Being Belgian, I had heard about atlasGO since its beginning. I remember seeing my friends’ posts on the company’s Facebook page that Tommy created to start the Sweaty Community. As part of my Masters, I had to do an internship abroad. One of the students had interned at atlasGO the previous year and warmly recommended me to do the same. I thought it was a great idea. Nothing could be more exotic than working in a startup, especially one on a different continent, but most importantly for a B Corp. I took the leap, got accepted, and ended up in the GO house starting in  April. I honestly don’t think I could have wound up somewhere better (and I am not just saying this to advertise for my employers). 

Now that I am taking a step back, I can gladly say that I should never have been afraid. Even if being part of a startup means having to face the unknown every step of the way, which makes time very precious, every single one of the employees (even my fellow interns) always took the time to explain to me clearly what I had to do and how. No matter how many questions I would ask, they would be there listening patiently to all the (I hope not-so-dumb) questions I had. But most importantly, if I didn’t do something the way it was supposed to be, IT WAS OKAY! Throughout my internship, I could notice (and I hope I am right) that their trust in me was growing. I was appointed more important tasks. Not only did it made me feel like I could achieve anything for them, but it also made me feel like I truly belonged there, as part of the atlasGO family. I can say without any hesitation that all of my colleagues (whether they were virtual, physical, or interns) were mentors that taught me how to grow not only professionally but also personally. They would integrate me into any activity that would make me learn or discover what their social business/startup world was made of. They brought me to several events where I wasn’t the intern watching in the corner, but I was their colleague participating with them. They were even involved in helping me write my thesis!