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Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,
good afternoon.
I hope you're all as happy as I am to be here today.
I'm pretty sure you're not because to me
this is sort of a dream-come-true to be here
and share my experience as a creative entrepreneur.
Which, to me, has become a synonym for trying
to make things happen without the necessary financial means.
Anyways, I guess I'm doomed to be an entrepreneur
because I've always been full of ideas and if you wanna
make ideas happen, you have to take action
and that's what an entrepreneur does.
They make things happen.
So three years ago, I took the first step.
It was a weird, weird time. My mom was terminally ill,
she was dying and our family was in financial distress.
Luckily I'd just finished my bachelor's degree in engineering,
so I started selling solar panels to try make a difference
for my family and the world at the same time
because we do need clean energy.
In that period, my brother and I felt inspired to take action.
So we launched a magazine,
working together with young writers and graphic designers
and we started selling it on the streets
which led to sort of a fan base, I guess of people
that in turn took contact with us and visited us
to make their projects and their ideas happen.
So last three years, we've done quite a lot of things.
Ranging from organizing charity events to help
asthma patients conquer the Akonkagua Mountain
in South America to producing an American play
and taking it to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh in Scotland.
I've been trying to perfect my Scottish but it needs some work.
We've also piloted the first rooftop urban farm,
here, in Antwerp to experiment with urban farming
because I think it's clear that it has a lot of advantages
for the city of the future. We also launched an innovative
HR event to help youngsters find jobs and make their way
in life supported by a technological platform
and then with the music festival to celebrate successful job hunt.
All this sometimes makes me wonder whether or not
I'm dreaming and to be standing here raises the question again.
Am I dreaming? Could you turn the lights off and on please?
(Laughter)
Well, I guess I'm not dreaming.
This was real. I hope you enjoyed my short little speech.
Thank you for your applause.
(Applause)