Pedro Lopes
Ten years ago, I was challenged by two colleagues to sign up for a university course with them. My dyscalculia (numerical dyslexia) meant that I’d had to repeat the Portuguese national mathematics exam 13 times before I could finish high school. Fear of failure always stopped me from going to university but I felt I…
Read MoreMassimiliano Iachini
I was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s disease twelve years ago. It’s an illness that reduces your ability to move freely but I refuse to let that limit me. The human body is an important way that we express ourselves and for me, dance is the ultimate art form. A few years ago, I started…
Read MoreBram Troost
I’ve been playing electronic dance music as a DJ for 20 years and producing it for about 15. During that time, I’ve released an album, several top 20 remixes and played in some of the best techno clubs in Holland and abroad. I’m working on my second album at the moment. It takes a lot…
Read MoreNeha Singh
I started dancing as soon as I could walk and as a child my summer vacations were spent at dance academies. When I dance it completely changes my mood. My favourite styles are freestyle and traditional Punjabi dancing because you can really dance from the heart. I never went professional but even today, anywhere you…
Read MoreHana Wang
I started playing the piano when I was about eight years old. I stopped at fourteen because in high school, I didn’t have time to practise. I missed it. When you find a piece of music, at first you don’t know how to play it, so you build up to it. You do your exercises…
Read MoreRachel Collins
I’ve recently completed a coaching practitioner course, which I’ve been lucky enough to study for while working at Colt. People seek coaching for many reasons but often, it’s about moving beyond something that has been holding them back. I’ve been thinking about my grandmother a lot as I’ve been on the course – though she…
Read MoreSonia Boukari
I know Kung Fu and I like the fact that i could protect myself if I needed to. My uncle used to do Kung Fu so I started when I was four years old – I started watching Bruce Lee movies with him and then I was obsessed. For years I went in secret, then…
Read MoreLarissa Bao
I used to work in Colt’s parent company and my manager there told me, “If you want to improve yourself, find someone around you who inspires you and learn from them.” I think it’s the most useful thing I’ve ever learned. Before you make a decision, you have to think, ‘what would they do in…
Read MoreAnika Villalonga
My dad told me that there’s always someone watching you, so whatever you do, try your best and put in the most effort possible, because you don’t know what could happen. I used to do a lot of dance and theatre, and sometimes you think just because you’re in the second row of the chorus…
Read MoreCatherine Saucedo
I knew from quite a young age that I wasn’t going to live in Panama as an adult. The country was under a dictatorship when I was growing up, and as an 8-year-old, it was quite a scary place. I do remember, though, the Christmas of 1989. Even in the midst of everything going on,…
Read MoreMegha Kohli
When I was a child, we had a ritual in my family. All my siblings, cousins and I would sit around my grandmother as she would tell us the most wonderful stories. They weren’t your usual stories – they always involved spirits or magical entities and were always set in faraway places. We would listen…
Read MorePooja Khatri
I have so much respect for my mother – she is an inspiration. She always laid immense emphasis on education and independence when we were growing up. She taught me about trust and self-confidence and I completely owe to her the fact that I am in a career that I enjoy. Because of the special…
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