🎙 A living connection and collaboration between Athens and Zürich

Here’s the co-story of Tina and Patrycja—two women passionate about self-development, life-long learning, and DEI enablement. Tina Vaphiadis from OLUVME invited Patrycja Pielaszek from WeCoCo to an Instagram Live interview. Find out what their #RealTalk was all about.

Following WeCoCo’s Instagram account for a while, Tina was intrigued by the community’s mission of connection and collaboration. This is why she reached out to us to invite our founder Patrycja to an interview about diversity, equality, and inclusion, but also about growth.

The inspiration behind WeCoCo

In 2018, Patrycja started sharing content on Instagram which was disruptive, encouraging, and inspiring with the tag name @women_connect_collaborate—this is how it all started. Even in her wildest dreams, she could not imagine how many like-minded people felt understood and included in those short stories of female change-makers.

Her very first IG post was on January 28th, 2018

women_connect_collaborate

Because together we can! 💪🏻💪🏼💪🏽💪🏾💪🏿 Let’s connect, let’s network,

and let’s empower and inspire each other!

The followership on Instagram grew organically and fast. Today, almost four years and around 800 posts later, there are nearly 13K followers from all over the world. The content is carefully curated and clearly reflects the diversity, from different angles—color, age, culture, gender, and more. Soon, the community was asking for more channels and in-person meet-ups. This is how the platform WeCoCo.io was born.

Obviously, there were a few backlashes and strong comments from discriminators as well. After discussing them in the closer community circle, they agreed to not delete these kind of comments in order to truly embrace diversity. The most important thing that really counts is how you react to aggression and how you ignore negative vibes and re-focus on something positive.

Still fitting in or already belonging?

The paragraph above shows how powerful a community is that always has your back—no matter what life throws at you.

“Fitting is changing yourself in order to be part of a group whereas belonging is that moment when you know you are where you meant to be, you are accepted for who you are.”

—Brené Brown

That is exactly what WeCoCo strives for. It cannot be controlled if someone finds this sense of belonging. It can only be enabled. That’s what WeCoCo is for: to enable a feeling of belonging. When you have this feeling of belonging, that’s when you can achieve those small miracles that happen every day, that grow into this powerful experience of deep connection.

Why communities are important

It is an imperative for everyone that their voice is heard. Communities are the place where everyone can lean on someone and be able to speak and know that someone is listening. This is why communities are so important. Strong communities are critical because they're often an important source of social connection. Participating in a community bonded by attitudes, values, and goals is an essential ingredient to enjoying a fulfilling life.

Tune in and watch the full #RealTalk of Tina and Patrycja here:

Or watch it on Instagram and leave a comment with your thoughts 🙏

Together, powered by collaboration, we achieve more!

About the #RealTalk partners

Tina Vaphiadis, @oluvme, based in Athens/Greece, is a LifeSkills-, Mindset-, Academic-Coach empowering adults, teens, and children.

Patrycja Pielaszek, @patrycjapie, based in Zürich/Switzerland, is the founder of WeCoCo.

WeCoCo—A community to speak out loud

WeCoCo is an open space for everyone to speak their ideas and thoughts out loud and to inspire others to start co-creating. One tool to do so is giving a voice to more inspiring Co-Stories. Connecting people and collaborating to make an impact is what drives community members at WeCoCo.

Wondering what kind of collaboration story to share?—Well, we want it all!

All the good and the not-so-good, all the positive surprises, the hard work, the road bumps. Tell the community the whole story from start to end how you connected and what your collaboration is all about! Sharing is caring!

Don’t be shy and share your co-story via this form 🔗

Or would you also like to get involved in the WeCoCo Community?—Check out the opportunities on our website and don’t forget to sign up to our news.

👙Tias & Olives: How we build our brand beyond bikinis

Here’s the co-story of Tias & Olives, a bikini brand that’s – well – just another bikini brand. But, also, so much more than that. It's about shared visions and creating an impact for good as female co-founders.

We are Tías & Olives. Sure, we are yet another swimwear label on the market. But what separates us from others is our mission. We want to help empower others. To help them feel confident in who they are, while wearing our brand, and standing together for the next generation of women. It all kicked-off one and a half years ago with the founding of our company in Switzerland. Already in the early days, we were supported by inspiring women: Tina, founder of Matiabeachwear, agreed (after meeting in person and getting a vibe-check mixed with rosé, in Portugal) to consult us and introduce us to her manufacturer in Portugal.

Where would we be if women wouldn't support each other? The market for swimwear is big. Seeing a brand come to life with this drive at its core… This feeling is just incredible," said Tina, founder at Matiabeachwear

It all started smoothly, but we knew this feeling wouldn't last. In March of this year, we received a message saying that our production slot had been delayed. Now, we’d be looking at end of July. And let’s be real here. Even though launching a bikini label in the middle of July seemed silly – also to us, yes – we decided to go for it. “Courage" is one of our brand's core values: We believe that courage is crucial for a happy life. Therefore, we are stepping out of our comfort zones by taking a risk and making tough decisions.

Bikinis for good: 1 bikini, 3 reusable period pads

When starting to discover our brand, understanding who we are and what we wanted to do in the world, we had no doubt about the fact that we wanted to make an impact. Not just on the environment but on the life of other women, too. We’ve been very privileged, growing up in Switzerland, where frequent travels, sabbaticals, and experiences – social security and a forward-thinking educational system – are the norm. We believe that education is the key to solving many conflicts and challenges. We admire all the efforts people make to protect the environment, and we do our best in that field, too. But without proper education, we believe it can never truly happen.

The second thought we had was related to being a woman. As women, we are all aware of the high prices and taxes for hygienic products. Period poverty wasn't something new to us. As families in many countries can't afford a lot of hygienic products, these girls miss out on school every month for one whole week due to their menstruation. Sue Barnes, the founder of Subz, an NGO we're collaborating with, told us that after two years, girls often drop out of school, as their parents see the value of them working an additional week at home. This was when we found the deeper purpose of Tías & Olives. We decided to donate three reusable period pads per order. Why three? These three pads enable the girl to attend school during the week of her menstruation, as they can be washed, dried in the sun, and used again.

A purpose-driven brand

Working in branding and marketing, Simon Sinek is well known to us. Starting our brand and being aware that we're not the only ones building up a swimwear label (in-depth research on Instagram sure gives you an idea), we asked ourselves the million-dollar question: why? And we found an answer: We want you to feel vibrant, authentic, and confident — all day long. This is our mission as a brand. And we'll have two approaches: First, the product, ensuring that you feel vibrant and authentic. Wherever we wanted to transmit confidence and strength with our brand, we needed to find a significant purpose:

"We know we can't live without clothing, but we can make the ones we buy matter. We believe we have the obligation as a brand in the fashion industry to be conscious and transparent, balancing our actions and the industry's actions. A clear conscience requires actions. We are committed to our values and we’re on a mission to educate and empower."

And so second, knowing that your purchase supports a young girl in her confidence and strength. We're still a fashion brand. And fashion is all about consumption, profit, and spending. Research has proven it – spending money on yourself only creates short-term happiness, but doing something for others is one of the true drivers of happiness. Knowing that, with one single order, you'll help one young girl pursue her dreams, attend school every week, and protect her from harassment – that’s a true enabler of inner confidence. For you, and for us. As a brand, we believe that using recycled materials or buying eco-friendly products – to have an impact and create a meaningful change with your customers – is not enough. Looking up to brands like Patagonia or MyMarini, we now found our own path with our brand. We support young girls in South Africa in reaching their dreams by enabling them to have access to education while staying healthy. Getting that support from women since our very first day, we will now continue to empower other females in this world.

About the Brand

Tías & Olives is a conscious and vibrant Swiss swimwear label rooted in Switzerland and Spain. The designs are made in Switzerland. We support ethical manufacturing and work closely with a family-run factory in Portugal. We use the highest quality of recycled fabrics called ECONYL® to ensure that each piece stays beautiful for years. This regenerated nylon is made of nylon waste like fishing nets, fabric scraps, and industrial plastic. Instead of polluting our ocean further, like many other brands out there, we turn pollution into swimwear.

The women behind the brand are Sibylle Nüssli and Carmen Viudez. Two friends that not only share their love for the sun, but also the determination to empower women, and to create swimwear that people around the globe can’t wait to wear all day long. Carmen has been part of WeCoCo since its early start.

Visit www.tiasandolives.com for more.

🎬 WHAT 2020 HAS TAUGHT US

Susana Metzger, media producer and founder of NUI.YOU, has created an inspiring video sharing her 2020 reflections and all the things we have learned during this uncommon year. This November, she has a very special gift for the WeCoCo community you don't want to miss. Watch Susana's video and benefit from her special offer (link at the bottom). There is no memory in our lifetime of such a disruptive year as 2020. For me personally and for those around me, this started by being a very promising year. A round number and a huge hope for a grand year ahead with many projects, to be making the runway of success.

I started this January with a short ladies-trip to Miami. Myself and two of my best friends went on a retreat for some master-mindful few days, under tropical weather and lots of brainstorming conversations. We enjoyed sunshine, some wine and we were working intensively on new ideas, video productions and even an online course, that my friend Liliana produced about “New Work New Skills” (available on Grinfer). Little did we know that this topic was about to become even more relevant, than ever.

And what a time to be in Miami. It was spot on, during the Art Deco Weekend, which was celebrating this year´s theme "SHEroes" and with an unforgetable parade.

SHEreos Miami, January 2020

I still remember vividly Dina telling me during that vacation, “you know that there is this virus that has already killed a few dozens in China and they are saying that this could be a bigger problem.” I dismissed it and said “every year we seem to have a new threat, that benefits pharmaceutical companies more than anything else”.

My apologies, I´ll admit that I was so wrong. March came and the word “pandemic” took us by storm. Lockdown, masks, social distancing… It was unexpected, surreal. Kids home schooling, parents splitting work time with helping the little ones with their online assignments, video conferences anytime and all the time. The revolution had just begun.

We had to adapt and finding new ways to keep high productivity levels, maintaining our jobs and our financial safety. Everyone seemed to be speaking about taking the best out of this situation and innovation became a buzz word. I witnessed people writing books, learning new skills, engaging in online communities, making themselves available, taking part.

Across countries, we heard neighbors cheering each others, singing from their balconies, playing tennis from one building roof to another. Solidarity was at a new high, creativity followed along.

We were moved by the stories of those on the medical front line, risking their health to save lives. True heroes cheered by millions. In some countries, people would go outside their front doors at a given time, every day, to clap to those heroes who were keeping our hope alive. Moving tears, joy and sadness, all at the same time. A mix of emotions, but above all, recognizing that we are all in this together and gestures of kindness do make a difference.

This is not yet part of history. The pandemic remains a reality, now with some renewed hope on an effective vaccine, that will allow us to go back to “normal”. And this is where we stand right now.

But are we really ever going back? Technology has accelerated its progress as never before in 2020. Some major companies have already announced that their employees can work from home forever and this trend is here to stay. Video conferencing has proven to be practical and effective. Business travelling does not seem to make much sense anymore.

There is no more business as usual and we seem to have accepted that. Social media, immersive content and real-time broadcasting have brought us new perspectives on the future. Our brands have taken advantage of the new tools that have seen light throughout this time. And rightfully so, as the opportunities are endless and it is no longer needed to educate our audience to adopt new forms of communication. We are all really well trained by now and it all happened in record time.

As a result, I made this video sharing my reflections about all the things we have learned in 2020 and I hope it inspires you. Watch it here:

In this video, I share also my own personal entrepreneurial endeavour with 2020. A decade ago, I have founded the Portuguese Surf Film Festival, at Europe´s only world surfing reserve, Ericeira. Our main sponsor is the municipality of Mafra and they urged our team to innovate or there would be no festival this year. This was a great opportunity to come up with a winning value proposition. We created an online special edition, combined with 3D modeling and animated scenarios that allowed a virtual experience of attending the amazing venue where we hold the festival yearly. Also, one-night drive-in, capturing everyone´s imagination and somehow reliving what we imagine the 50´s were like in a different reality.

The result was incredibly positive, and it allowed even more sponsors to come on board, as the audience was potentially higher that the usual public physical attendance. Hundreds of people signed in every night from all over the globe and the comments were overwhelming. It was moving and it was only possible because it was the only way.

Look around at all the opportunities that this year has opened up. “The Times They Are A´Changin`”, just like that Bob Dylan song.

Every now and then, comes something bigger than life that makes us all re-think our expectations and life paths. 2020 has been that. There is no way back and that is not a bad thing.

SPECIAL OFFER

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Book your shooting session today and start 2021 with a fresh new video campaign for your business.

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I am looking forward to shaping your new media presence together with you! Yours,

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Susana Metzger is member of the WeCoCo Community, media producer and founder of NUI.YOU - Visual Narratives. She works as a video producer and photographer, based out of Olten in Switzerland. Her love for the Portuguese west coast, where she was born and raised, has influenced her aesthetics and it remains a source of inspiration for her. An Organizational Psychologist by trade, Susana has been specialising in producing online courses for those entrepreneurs who want to monetize their acquired skills and expertise, as well as creating videos within “The Founder´s Story” concept. Last year, she co-founded the swiss “What If – Women in Film Festival”, that is expected to return in 2021.