Kathryn Penaluna (26 August 2015)

It was a very informal discussion this evening. No slides meant that everything Kathryn Penaluna (Enterprise Manager at University of Wales TSD Swansea) spoke about came from the heart and her own real-life experience. She really made an effort to include people’s opinions and thoughts for the duration of the talk.

Tonight’s focus was on what it means to be an entrepreneur in education, what the word means to many people, and some of the lessons associated with networking. There’s a common phrase that gets used a lot in the business world: “It’s not what you know, but who you know”. Kath decided to focus on the importance of “not what you know, but who knows you”.

Next, she spoke about entrepreneurship, what it means to be entrepreneurial and how we can incorporate that, not only in education but different walks of life. I now believe what it means to be entrepreneurial is all about a mindset, that is, the mental drive to overcome setbacks and look at them as learning opportunities: learning from mistakes is more helpful than avoiding them. These lessons can be used to improve the next business someone attempts, or the next rung on the corporate ladder, such as Kath (whose career was initially in banking).

An excellent talk that ensured we all thought about what it meant to be an entrepreneur and most importantly an entrepreneur in education.

Based on a report by Sean Ruane