Since the summer we've had the privilege to work with Magret. She was an invaluable aid on her time as an intern to make our magnificent Ax'21 as good as it was. When we asked her to stay after the internship and she said yes, we knew that the upcoming new Kiuas programs will be the best programs ever to be made. A very needed out-of-the-box mentality and a strong and passionate attitude towards how the programs and operations of Kiuas should be make her a marvelous addition to the Kiuas Team.

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Who are you?

Well who am I? Probably could start off with a super corny line saying I'm just a small town girl. Sounds like the start of some song, but in all honesty it is exactly that! Originating from Cuba and living in South Africa for close to 17 years. While there I did a couple of things almost everyone does nowadays that is gain an education. I studied at the University of Free State as a Social Science student. More specifically, I majored in psychology with a minor in Industrial Psychology. Which gives a lot of skills people take for granted in today's world. Personally, there truly is not anything better than seeing the world's different facets through different lenses.  It teaches you to have a lot more patience and understanding of those around you. This makes working with others from different backgrounds a whole lot easier for me. My long study journey ended this year as I graduated from Åbo Akademi with a Masters degree in Developmental Psychology.  While it has been a long journey to graduate, I have always tried to keep myself busy with other academic interests of mine such as cross-cultural management and project management. Lastly, as someone who believes in self-actualization, working has been a very important part of my life. So I have always tried to keep busy even during my studies as a research assistant and afterwards as a human resource assistant.

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What is your spirit spaceanimal?

This is a tough one! If it were the regular what is your spirit animal I would say an elephant. But spirit space animal? Probably Tribore Menendez a character from Final Space who can best be described based of the following quote:  "I named myself Tribore because even if I try to bore you, I can't. I'm too interesting". If you ever get the chance to meet me, you will understand why the quote stands out to me.

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How did you end up in Kiuas?

By pure manifestation! After being in Finland for some time I asked myself what I wanted in a workplace. Some things became clear within that question. Actually more like the things I definitely did not look for in a job. So when opportunity came knocking at my door earlier this year, who was I to say no. During my  first internship it became clear to me that working in the startup environment would be my next destiny just like the role at Kiuas landed on my table. I applied went through the process. And as job applications go, on a lovely Friday afternoon in July I got the call for the job and the rest is history. If you do what you love you can't call it work. That is precisely how I feel working at Kiuas. There is an abundance of opportunity to help others' dreams self-actualize through their startups.

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Tell about the upcoming program

Over the past two years the Pandemic has had many things change and the same goes for Kiuas. If you haven't yet noticed we did not have a fall program this year. That was done through careful deliberation so we could really sit down and plan our next big program.

And boy when I say big it really is going to be something different. The startup environment is evolving and the needs startups had 2 years or even 6 months ago are not the same anymore. So we want to cater to more startups in a different way than before. For now all I can say is that I am terribly excited to see what is in store and how it will unfold in the next few months.

Look out for our next big accelerator, applications will be opening soon on the 22nd of November this year. If you need more information be sure to reach out to us !

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Where would you like to see Kiuas by the end of next year?

One thing that is certain at Kiuas is we all enjoy what we are doing and the love for startups is genuine. My ambition for Kiuas is to grow into something that will be here for the next years to come. Housing more and more talented startups and great self-starting individuals. By the end of this year I would love to see great applications for our next program from a diverse set of startup founders.

- Magret

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