Studying abroad as a business major, more specifically with an emphasis and interest in Entrepreneurship/ Innovation, has redirected my purpose for this trip. I have always assumed that this trip would help me become this new confident person with more stories to tell and greater perspective for life, but it has become more than that. My true goal in life has become to be an owner of a successful business that solves a valid issue and benefits people, in whatever way that may be. It could be something as little as brightening up someone’s day with a cupcake or creating a clinic that saves a life. Creating something satisfying can be something so big yet so small at the same time. With that being said, a year before starting my semester abroad I started a small business during my gap semester between transferring. I have a small online homemade bakery with my sister, and this little experience experiment turned into something I am passionate about. I have known since a young age that I wanted to be my own boss, but I never realized how important the merge of traveling and entrepreneurship would be in my process. After starting Simply Spun Bakery, I knew I needed a good excuse to leave behind my sister taking care of the business completely by herself. I realized that as I aspire to become an entrepreneur and businesswomen, I could look forward to my travels igniting creativity and passion. with importance of networking, 
collaborating with others, and getting to know all the brilliant minds that are out there, I wanted to aim to make up for the last two years by immersing myself in a new culture to spark my purpose in this world. Coming to Portugal with these new set of lenses, it has validated my ideas, and brought so much clarity to what I envision. An exchange program is an experience for anyone with any field of study, but I think a business major focusing on entrepreneurship has a special advantage of what this program offers. You are given the freedom to choose between over 30 countries, and each can be uniquely geared towards your passions/ interests that your creativity thrives in. You can go to Milan to be emersed in fashion, Singapore for curiosity about tech, and in my case Portugal for my love for the culture of food/desserts, and an understanding of where my Brazilian roots stemmed from. A big part of Portugal’s economy comes from the food industry with cafes/bars/restaurants being just about every other store on the streets here. It is part of one’s daily routine here to having social/business interactions in a café, setting aside a couple hours of your day for a long lunch with a friend, and of course the culture of going for a beer for just about anything with anyone. Although food and drinks are the root of many cultures, I think Portugal lifestyle and reasoning later became one that I most identified with. I came here with the goal of ideas for my goal of a store front hoping to have clarity for my mission, problems, menu, style, and point of difference. I came with the mindset of understanding people’s behavior, seeing what is missing back at home to add to my solution. Every activity I do, every new place I seen, every new restaurant I eat at, and every new bakery I indulge in is a new idea for me, a way for me to learn what I like and don’t like. As I grow in my personal life, I am also growing as a business owner because I am being exposed to several different personalities, and routines that are contributing to my process. The concept that is most emphasized in my entrepreneurship class here is that the most successful companies come from finding a problem/ niche and validating that and creating your solution from that analyzation. I have seen what some counties do better than others and what is applied differently depending on what is demanded by specific groups. Little details such as having a beer glass being 250 ml to the seats of cafes in Paris facing the street has given me a better understanding of international management. I go to highly rated locations that are 
popular with long lines to see common patterns in what is done at these places successfully. Another observation I have learned along the way so far is how much owners put themselves into these places. It isn’t just their source of income, but a contribution to the source of happiness as well. They are there hustling every day, being the first ones to arrive and last one to leave, and no matter how small or big the institution is, you always know who the owner is there. No one ever replaces their job. You must truly love and believe in what you do, produce, and serve. Finding your niche, excelling in what you’re good at, being creative, and most importantly, caring about the experience people have when they are in an environment you created. I am slowly understanding the environment I’m aiming to create that slows you down for a part of your day, takes you to a feeling of comfort no matter who you are and what culture you come from. All contributed by style, seating, ordering, menu, art, drinks, concepts, organization, structure, and mea
ning. Beyond my storefront, it has opened my eyes to other business ideas and endeavors that I have added to my list to explore. I take pictures of anything I see that’s enticing and have a mini notebook in my bag and a notes page on my phone to not forget anything that I come across. I have organized my ideas into categories for different projects and at the end of every week, I distribute my new findings into each folder so I can look back and know where everything is. My exposure to diversity has allowed me to learn from as many people, cultures, and stories as possible. Knowledge is not much more than experience. I believe being emerged into a foreign day to day life is an incomparable experience that will help me grow as a student, individual, and a professional.
Next: Blog 4 - Later, Lisbon