Kincső Petres is a 25 aspiring entrepreneur from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, who dreams of starting her travel agency. While working as a functional analyst at a 9-to5 job, her business idea came when she realized that she loves to organize trips and vacations for herself, her family, and close friends. She joined the program intending to follow her call and passion and put theory into practice with the help of an experienced entrepreneur. She wanted to learn how to build a business structure around traveling. She aims to organize group trips and tourist activities abroad and in her country soon. She collaborated with Marivi Gracia Osanz (marivi), an experienced entrepreneur who founded Tenerife Job Training 14 years ago, an educational tourism company in the Canary Islands. The organization offers learning opportunities by travelling and travelling to learn, hosting travellers in the Canary Islands, and sending students abroad. They also organize internships for students in Tenerife, Spanish courses, staff training mobility courses, and sustainability programs for those interested.

The collaboration was beneficial for both parties. Kincső acquired new skills, such as presentation skills, public speaking, active listening, verbal, non-verbal and written communication, she learned how to give and receive constructive feedback. She also refined her business financial plan and developed packages for tourists, such as participation at the Carnival in Tenerife. Kincso had the opportunity to see the difficulties of working with people and groups of people and gain experience handling situations where it is essential to solve problems and to have fast reactions. She gained practical experience working in an international environment with various cultural backgrounds.

Marivi benefited from Kincső fresh perspective and marketing and social media input for her business. Her excellent knowledge of Romanian and Hungarian languages helped her reach new markets to which she had no access otherwise. Kincső trusts that she can contact Marivi in the future for any business advice.

“The months I spent with my host entrepreneur, Marivi, and the team from Tenerife Job Training gave me professional confidence and a much more realistic picture of entrepreneurial life. They brought me closer to the idea that my company could become a reality. I learned that this lifestyle requires constant flexibility and vigilance, adaptability to change, good knowledge of human nature, and clear boundaries. I learned to use my common sense and think outside the box more! It was one of the best decisions to apply for the EYE programme. In Marivi, as a mentor, I met a sparkling and balanced person who is in love with life 🙂 She encouraged me both professionally and as a person. I’m thankful for our work and conversations!.” (Kincső Petres)

“Hosting Kincső brought significant added value to our team. We benefited from having a new person who came with fresh ideas and helped the team by suggesting options for improving and motivating the team into teaching and including new members. We could achieve plans and projects that would not have been possible without the extra help of Kincső. We could also test ideas and reach new markets, which would not have been possible otherwise because of our tight work schedules. The Romanian and Hungarian languages spoken by Kincső also helped us improve our communication with clients and thus offer better services.” (María Victoria Gracia Osanz)