IL DIPARTIMENTO
Did you ever plan on setting yourself up as self-employed?
Even before I left university I knew that I always wanted
to be self-employed. My grandfather ran his own business,
so did my father and they really inspired me to do that
myself. I worked as a management consultant for 18
months after I graduated so I was faced with the decision
of continuing down that path and following that career or
taking a leap of faith and setting myself up, doing what I
wanted to do and pursuing something I was really interested in. Having studied languages at university, another
aim was always to use my languages in some way at work
so when Nick and I had this idea that we thought could
be of real benefit to people, we also thought of turning it
into a business somewhere down the line as well. We saw
that the need was there and felt that the time was right
for us to set something up. I was always looking for the
opportunity to set up my own business and Viveras was
perfect for that. Working at Viveras allows me to use my
languages, it allows me to travel and, most importantly,
it’s a platform that people can use and can make the year
abroad experience better.
Would you say social media has been an
important part of establishing Viveras?
Without a doubt. We use social media not just as a way
of getting people to visit the website but also as a way to
share information about all things Erasmus! We use Facebook and Twitter especially as a way of sharing things that
we think will be of use or interest to Erasmus students,
both pieces that we’ve written and more general articles.
Photography: martinak15 - Flickr