiar with the technical side of projects, but EYE is helping me see the entrepreneurial side as well. Behind every proposal and partnership there are choices about positioning, sustainability, risk, relationships and growth. I have also gained a clearer sense of how communication and visibility contribute to credibility and how European cooperation can support new services and longer-term opportunities.
One of the most interesting parts of the collaboration has been the possibility to use real initiatives, including FLIP, YOU ARE, RE.W.I.N.D. WOMEN and coding&CO-DoING, as practical learning cases. Rather than learning entrepreneurship in theory, I am able to discuss real decisions, observe how challenges are handled and reflect on how those lessons could apply to my own future consultancy, Talent2Development Consulting.
The experience has also challenged me. Moving from the mindset of an experienced professional to that of an entrepreneur means becoming more comfortable with uncertainty and asking different questions: What is my distinctive value? Which services should I prioritise? Which partnerships make strategic sense? How can I balance impact with financial sustainability? I now feel much better equipped to address them.
At this stage, I feel that the objectives of the programme are being met very well. The cooperation is constructive, open and genuinely based on mentoring and exchange. For the second half, I would not radically change the direction, but I would like to focus even more on consolidating my own business model: sharpening my service offer, thinking more concretely about pricing and positioning, and identifying opportunities for future collaboration with Silvia beyond the EYE exchange.
The biggest change so far is probably one of perspective. I started the programme wanting to learn how a small organisation manages European projects. Halfway through, I am learning something broader: how to think about projects, partnerships and professional expertise as building blocks of an entrepreneurial strategy. That shift is already one of the most valuable outcomes of my EYE journey.