In October 2018, our founder and CEO Karin Fleck had the amazing possibility to perform on one of the most famous stages of the world, the TEDx event, which took place at Deus ex Machina at the heart of the community in Canggu, Bali.
The story of how she got there is a little bit like herself: spontaneous, smart and just a little bit crazy. Continue reading and learn more about how Karin experienced this great event!
In summer 2018, Karin got a call from Ryan Roth, a person responsible for scouting personalities and startups that have a truly global impact. Ryan was flying all over Europe to find speakers for the event, so he contacted the Impact Hub Vienna. They have recommended him three startups, and the Vienna Textile Lab was one of them. Karin and Ryan met in a nice café in the 7th district, when suddenly somewhere in the middle of the conversation, out of the blue, Ryan asks Karin if she would like to join the TEDxCanggu. Of course, Karin said yes! Some hours later back at her home, she announced to her partner in high spirits that they are going to fly to Bali in the fall.
What followed was trying to master a TEDx talk and yes, it’s more difficult than booking a flight. Storytelling and forming a good speech is one crucial step, memorizing it is another and equally important one. Laura Abeyta, one of the organizers of the event, has been most helpful and supportive through the whole process. Laura is a great coach and entrepreneur, and she knows the fashion business well.
The evening before the TEDx talk, the organiser cooked for all the speakers, who got to know each other. The whole organising team and the people who made this event possible were extremely professional and friendly. When Karin thinks about it now, she says that the event was organized in an amazingly sustainable way. The organisers took great care of sustainable water and vegetarian food while local small businesses were supplying the event. The location had a lot of history within the local community and the presenter was the famous and a very popular Indonesian/Australian actor Richard Kylo. It was the first-ever TEDx event in Canggu. There were sand sacks for comfortable sitting before the speeches, and a silent disco that was easing the minds of everyone.
Karin remembers the day when it was her time to give the speech, as “the hottest day ever” but at the same time a bit windy. All the bright lights shining at her on stage did not really make the situation any more comfortable. However, Karin and all the other speakers delivered a great speech! (spoiler alert – we have a video!)
Some of the speakers at the event also were sister and brother Dali and Finn Schonfelder founded Nalu, a clothing line that gives a school uniform with the sale of every 4 products. In Inda it is mandatory to wear a school uniform to school, if you cannot afford it you cannot go to school. Hamish Daud, an Indonesian native Ocean conservationist who is working towards more sustainability and shows the impact of water pollution around Bali. AI for Good was founded by Jesse Smith and specializes in the application of AI in healthcare. The most impressive young lady Karin has have ever met is Melati Wijsen, a conservationist and activist, who with her sister Isabel’s has founded the initiative Bye Bye Plastic Bags which has been so successful that now plastic bags are abolished in Bali. Plastic pollution has been a real disaster for Bali and the ocean. Dugongs are amazing animals and seeing their natural habitat being reduced more and more was shocking, so they worked on it with great results. Richard Grehan, a very gifted documentarian gave the most inspirational speech.
“Bali is a very special place. The people are so kind and immersed in their traditions. It was wonderful to see them dancing and radiating happiness. The climate and the island are amazing. Time feels different here. There are still great beaches around, but some have been really polluted.”
It was an ambivalent situation that all the speakers found themselves in while being on that island: On one hand, every speaker flew to Bali from different places on earth. On the other hand, the event connected visionaries who are working hard towards the more just and more sustainable future from all around the world. Sharing ideas and developing them further together is a crucial part of every transformation. And through this event, those ideas were able to get spread all over the world.
In the end, Karin remembers the TEDxCanggu to be one of the best business trips ever. “Sometimes is important to step away from the everyday challenges of a startup life and send out your idea to the universe.”
