INTERVIEWER: MAHMOUD MANSI
1-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: You both have successful careers, yet you were still ambitious to have your own startup. Can you tell us more about that please :)?
Marwa & Hassan: Level Up started April 2016 as an English Language training center. A lot of people have heard of this business type but we promise that we aren’t the bubble which is floating now up your head. We are trying to change the Alexandrian society culture toward that business. We are delivering content in a very professional way in at affordable prices.
2-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What I personally admire in both of you is that you made perfect use of your strengths (Hassan being a Marketing expert) and (Marwa being an English Teacher expert). How do you brainstorm your ideas together? How do you write your plans and strategies together?
Marwa & Hassan: As Adel Emam said in his play Madrst el Moshaghben: “Enta el mokh w ana el adalat” – You are the brain and I am the muscles – We therefore complete each other. As you mentioned I discover the ideas but Marwa knows how to phrase them and sometimes she “cooks” the ideas and I “do the dishes presentation”.
3-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Level Up started in 2016, yet by the mid of 2017 it took a noticeable increasing curve that everyone was talking about your activities. What was your plan in 2015 and how did you change it to achieve all that?
Marwa & Hassan: From the beginning we had a vision that Level Up should not merely be a training center but more of a cultural center, which aims at passing on knowledge. Such knowledge starts with language that opens a door to a new life with support of many knowledge aspects.
4-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Marwa, you are a person who believes in cooperation, teamwork and partnerships, and you do not believe in competition as we see you supporting other organizations in your same field. Can you tell us more about this approach?
Marwa: Well, I do believe in something, that is, when it comes to education and learning, which is the case here, all entities in charge should cooperate for the benefit of society. I see that we as educational and training organisations should work hand in hand if we all have that concept of benefiting individuals and work on the welfare of our society. An example of what I say is schools. Do we we have only one school to educate kids. We have myriads to fit the increasing number of learners. I firmly believe that competition should be directed to helping one another as training organisations improve and benefit individuals in much better ways.
5-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Hassan, you work as a Sales Consultant in the automotive field. Can you give us some tips on how to sell a car?
Hassan: First of all I do not sell cars, I sell an idea.
Vehicles are not only a way of transportation. They are your home where you should find tranquility, happiness, and safety. I try first to identify the client’s purchasing motive then deliver the right benefit based upon his/her needs. To do so, you have to be skilled enough to jump into the client’s purchase cycle and know when and who to hit a point that makes him confident about his purchase process and make him convinced that he made the right decision when he came today to buy the car you sell or as I told you the “Idea” you sell.
6-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Marwa, as an instructor at Level Up, how do you manage the class and encourage people to overcome their fears of interaction?
Marwa: I act “clown” 😀 Take it from me, a professional instructor is the one who is ready to go the extra mile, ready to do whatever it takes to get his/her learners engaged and interactive. Acting is a part and parcel of the teaching and training process, in my opinion. I am more of an actress, singer, the list goes on. When it comes to teaching and training, I think one should lead by example. My hyperactivity in class can seem a bit crazy. But if that craziness will help learners interact and learn while having fun, I am in it to win it.
7-HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Recently you were participating with a booth in Alexa Job Fair. What are your comments regarding fresh graduates, their CVs, and your advice to them?
Marwa & Hassan: That was our first time to join but to be frank we are facing a very bad situation regarding fresh grades. The CVs were miserable. Only 10% of the total number of CVs we have received are meaningful.
Sure it is the educational oganizations such as schools and colleges mistake not to help a person in his 20’s be able to write a CV. But I do believe that we should blame the candidates themselves as well because they haven’t exerted any effort on the internet and watched a video on YouTubeor read an article about how to write a proper CV.
We are gathering the contacts of these CVs and we are working on the preparation of some free-of-charge sessions to these people to give them a glimpse about CV writing, based on our social responsibility.
Thank You 🙂