Here comes interview with a participant of Creative Steps 2.0 workshop who was looking at the process from the company´s point of view. Let me introduce you Annika Konttaniemi and her company Susivilla!

Annika is a really active person with great ideas which come from the real-life experience. She wanted to transform her hobby into a profession so she has established Susivilla in 2008. Susivilla is a textile design and weaving company from Finnish Lapland. Her company takes a lot of her time as she is currently finalizing collections for 2 Nordic Christmas markets and at the same time finishing her bachelor studies in International Business at Lapland UAS – even though she already has a Master’s degree in Fine Arts! So, let’s ask her some questions regarding the Creative Steps 2.0 workshop which she participated!

1. Why you decided to participate in CS 2.0 workshop held in Finnish Lapland?

I saw a great opportunity in this workshop for me to expand my business. At that time, I have already expanded to the South and to the East so connecting with Ireland during this international workshop seemed like a great step!

2. How did you like the overall process of the workshop?

The workshop itself was very well organized. There were some issues with iLinc during some online session but even though these problems happened, coaches covered it and nothing fell apart.  It was very ambitious to work online – really different but interesting experience. It was nice to see that people were willing to work and participate even though there were huge geographical distances between us.

3. What was the biggest benefit of the workshop for your company?

It was definitely the opportunity to connect with other people, work with them and see how they solve not even business problems but everything.

The only unfavorable thing for Annika was that her company has been paired with almost the same type of company, she was hoping to get paired with totally other business type so they can learn and benefit from each other’s differences.

If you want to get to know Annika and Susivilla better, check her webpage → here.