Conversations with EEPA Category Winners - The Break Fellowship

Thrilled to provide an exclusive glimpse into the minds of industry leaders! We sat down with winners from various categories at the European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA), posing thought-provoking questions to unravel the motivations, strategies, and visions behind their outstanding work. Join us on this insightful journey through the experiences of these distinguished EEPA Category Winners—a treasure trove of wisdom for all. Let's dive in!

Today is the time of Category 4, Improving the Business Environment and Supporting the Internationalisation of Business. The winner of this category is the Break Fellowship - Fundación EOI F.S.P (Spain). The Break Fellowship is an international network of 1,000 women entrepreneurs, providing them with opportunities to develop key skills and boost and internationalise their businesses.

 

How did you first hear about the European Enterprise Promotion Awards competition and why did you decide to enter?

I first heard it from the Spanish Ministry of Industry, whose team is the one organizing the Awards call and processes in Spain.

We decided to enter since we knew our project “The Break Fellowhisp” had several assets on innovation and scalability that could make it eligible by the Jury.

 

How did you prepare your application?

Although the questions of the application form were simple and clear, we had to summarize a lot what we wanted to show, since the answers length was very limited. But it was pretty easy, we already had all the info, structure, phases, main results and KPIs of the project.

 

What do you think made your application standout?

I think the fact the “The Break” is addressing both the gender gap in the EU entrepreneurial ecosystem and the territorial gap in Spain was pretty attractive. Moreover, the processes by which the European women entrepreneurs could give back to their Spanish host communities were innovative and very enriching for all the stakeholders involved.

 

Could you tell us what it felt winning the award and its significance to you?

It just felt incredible!! 😊 I guess it is a similar feeling than winning an Oscar! When I heard “and the winner is… The Break Fellowship!” I jumped out of joy and pride. It was wonderful to talk to the audience and give thanks on behalf of all our Breakers and the whole team.

 

In what ways has winning the EEPA Awards impacted your ongoing projects/ initiatives?

The Break has impacted several of our projects. We now think bigger than we used to, and we want to address regenerative economy, territorial gap and social innovation as crosscutting matters.

 

What are your plans for the future?

Keep going with the implementation of international projects at a European level that bring positive impact in people and planet. We aim at considering more life-centered projects.

 

Why should others enter EEPA 2024? What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs?

We don´t do what we do because we want our projects to win prizes. But it´s true that such a recognition at a European level can give your organization a major visibility and open the door to making new contacts and therefore further implementing better projects.

 

Finally, we invite you to stay updated on the event on the Promoting enterprise news portal and also via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube so stay tuned. It is possible to check the photos from the event also on Promoting Enterprise | Flickr.