With no work experience prior to joining the Impact Lab Course, Tony Gaitanos Hollingworth was able to build directly transferable workplace skills and self-confidence whilst an intern at Soap Cycling. Read our interview with Tony to find out why he thinks the Impact Lab Course is a “phenomenal chance for someone to develop as a professional and as a person”.
Why did you register for the Impact Lab Course?
I joined the Impact Lab Course in January 2018. I learnt about the course from friends who took the course. As an exchange student at The University of Hong Kong, I really wanted to engage with the local culture as much as possible and to do something for the local community. Impact Lab seemed a very cool opportunity to get involved in doing some grassroots projects in Hong Kong, and I loved the idea behind the organization I joined, which was Soap Cycling. I thought it was such a cool initiative. So it was a no-brainer for me really.
How was your Impact Lab experience? What were your roles and responsibilities?
It was really amazing. I had two main responsibilities. One was working on the Soap Cycling franchise document. At the time, Soap Cycling Singapore had just been setting up, the intention was to see if we could set up Soap Cycling in more jurisdictions. The second responsibility was helping with general day-to-day processes within Soap Cycling, like running volunteering workshops such as the one we did with Credit Suisse, doing soap collection from the hotels, which was a very interesting experience.
What are some of the major learnings you have gained, or memorable experiences that you had at the Impact Lab Course?
The skills I learnt from working at Soap Cycling helped me more in the workplace than academic study. I can’t really emphasize how much it helped me with going to job interviews and doing my day-to-day work. A lot of employers don’t want to hear about the essays I wrote but more about how I dealt with the different situations while collecting soap from hotels.
When we were doing the soap collection, it gave me the opportunity to learn how to communicate with people in difficult situations. I remember there were a couple of times when we went to collect soap and the hotels would give us empty bottles, almost using us as recyclers. I really learnt how to speak to professionals and how to be firm but fair with the hotels.
On the one hand, I knew that I wanted to keep a good relationship with the hotels to continue collecting soap from them in the future, but I also had to be clear that we weren’t here to collect empty plastic bottles for recycling. Seeing the way Patrick Davis, the General Manager at the time, dealt with the situation was very useful to me because I was just a 19-year-old wondering how I was going to deal with the situation. It was good to get that kind of initial practice.
How has your Impact Lab experience influenced your career?
I’m currently working in cyber threats intelligence, which is basically cyber security. I research the cyber threats that our private and public sector clients are facing. I then advise my clients on how to mitigate these cyber threats.
I didn’t have much work experience before I took the Impact Lab Course, and the course helped me to build the foundations for the professional I am today, like organization, problem-solving, taking leadership of the process, sharing responsibilities, how to communicate with mentors and supervisors, how to ask the right questions etc. All these skills are super important in day-to-day work.
In my current job, I have tasks where I have to seek advice from my manager but I also have tasks where I’m taking the leadership and giving instructions to people. That’s exactly what I was doing at Soap Cycling, and the skills I learnt are directly transferable to my current workplace. These are the things that you aren’t just going to be able to pick up at a university course where you sit in a lecture. Soap Cycling was the perfect way to prepare me for the workplace, including how to conduct myself as a professional.
The work I did in putting together the franchise document was part-academic and part-business-orientated in the sense that I had to look at the materials that were already out there, and then to formulate it to something that is specific to Soap Cycling. During that process, I was also speaking to different stakeholders and to people who knew more about the topic than me, as well as doing research. That’s what I do in my day-to-day work, and Soap Cycling gave me the initial experience of this work process.
You mentioned that you had no work experience prior to joining Impact Lab. What gave you the confidence to go ahead with your work tasks?
Just being with an amazing team and having great leadership from David (Bishop) and Jon (Pedersen)! David was always available to give me advice and also the confidence to do what I thought was right. It was a huge source of mentorship and direction. Sometimes that’s all you need. I had amazing teammates as well, I’m still in contact with a few of them.
What is your take on youth empowerment?
Youth empowerment is massively important. Every generation has its own unique set of challenges and perspectives. It’s all well and good to read up on things and be aware of what’s out there, but nothing beats taking action to make a direct impact.
If young people can go out there and take leadership of processes – even if, or especially if, they are not ready – they are going to be able to learn so much that benefits their professional life and personal development. I see empowerment as not just doing impactful work but also feeling good about yourself and striving to be a better version of yourself.
I didn’t have much work experience before I took the Impact Lab Course, and the course helped me to build the foundations for the professional I am today, like organization, problem-solving, taking leadership of the process, sharing responsibilities, how to communicate with mentors and supervisors, how to ask the right questions etc. All these skills are super important in day-to-day work.
What would you say to upcoming cohorts of Impact Lab students?
Don’t underestimate anything within the course. Don’t just see it as a means to an end just to get credits. Don’t just see it as something to put on your CV. See it as a full-on experience. I remember I was speaking about this opportunity to my friends at university in London, and they were like, “This is amazing! Why don’t we have this here?” It’s a phenomenal chance for someone to develop as a professional and as a person.
Take leadership where you can. Work hard to build relationships with your team. What may seem like a small task may potentially be the biggest experience. Let’s say you’re running a volunteer workshop or doing soap collection. Don’t see it as a chore. See it as a learning opportunity that can potentially help you in the workplace. And also the story you’re going to be able to tell about spending time to help people, develop yourself, to give back to the local community. What an amazing position to be in! When you look back in a few years’ time, you’ll be proud of what you’ve achieved. So just give it your all and learn as much as you can from David, Jon, and the others who are running the Impact Lab Course.
