The interns from member companies of Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria visited the advertising agency

Sharing our experience by creating Praktika is the best way to celebrate our anniversary, said The Smarts

How to do business in the communication and advertising area, what changes brought the digitalization and why the internship is important for both young people and companies. These were the topics discussed during the visit of interns from member companies of the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria to the advertising agency The Smarts. The visit was part of the young.LEADERS.talk series within the Council’s National Internship Initiative.

The managing partners of The Smarts – Gergana Ivanova and Radoslav Bimbalov, presented the company’s history – how 10 years ago they took the challenging step to create their own company, how they survived and became the best. “We have not only succeeded, we are being successful continuously. We fight every day because we are independent. The most difficult thing in Bulgaria is to be independent”, said Bimbalov.

Gergana Ivanova pointed out three great milestones of success achieved by the company: that the agency has existed for 10 years and has been successful; that it consist of 4 agencies and that the Praktika platform has been launched. “We decided that sharing our experience through this platform is the best way to celebrate our tenth anniversary”, stated Ivanova. In the beginning Praktika was an internship program which afterwards “got larger and became a trainee program inspiring all advertising companies”

“The internship topic is very important for us. The interns are people who we are modelling to become part of us”, highlighted Bimbalov. He advised young people to “steal” as much knowledge and skills as possible during the internship. “Ask questions, the good interns are the curious ones”, added Bimbalov. He urged the young people to go study abroad but to come back and to implement their knowledge in Bulgaria.

Gergana Ivanova expressed her gratitude to the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria for the internship initiative. She pointed out that there are many young people in The Smarts, including interns. “Very often we are learning from the interns. They are an inspiration for us”, said Gergana Ivanova.

For the fourth consecutive year, the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria has been organizing the National Internship Initiative “Stay in Bulgaria”. The program is oriented towards the youngest professionals and will enable them once again to prove their qualities and skills, to get involved into the real business and to find opportunities for development along with suitable environment and a stimulus for their professional realization in Bulgaria. The initiative is under the patronage of Mrs. Eva Maydell, MEP.

In 2018 the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria launched its Young.LEADERS.talk series which takes place within the Council’s National Internship Initiative. Its purpose is to enable young people to meet their role models – political leaders, managers and young professionals who started their own careers as interns, as well as to visit some of the largest companies in Bulgaria.  In this way young people have the opportunity to get familiar with the business world and to learn how companies are organized and how they operate.