Boost Tales: Erika Halonen

My name is Erika and I worked with Boost from 2012 to the fall of 2015. I started out as a volunteer, helping out with events and what not. After that I was part of the board and after that I worked community manager from 2013 to 2015.

So was it worth it? Did I learn anything?

Absolutely. 

When it comes to my career I think Boost was the best thing that could have happened to me. It provided me with an environment of ambitious people from all sorts of backgrounds who taught me a lot about startups, entrepreneurship, technology, and event management just to name a few. 

I think, at least for me, what made it such an important experience is that I was surrounded by people equally ambitious as myself, but who at the same time kept me humble because of the amount of knowledge that was being shared. Realizing there is a TON of things you do not know, while at the same time realizing that as long as you have ambition there isn’t anything you can’t learn is a very powerful thing.

If you are joining Boost, be ready to contribute with the things you already know, be ready to learn from everyone around you and be ready to work hard. Regardless of if the work you are doing is volunteer based or paid, the quality of your work will always be your most important reference. It can take you to a lot of interesting places. 

For me it lead to being selected to the US Department of state’s premier professional exchange program IVLP, becoming one of the founders and the first creative director of SHIFT, working as Chief Experience Officer for Maria01, the biggest startup hub in the Nordics, taking part in drafting the World Economic Forum’s white paper on collaboration between startups and corporates, and being invited to speak at an event during Beijing Design Week, just to mention a few things that I thought were pretty cool.

I care a lot about Boost, it’s been super important in my personal development. This is why I’m hoping to see the most ambitious and hardworking people leading it forward. Maybe you are one of them!

Original Author: Boostturku