December 18, 2018, by The Ingenuity Lab

Tales of a Witty Scholar: From Internship to Ingenuity18

Ingenuity19 is looking for the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators to create scalable social and commercial enterprises that can transform Nottingham, the UK and beyond.

For the first time, we are open to the public and looking for future leaders from across the city. This includes everyone from the student community, to Nottingham’s biggest businesses, as well as those from the public and third sectors. We are looking for everyone to come together and discover problems worth solving, and are offering you the tools to create scalable sustainable solutions.

Today, we spoke with Ingenuity18 participant and Witty Scholar Alexandra Taylor about the Witty Scholarship and the doors that has opened.

Being an Andrew Witty scholar at the University of Nottingham has opened me up to so many unimaginable opportunities I would not have not found elsewhere.

Ingenuity 18

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Through my scholarship I was made aware of an event called Ingenuity 18 which the University runs every year; an annual innovation event designed to discover and develop enterprising ideas to transform our future.

As part of this I attended a weekend of talks from people in organizations both large and small, one of whom was the CEO of DFS. I found it really interesting listening to them speak; providing us with ideas and allowing us to ask questions. During this weekend, we also carried out group problem solving tasks. It was fascinating to meet like-minded people, share ideas and grow my professional network.

In addition, I attended evening talks on how to start up a business and write a business plan. Even though I did not follow through with my idea to the final stage I really benefited from attending the talks and listening to different people speak; in turn this developed my entrepreneurial ideas and skills, which has left me in a stronger place to do this again.

Internship with a start-up company

I applied for a 100-hour paid internship during the summer holidays and was successful in gaining a marketing placement. This was at a start-up business called Nutri2go; a healthy food café and delivery service which had opened on Jubilee Campus during the University summer break.

My principal role here was to help with marketing and social media. During my internship I gained marketing experience by attending events, making leaflets, carrying out promotional activities and  conducting market research to promote the company to students and people around Nottingham. I thoroughly enjoyed this as it linked well with my course and gave me an insight into marketing; a potential future career path.

The Sir Andrew Witty Entrepreneurial Scholarship has opened up opportunities for me that wouldn’t have otherwise been accessible.

Thanks to my scholarship I have built my professional network and met people with extended global business experience. This included Sir Andrew Witty, the man behind my scholarship. This was a great opportunity to speak to him about the opportunities that he’s granted me, as well as a chance to find out more about him and his career.

It’s time to innovate and shape our futures; register for Ingenuity19 now: http://bit.ly/Ingenuity19

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