Winner graduation ride: creating a network for creative young women

Žaneta Mlčáková was one of the winners of the graduation ride. Together with friends and family she was driven to her graduation ceremony in style on the 9th of July.

Text: Nathalie Meeuwsen
Photos: Annemijn Touw

Žaneta knew what she signed up for when she came to the Netherlands. Eight years ago, she had been to the Netherlands on an exchange between her school in the Czech Republic and a Dutch school. She had been to visit several times after that as well. When she heard about student life in Groningen and realised that she would be able to study together with students from all over the world here, she decided to apply to the International Communication Programme at Hanze.

Student life

Her first year was amazing but also tough because she started during the height of the Covid pandemic. Most of the teaching took place online. But because Groningen is a student city, it was still a lot of fun with lots of energetic people around. During the second year, there were still some Covid restrictions, but it was nevertheless a great experience,  she says: “Life changing, really. I got the opportunity to go to Paris with an Erasmus exchange and I lived in Haarlem for a while for my internship. It was an adventure, these four years, for sure.”  Žaneta also helped out at several Hanze Open Day events, online as well as on campus. She enjoyed talking to prospective students about the study programme and all the things you can do here as a student.

Platform for creative women

Two years ago, Žaneta started her own brand company, Lovable Concept. It started out as a project which has evolved into a platform for creative young women that make handmade items, such as lingerie and accessories. She always wanted to start a company of her own. She wasn’t really sure what it would be until she met a girl that made handmade products who asked for her help with marketing and branding. “So the idea behind the platform was to help girls with creative talent.” 

Graduating in her own company

Žaneta was able to graduate in her own company, which meant that she could use her own business as a graduation project. “That really helped because I had only four months to really dive into the target audience and do the whole research behind it. Before it had always been a side project. There was limited time. Last year I was  studying and working on my project until 2 a.m. sometimes.”

Graduation project

Žaneta's graduation project “was about how to attract people to join Lovable Concept, my company. Not just the girls who create the handmade products, but also potential partners. The final product was a landing page on the Lovable website that explains what Lovable has to offer, the opportunities and services it provides.”

As a result of this assignment, she is now working together with an event stylist from Leeuwarden. Together they plan to organise networking events to support creative and ambitious young women. The next one is a picnic here in Groningen on the 21st of July.

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