What you know expands your mind, who you know expands your opportunities.

One thing I love is meeting new people with fresh perspectives in industry, who also know how to simultaneously show their professionalism. There were a lot of things I learnt in the educational establishment, but I always felt like there were aspects that were missing in my experience of the working life. My interests tend to fall into the people side of business as I love seeing what makes people tick and how they communicate in the business world.

From the very beginning, Agent Academy has provided amazing industry speakers for sessions every week, without fail. The sessions have given me greater understanding of how companies effectively choose people to join their organisation, the projects that entail growth for their business, and the values that they set in stone as representatives of their business.

There have been guest speakers from so many different backgrounds in the creative, digital, and tech industry, who are highly experienced and broad minded. They ranged from start-ups, small-to-medium enterprises, to large known companies. They offered to share their stories on how they overcame professional and personal challenges such as imposter syndrome, career blocks in their path and adversities. This is what intrigued me and sparked my interest in each session as I have noticed that in my generation, when we are faced with failure or mishaps, we tend to fold in the game of life and curse it for not giving us that instant gratification of success.

So far, Rise has taught me that skills within any industry that require technical understanding and practice can be taught through training e.g. advanced engineering. However, soft skills are to be learnt through trial and error in an accumulation of experiences outside the comfort zone of the person. At the end of the day, people are the backbone of any business.

For me personally, the vast networking opportunities through our industry expert sessions have taught me to have high morale in the business world, by having firm belief in my own abilities and skills – “Mr Morale”, if you will. To also learn from those that have achieved success through overcoming obstacles with sheer motivation and discipline, those that have made themselves the real “big steppers” of our world, has inspired me massively.

The different companies that we’ve come into contact with have definitely provided me with insight into more career opportunities, but they have also taught me to build confidence in myself by learning how to manage my adversities and take a step-by-step approach in finding the answer to any problems I may face. I’ve come to realise that networking is such an excellent source for new perspectives and ideas and a supportive network of experts that have more experience than you, who can mentor you or advise you through the employment journey, is one that every individual needs.