Josefin Liljeqvist during her work at WWF and in the footwear industry got inspired and had an idea which, step by step, she turned into a project and thus became an entrepreneur.
She decided to apply the changes that she was passionate about in one of the world-leading industries. Josefin currently runs a fashion tech startup in Uppsala https://josefinliljeqvist.com/
In April 2019 her startup became a partner company of SmartCoding.
Since May 2019 there are two graduates of Junior Full-Stack course that joined Josefin’s team and during the 3-month internship, they are working on the project.
SC (SmartCoding)
– Josefin, I remember that you reached out to us when you saw an ad on Facebook about our graduates being available for internship positions. We found your project extremely interesting and began a discussion about how we may cooperate. What has convinced you to get in contact with us and what were your needs back then?
JL (Josefin Liljeqvist)
– Being a young company you are always in need of great talent to help out while giving back a lot of experience, so it felt like a great match. Also that SmartCoding you work with both front and back and, with the possibilities we have within the project, both competencies were needed.
SC
– We matched you with two candidates that live in Uppsala and who preferred to work for a company located there. Eventually, you have decided to offer two internship positions to our graduates Anna and Huan. Can you shortly describe the recruitment process?
JL
– The recruitment process worked that first I had a meeting with SmartCoding to go over what we could offer and what was expected from me. Since this brand currently doesn´t have a Chief Technology Officer, Anna and Huan came by the office to learn about the scope for the internship in order to decide if they wanted to join without CTO. We decided to arrange senior advisors to solve that, and it has worked well. We currently have five advisors helping out providing tech support and give feedback when needed.
SC
– Both interns work at your office. Can you tell how the internship is arranged, what is the work structure and kind of support you provide for the interns?
JL
– Without having the CTO the part for me was to understand what was needed for Anna and Huan during the internship and then arrange it. We are now collaborating with another tech company to provide specific and niche tech-feedback/advice when needed and also hands-on problem-solving.
SC
– It’s been already over one month since they started working on the project, how can you describe their work progress and collaboration? Do you think their work might be more effective thanks to that they both joined your startup? And what are your experiences from this teamwork?
JL
– This is a workplace where it is very much all hands on deck and problem-solving is part of each and every day. This, of course, can come as quite challenging in the beginning but as each day goes by, we become more effective together and push the project closer to its deadlines. For me, it is a very rewarding collaboration since both Anna and Huan are hard-working, kind and creative individuals that always come up with solutions with the company´s best interest in mind. Early on we found together ways to improve communication and therefore the collaboration, so as much as they learn in this office – I learn from them improving ways to collaborate and communicate.
SC
– There are often some challenges when you onboard new people, can you share what were those in Anna’s and Huan’s case if any? Have most of the things been going as you planned?
JL
– I never see challenges in that way, but of course, there is a huge process of planning, doing research and learning the scope until you get to implementation that are inevitable. This takes time, but over time it also saves time because you have a good foundation to stand upon.
SC
– Thank you so much for the conversation Josefin and we keep our fingers crossed for the successful launch!
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