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Hey teacher , give them kids a show
Whilst many well-established exhibitions have had to learn how to engage their audience Gaby Mendes already has an attentive community of 30,000 just waiting for her to launch her show . Emily Wallin spoke to the 26-year-old founder of Talk Twenties who is ready to turn her popular life-skills podcast into a thriving exhibition .
When Gaby Mendes qualified as a teacher , her sixth form students – just a few years younger than herself - started asking for help in grappling with the demands of the adult world .
Mendes quickly realised there was a gap in the market for genuine helpful information on ‘ adulting ’.
After leaving education to work in events the idea grew . She launched the Talk Twenties podcast in January 2020 – and now has almost 30,000 listeners .
With her community switched on , she is now on the cusp of launching Talk
“ There isn ’ t anyone else I see who is 26 and trying to launch their own show .”
Twenties Live . She gave up her job July , has a team of freelancers on board and held a successful pilot event in October , with the vision of holding her first exhibition in Spring 2023 .
While rising through the ranks working on B2B tradeshows at Rapid News her idea continued to grow .
She says : “ I thought I want to do this for my idea . On the side I was growing and launching my own online platform . It had to be online platform because by January 2020 I had just launched Talk Twenties and was thinking we could start with some small events , but by March 2020 nothing could happen .
“ I still wanted to have the same messaging , so launched the podcast . We now have nearly 30,000 listeners
18 — February