New Entrepreneur (NE):
Name & surname: Linda Pezzei
Country: Austria
Age: 36
Sector of activity: Media Communication & Text (Architecture & Design)
Did you already start your business? Yes
Name of business/website: www.wor-ding.com
What is your future business? Media Communication & Text (Architecture & Design)
Host Entrepreneur (HE):
Name & surname: Martin Tůma
Country: Czech Republic
Sector of activity: Media Communication (Architecture & Design)
Experience in running a business (in years): 14
Name of business/website: www.linka.news
What is your business? Media Communication & photography (Architecutre & Design)
Period of exchange: 02/05/2022 – 31/08/2022
Duration of exchange: 4 months
Has Linda succeeded in making the transition from the everyday life of an architect to the media communication of architecture & design?
Hello, my name is Linda, I am 36 years old and I have been working in architecture, interior and communication for more than ten years. I was born in Germany, now at home in Austria, but my heart beats for the Czech Republic and Eastern Europe. Not only do I feel a strong connection to this region, the culture and the people – I am also a big fan of the young architecture and design scene.
Since I left the daily planning routine as an architect behind to write about architecture for media in web and print, I use every opportunity I get to make interesting projects from Eastern Europe and the people behind them visible in the DACH region. In this context I got to know a Czech agency for media communication that impressed me a lot and inspired me to take media communication in the DACH region to a new level.
I’m very familiar with the architecture scene and know how to write about architecture and design, but how to communicate relevant content professionally to international media – that’s something I definitely needed lessons in. I also wanted a partner for the future with whom I could take the next steps. Thanks to EYE, an initial loose relationship turned into a close acquaintance and a fruitful collaboration at eye level.
I was overwhelmed by how warmly and wholeheartedly I was received by the entire team of the HE and integrated into their daily work on site. Not only did I get to know a lot of people and discover a wonderful region for myself, I was also able to learn a lot about the country and its people and thus develop a better understanding that will also help me in my cross-border communication in the future. Until then, I had also visited almost only Prague, in this sense, this stay has profitably broadened my horizons.
Our cooperation and exchange was very relaxed and based on mutual trust. We talked a lot about the mechanisms in media communication, but also jointly developed new ideas and “products” that we want to position together on a cross-border market in the future. Each partner brings his own skills to the table – HE specializes in architectural photography and I in copywriting. Thus, we complement each other wonderfully and can also build on the expertise of the respective partner in the future.
As a kick-off event for our collaboration, we had planned an exhibition on the topic of high-quality architectural photography for the media in my hometown of Innsbruck in Tyrol. Although I was able to meet some interested partners from the local architecture scene and from some funding institutions and the interest was apparently given, no suitable location could be found so far. As I had to realize: the mills grind slowly, but I am confident that the right time will come and then we will implement this project professionally. So this failure is not a disaster, but all the more motivation to stay on the ball and believe in one’s own mission.
I am sure that my HE and I will stay in touch and even deepen our cooperation in the future. I also hope that we will meet in person every now and then and realize some cross-border projects and events. In addition, some ideas have emerged that we will now work on implementing and who knows what the future will bring …
I can only recommend participation in the program to everyone. Even if you don’t yet know where you want to go: a journey into the unknown may bring you closer to your goal than you could have imagined. A huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to my HE!
Concluding Remarks:
Linda Pezzei (NE): “EYE helped me to jump over my own shadow, take things in hand and think big. Leaving your own comfort zone can only take you further and looking beyond your own nose can broaden your horizons. Along the way, you can make new friends. I would definitely recommend the program.”
Martin Tůma (HE): “We would definitely recommend the EYE programm to enrich one’s own business experiences by the views, opinions and knowledge of young entrepreneurs coming from other parts of Europe. We appreciate the dedication of Linda to get deeply into common topics, her creative view and work on many demanding tasks she fulfilled to build up the basis for long term, sustainable future cooperation.”