Igone Ruiz de Azúa is the founder of Amazinglers. She has more than 10 years of experience in the People function and has focused her career on corporate culture, employee engagement and loyalty, as well as internship programs.She is passionate about travel, social impact and weightlifting!
For those who don’t know you, who is Igone Ruiz de Azua and how was Amazinglers born?
Igone is a girl from Vitoria who has traveled the world quite a bit!
After living in Barcelona, Italy and Brazil, I settled in London where I lived for 8 years, only interrupted by a period in which I worked in the Saharawi Refugee Camps as a project manager. In all these places I have had a thousand experiences that I will always remember with a smile, the wonderful people I have met! Among multiple work experiences in HR I studied a Master in HR and Consulting that brought me closer to interesting jobs in corporations, agencies, NGOs and startups. Among these jobs there were always two types that stood out: setting up programs for students and graduates, “interns” that I implemented in three companies (Talentoo, Equinix and Accenture) and startups where I implemented HR departments from 0 focusing on corporate culture. Also in London I volunteered for 5 years coaching young kids from broken homes or without resources. From my passion for creating opportunities for youth, creating programs and opportunities, Amazinglers was born: the first internship ecosystem in Spain.
What sets Amazinglers apart from other platforms or traditional methods of finding internships?
Amazinglers is an ecosystem that integrates multiple functions, like no other startup / company in the world: social network, job board, mentor-matching, headhunting, training, design and implementation of internship programs, events and community. Our biggest competitor is LinkedIn, but it is proven that not many GenZ have a profile created on this social network or even use it. There are a couple of employment platforms in Spain for young people, but they are limited to that, to publish internship offers and passively let people apply. We go further. We don’t just “place” the young person in their internship, we follow up with the hiring manager and the intern through two coaching sessions. We do not leave them abandoned, but offer them the tools so that their first employment experience is fruitful, accompanied and with effective mentoring. From the point of view of the design and implementation of internship programs, we do not know of any other provider in the Iberian Peninsula that offers this service, which gives us the advantage of being a unique ecosystem in providing value. We merge the virtual experience (social network) with the physical experience (follow-up calls, mentor-matching) offering a human experience for each of our users in this era of artificial intelligence.
How has your vision of entrepreneurship changed since you started Amazinglers until today?
I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur. When I was in London I shined in intrapreneurship projects where you had to create, design, connect. Where opportunities and networking (even within the same company!) were key and projects were nurtured by multiple thinking heads with the same goal. I was an entrepreneur, without knowing it. When I decided to set up on my own once I returned, I was more of a dreamer than I am now. I was ready to make the world a better place with all the tools I had acquired abroad. I was looking forward to making progress at home. But reality doused me with its icy water. Creating my services (first as a consultant) was not easy and shaping the Amazinglers product took me a few pivotal ideas. Then came the part of getting clients. Behind cold doors, with hardly any connections in Spain, it is not being as easy as I imagined when I started with my idea of having a positive impact. However, it is worth it. I’m not complaining at all. You go to events, you meet people and the startup community helps each other, we are creating magic together! You go to institutions and everything is facilities and mentoring. At least that has been my experience. And that is what I encourage entrepreneurs to do. To get out of their homes, join communities and get together with other people who are living the same adventure. I can say that my vision of entrepreneurship has changed from idyllic, to nebulous, to realistic and positive.
What has been the most difficult decision you’ve had to make so far at Amazinglers?
The truth is that so far I don’t feel like I’ve had to make a drastic decision with Amazinglers. I have been pivoting according to the needs, seeing what my competitors were doing and analyzing how I could differentiate myself from them to build a unique ecosystem. I have changed ideas, yes, but seeing the positive impact they could have on Amazinglers has not been a difficult decision or a waste of time. Perhaps one of the most momentous decisions has been deciding to bootstrap before getting investors. I’m molding the Amazinglers platform to my liking. And I think that’s key to maintaining the freshness and impact of a brand. And that’s what we want with Amazinglers, to create a brand of opportunity, growth and impact.
If you could go back and start over, would you do anything differently?
The truth is that I don’t think so. So far, every step I have taken has helped me get to where I am today: to be an entrepreneur with a little more experience and with a long road of learning to travel. I am very happy with how far I have come and what I have left.
Advice and Reflections
What is the most valuable advice you have received as an entrepreneur?
One of the tips I like and practice the most is “create value”. My motto in life is “create opportunities” and now I do it more than ever. Doing favors without expecting anything in return, connecting people… is a bit of the ethos we have in our Amazinglers ecosystem. To be all the better for helping and collaborating with others.
It is said that entrepreneurs find it very difficult to disconnect. How does Igone disconnect, if you manage to do so?
The truth is that my work is very close to my passions. Maybe more than I should, but why disconnect if you love what you do? Although if I have to choose, one of my biggest pillars that makes me disconnect are my friends. They are not from the business world and they love to listen to my little stories, even if they don’t understand much about startups, MVPs or lean. But that relaxes me. Being surrounded by wonderful people who belong to a different world than mine and with whom I can make different plans and, why not, get away from the laptop screen!
Round of quick questions
- Movies about entrepreneurship that you recommend? Catch me if you can, by Steven Spielberg. Intrapreneurship in your life with multiple characters.
- Brand/company that inspires you: Nude Project
- Phrase that most motivates you in your work? Be Amazing
- If you could have a meeting with any character in history, who would it be? Andy Warhol
- If you were to go back to the past, would you go back to entrepreneurship? No doubt about it!
Mila esker for your time, Igone!
