#IWasThere Campaign Inspires Young Entrepreneurs using their Powerful Stories

Storytelling is a powerful tool in the hands of young Egyptian entrepreneurs, and perfectly encapsulating that is the #IWasThere campaign launched by The Community Hub (TCH), in collaboration with Stardust and ACME. TCH is a consulting agency which poses and applies problem-solving techniques for social issues. #IWasThere inspires young people to take on entrepreneurship by offering a platform for role models to share their stories.

On Friday 6th December, 150 people were drawn to the campaign launch panel hosted by TCH entitled 'Breaking Gender, Social and Business Norms', as part of the RiseUp Satellite Event in AlMaqarr.

The speakers on the panel were Yasmine Geith, cancer survivor and founder and CEO of YG Pieces, singer and songwriter Abu, and co-founder of TCH Hana Fahmy. Also on the panel were Omar Khalifa, founder of Shaghalni, Shady Khalil, co-founder of Greenish, and Hana Khaled, founder and CEO of dampa.eg. The panel was hosted by Thuraya Ismail, executive director of Mentor Arabia. The panellists captivated the audience with their stories of mentorship and growth, and how they succeeded even when challenges and self-doubt threatened to stop them.

Without storytelling, it’s hard to tell just how common those struggles are, even amongst stars. Menna Emad hosted the lovely Sarrah AbdelRahman in a fireside chat, where she shared her doubts about a career shift from acting to advertising, and her subsequent return to acting: “The sentence ‘follow your passion’ is always romanticized and even though I was widely interested in acting, I still had moments of uncertainty and doubt about what I should do to pursue this passion." The star discussed the daunting pressures of being pushed out of the comfort zone and how to overcome the fear of taking new chances.

After hearing moving stories from the people on stage, the audience was led to an interactive photo exhibition, where six young entrepreneurs and role models documented their journeys through photography accompanied by audio clips.

In the spirit of the event, attendees were encouraged to also share their stories through a photo booth and write powerful statements to go along with their pictures.

It’s not often that such an amazing combination of brilliant young minds are in the same space. Everyone left with a positive outlook on the future of entrepreneurship in Egypt, and the reassurance that for every struggling startup, there is someone with a success story who can tell us, "#IWasThere."