My name is Norlenn, I am a first-year International Business student at Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen, the Netherlands. I grew up between Switzerland and Costa Rica, which shaped me into someone who has always felt at home across different cultures and international environments. Alongside my studies, I have been developing my own business concept: an accessible Pilates and wellness studio aimed at students, with a hybrid model that combines in-person and digital offerings. Beyond that, I’m interested in areas such as design, wellness, brand communication and continuous learning and improvement. More than anything, I am drawn to entrepreneurship as a way of creating genuine value for people.
When I first came across the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme, it immediately felt like it was the right opportunity for me. For a ehile, I’ve been looking for a real collaboration, where I could contribute meaningfully to a company or startup, while learning from someone who had already taken the leap that I am still preparing for. And luckily, the EYE programme offered exactly that. It also aligned perfectly with the spirit of my studies at Hanze, which actively encourages us to pursue real-world experience, work alongside businesses and entrepreneurs and build something concrete rather than staying purely theoretical.
My match with Jan Pleis, co-founder and CEO of mydoobe at Your Home Guides GmbH in Leer, Germany, felt right from the very beginning. It’s a deep tech smart home startup developing a patented retrofit device with an easy installation, which solves a common issue. The product is elegant in its simplicity and the company is at a genuinely exciting stage: the technology is ready, the IP is protected and the next step is bringing it to the world. I could immediately see how my background in digital marketing, international business and content strategy could contribute to that journey.
These first weeks have been a mix of everything at once: exciting, eye-opening and at times a little overwhelming in the best possible way. One of the things that stood out immediately was how structured and thoughtful the onboarding process was. Jan had everything prepared: a clear introduction to the company, access to our shared tools including Microsoft Teams for communication and project coordination and a well-organised overview of my role and responsibilities. It might sound like a small detail, but for me it said a lot about how Jan runs things. It felt professional and welcoming at the same time and made me feel like a real part of the team from day one rather than someone just passing through. Jan also mentioned that this is exactly the kind of onboarding structure he plans to implement as his company grows and starts hiring. Hearing that made me realise I was not just experiencing it: I was learning from it as a future founder myself.
From the very first days, I was involved in real work across different areas of the business. On the marketing side, I have been contributing to building a marketing strategy for mydoobe, thinking through channels, positioning and how to communicate the product clearly to different audiences. On the operations side, I have been supporting the day-to-day running of the company in ways that gave me a close look at how an early-stage startup actually functions: how decisions get made, how priorities shift and how a small team manages to keep multiple things moving at once. I also participated in a workshop with the imec iStart accelerator programme, which was a real highlight. Being in that room, watching Jan navigate conversations about market strategy, business model and investor positioning, while contributing my own perspective, was the kind of experience that simply cannot be replicated in a classroom.
On a human level, this experience is already shifting the way I think about what it means to build a company. There is a big difference between studying entrepreneurship and actually being inside it every day. I came here to learn and to contribute. And I am glad to say that from the very beginning I have been able to do both.
I am genuinely grateful for thid amazing opportunity and excited about what the coming months will bring!