How The Shortcut shaped Mia and the other way around
By: Yesmith Sanchez
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Community, Team, Volunteer, Startup

Mia aka Xiaotong Yun has been our Head of Programmes from December 2016 until spring 2018. Which makes her the main person behind the content that has been created for the past year. And that means hundreds of events! She has now taken a break from her role to focus on finishing her master studies in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management from Aalto University. Her thesis is about Deep Web and Entrepreneurship. These are some notes on our interview about her experience at The Shortcut.

Mia and Aimal at the School of Startups Spring 2017, the first one that she coordinated. Photo by Aimal Hakimi

Mia’s first job ever was as a Head of Programmes at The Shortcut. She explains that that is because in China being a student is a full time activity that doesn’t allow you to have a job on the side. “When I found The Shortcut I wasn’t looking for a job, I joined because I like the mission, I like what we are trying to do here. It is a beautiful coincidence for me. When I joined, things just happened, I was taking more and more responsibilities and at the end it just became my job but for me, The Shortcut is so much more than just a working place.”

What would you say are the highlights of your contribution at The Shortcut?

My favorite moments always were when everything that we had planned turned out to be true, it is always a cool moment for me. I can’t choose a single event, but that moment when you see how happy the audience is. The moment that you see that people come back to our events is when you realize that you are doing something that is meaningful for yourself and for them. I am really grateful because this experience has given me an opportunity to grow, to learn and to showcase myself.”

How did you shape The Shortcut?

It is hard for me to see how I helped shaping The Shortcut, I guess it is easier to see how my mindset was shaped. For example, when I joined The Shortcut I didn’t have any prior working experience but I realized that I was not afraid to try and explore new things. Another thing is that I have now the ability of not only focusing on the details but extracting myself from that and seeing the bigger picture. That happened in the process and is now part of me.

When I think about the footprint that I have left at The Shortcut it is not so much about creating a certain event or content, but more about creating something that is needed either by entrepreneurs or by people interested in startups. That’s what I had in mind when I was thinking about the topics.

What do you cherish the most about this experience?

Happy Mia during our visit to R-Labs (Photo by Renato)

I value the fact that I learned to hear many different opinions so I think of others’ perspectives and that helps me form a clearer picture. That doesn’t mean that I have to quit my own personality but it is a chance to take good things from others and it is enriching working together. I really think that The Shortcut does as it says, ‘we cherish diversity’. So we are not changing who we are, but evolving by learning from others. I really liked how the opening party had very different people, it is when it got real. It was really happening, it was a place to work but also to learn and to meet our friends.

Another thing that I appreciate a lot is that The Shortcut is humble. We don’t claim that we are here to help, no we are not. We are creating something by ourselves and for ourselves and those are the things that we also need to learn and we want the community to learn with us.

What do you think are the next steps? How do you see yourself and The Shortcut?

I don’t really have a very clear plan for my next step but I think that The Shortcut helped me to grow my skills and it also helped me realized what are those that I am lacking so now I am on a learning period.

“For me it is very exciting because I can’t really visualize it. I know that it is going to grow but I don’t know how and that is a good thing. I want to witness how it will turn out to be.”

And we all do!

“Mia has enriched our lives with her personality, her curiosity and pro-active mind. She has offered the community 10 folds what she says she has gotten from it. We love her and want other talent like Mia to join the community and find out what they are capable of “says Anne Badan, our CEO about Mia. “She was one of my best recruiting choices so far. I wish I was that entrepreneurial at her age”!

If you see the value of engaging, volunteering and growth, check out our open positions HERE