Hi and welcome to Aktashif
My name is Tracy Khawand. I am a Lebanese highschool student, artist and innovator
Aktashif is a unique program that encourages the youth based in the Middle East
To transform their passion for photography, videography and printing into a rewarding career
Designed and created to support the artistic visions of the youth
The competition is open to individuals between the ages of 14-25
The program is divided into four modules
Collectively these modules serve as tools to help you launch and design your creative career and a successful business
And a year long membership at a local entrepreneur incubator where the winner can launch his/her businesses
Collectively, these modules serve as tools to help you design and launch your creative business
The first module challenges youth to find their artistic voices
Modules two to four guide you through the process of developing a business, portfolio and website
The second module of the program is focus on helping you get started on your path towards your creative journey
The 21st century has completely redefined the path that young adults have to take to thrive in life and even to survive
It is always run, run, run,[a] from the moment we enter highschool
And the pressure and competition builds as individuals struggle to come on top and reach the expectations that society has placed on them
It has caused a lot of disruption in our society and we see fewer and fewer people take that risk and follow their passion
I am here to tell you that you don’t have to follow a fixed path
You could define your own, you could follow your passion and your dreams. The sky's the limit
So no one would define your life for you. You’re the one who is gonna make the choices and you’re the one who is gonna live that life
So live the life you want to live
Hi, my name is Tracey and am here to help you get started on your creative career
So I was born and raised in Lebanon and I have lived there my entire life, until recently I had to move after the blast
So me and my whole family, which would be my parents and my two younger brothers
So I was diagnosed with JIA, I was about I think 8 or 9 years old
JIA is juvenile idiopathic arthritis, which is a form of arthritis but only seen in younger children
We don’t know much about it which is why it is called idiopathic, it literally means unknown
So I have decided to make my project about collecting the data and making it available to deepen the research and find better treatments
Because I know that we struggle a lot and I have struggled a lot to find treatments
And I have went to great length to find them even if they weren’t available in certain regions of the world
Which is why I have decided to create a platform that would automatically recognize this valuable data, collect it into a single place and make it available for research
I’ve call my project ‘L[b] Mindset,’ because I think everything is about mindsets
Everything is about how you perceive, how you gonna react to everything that happens to you
So this platform could potentially become a big thing, used by labs or hospitals to collect any data not just for JIA or some diseases
It could become a really big thing
So since I am still a highschool student, I can only do so much
So am gonna be focusing on digitizing my doctor’s files
And since she is the only one in Lebanon, it would be digitizing most of Lebanon’s data
Since we are missing national data
I started the project in about October 2020
I don’t have any experience at the time, I still don’t have much
You don’t have to have a specific skill set to get into your passion and do what you want to do in life
You just have to get the correct tools and start working
As kids people often overlook what you have to say and often not believe in the ideas we have or believe in
But that’s a direct result of the fact that they are all subjected to the (_____)[c]
And they were all formatted to believe that your dreams or following your passion won’t pay off
But dreams and passions are what defines our future
If no one took the risk in the first place to follow their dream or their idea we would be missing some of the world’s greatest inventions
Everything starts with an idea
A moment where you experience or look at something
That’s gonna light that fire in you
With changing times and technological progress
We now have the tools to learn and create whatever we want from wherever we maybe
The thing I have achieved so far has been largely done and managed by myself
Technically speaking I wouldn’t say that my business is a fit of print [d]
But it is a great example of how print could be utilized in multiple businesses
All businesses whether small or large have a need for an use the print media in some form or another
Print in itself offers a number of career options
It is a great way to produce whatever you want
You can print on mugs, print on t-shirts, it’s much more than books and magazines
Thanks to innovations in print technology and the world of media and design
You can now do anything and create whatever you want
Like using medium s for example 3D printing
To create art prints or figurines
Print is also a part of our daily life
We see prints wherever we go
From labels to newspapers to magazines and billboards
Everything involves print in some way or another
Regardless of where you are
Which is basically what makes it such a versatile and creative career
A print design job can take you into very different aspects of media and entertainment
It can also lead you to a different path through graphic design careers or something like that
Any industry requires printed products like product packaging, brochures, catalogues
Physical and tangible items that require a printed artwork
So whether you are an artist looking to release your own line of products
Or you choose to become a print house that specializes in meeting the needs of the market
There is a scope and growth potential in the field in fact
In the next 10 years, print and creative media is set to grow even more as we develop new technologies
So for all you creators out there
Know that starting your business is not far off or difficult
With the help of a basic setup like a laptop or a printer
A scanner, anything you need
Some time, a solid plan and dedication you too could have a successful business in no time
And Canon is here to help you get started on that journey
Passion is an emotion to be acted upon
Without action, passion yields no worthwhile results
Passion is the fuel in the fire of the action
When you have passion for something, you love it even when you hate it
The important point here is that there is an emotion that requires you to act upon
A passion is a love or a conviction so deep that you feel compelled to act upon
It is the thing that keeps you up at night
And gets you out of bed in the morning and keeps you thinking about what you gonna do next
Everything starts with an idea, and if you have the conviction or belief 93 00:06:57,000 -->00:07:000 That you concept can change the world, then nothing can stop you
If people don’t believe you, you have to make them believe 95 00:07:04,000 -->00:07:06,800 It’s easier to give up and move on
But by giving up on your idea or dream
You might also be closing the door for others like you who might believe that they are not good enough
That’s why programs like Canon’s Aktashif are so important
Because they don’t only help the youth and encourage the youth to follow their dreams and passions
But they also help them to turn that into a career
To help you better understand the need to turning your passion into a career
Here are some points to keep in mind: Take your time, creating a business takes time
Probably more time than you think, but taking this time is important as it helps you think
And analyze and understand everything that you will need to create your business and get it off the ground
Don’t rush things, take the time to research, to get inspired, to create to learn and to grow
You should define your ideas uniqueness, what makes you different, what makes you stand out from others like you
Figure out why the customers should buy and listen to you instead of the guy on the streets
You really need to define what you need to do, who you want to work with
And how you want to present your services and products
Once you clarified all of this, you need to determine if there is a need for your concept in the market
Then we move on to resources and support
Do you have the skills to do it alone or do you need professional help
There is nothing wrong with getting support or asking for help
More often than not there are many aspects to a business that we might not be aware of
Or have the knowledge about, test, plan and execute
So you have defined the concept of your business
Defined the idea, go ahead test it out, try it with friend, family anyone
Get people involved, get samples, see what works
This will give you an idea of how it will look like and help you work out any issues or problems
Once you are done planning out your concept or project
From the moment it should be launched to 10 years from now
Look at every aspect and angle to see what would work best for you
Once you’ve done all that, it comes down to seeing your concept come to life 124 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:000 And supporting it every step of the way. Build your brand
Your story, your experience, your background
And personality, those are what makes your brand unique just like you
So this is what’s gonna attract people to your brand and to your concept specifically
Your energy and your story is what will attract soulmate clients to you
To make your business successful, is important to constantly market yourself
You need to promote your business, get it out there, expose it to as many people as you can 131 00:09, 25,000 -->00:09:29,000 Understand your market, the most important thing to do in setting up a business
Is to do market research, it is the process of determining the viability of a new service or product
Through conducted research directly with potential customers
Market research allows a company to discover the target market and get opinions or feedbacks about a service or product
Funds and finances. Finding the funds to support your business or getting an investor to invest
Is the most crucial part in starting a business, it is for better or worse the lifeblood of every business
Without it you can’t sustain the model or operations for your business
Which is why it is important to establish funds before hand
Some mediums you can look into are loans, investors, crowdfunding and partnerships
And remember it may not be easy but anything seldom is, work hard and pave your own path
You are gonna see the results and they are gonna be worth it
With my idea i hope to one day create something that can benefit a group of people and eventually society as a whole
Now blossoming groups of artists, creators, entrepreneurs, whose ideas and concepts are currently changing the world and you could be one of them
I am here to tell you to go, go and create, go and research, go and hustle but just go and keep going
As inventors, artists and creators, but most importantly as humans
We all perceive things in life differently and this difference is what sets us apart it allows us to view the world differently
And this difference could be the start of something new. I hope that the insights to my story inspire you all to go out and take your life by the reins
You have a part to change and mould your future and build our future society. To enter the competition, simply follow the guidelines on the website. Go to en.canon-me.com/Aktashif-Programme/
I hope watching this video gave you the push and need to get you started and I wish the best of luck to all the participants [a]am not sure if i heard this part correctly. [b]here also am not so sure [c]am not sure about this either [d]not sure about this