Female founder fest left us strong networking and amazing entrepreneur stories, as the one from Theresa Grotendorst who shared about neurodivergent entrepreneur Richard Branson.

Richard owns more than 300 companies, but we admire him especially for his advocacy around dyslexia and his imaginative, bold way of approaching life.

Theresa told her the story of Necker Island 🏝️:

When Richard was young, he wanted to impress Joan (who later became his wife). Without the money, he pretended to be interested in buying an island. A real estate agent covered the trip, and they flew over Necker. Richard offered $100,000 (rejected, as it was worth millions). Years later, with no other buyers, he bought it for $180,000, still borrowing the money and unable to build a house right away. He and Joan slept in a tent on the beach ⛺. Today, Necker Island is worth about $150 million.

This story reminded the founder of a personal moment. Years ago, while struggling with chronic illness and intrusive thoughts, she kept seeing German flags everywhere. She felt like when you want a red car and suddenly you start spotting these cars everywhere. She realized it was her survival mode leading her back to her teenage dream: to speak six languages, with German as the sixth. While delusional in Poland, she also imagined how she could bring her project to life in Germany, connecting neurodivergence, health, and creativity.

So, she trusted her intuition and applied for a job there. Despite forgetting the interview (hello ADHD!), she got the job, and here it is, CORNER OF MOVEMENT UG is born!

Stories like Branson’s remind us: 🌱 Even when the path looks unrealistic, our imagination and intuition can guide us to extraordinary places.