🌍 From California to Catalonia: When Students Tackle Real-World Startup Challenges

When education meets real-world innovation, incredible things happen. Earlier this year, Friends of Bata had the pleasure of welcoming 11 outstanding students from California Lutheran University to Barcelona for a hands-on “experienceship”—a workshop designed to bring students face-to-face with the raw realities of early-stage entrepreneurship.

The goal: connect theory with practice.
The challenge: help a real founder solve three pressing business problems.
The result: bold, actionable ideas that could help transform a startup.

🌟 Meet the Founder: FlamAid

Julieta Rueff, founder of FlamAid—a discreet personal safety device and app empowering people in public spaces—stepped forward with an open mind and real problems to solve. Together with her strategic partner, she invited students into the trenches of her business.

They presented three critical challenges:

1. Boosting sales and international expansion
2. Understanding user behavior more deeply
3. Finding better ways to convey the brand’s purpose

CLU students rolled up their sleeves and got to work in teams.
Here's what they came up with:

🔍 Challenge 1: Redefining Purpose Through Emotion

This team zeroed in on purpose-driven communication and storytelling. Their proposals included:

• Social Campaigns: Real users, real stories. Spotlight emotional narratives of safety and empowerment, shared by diverse demographics.
  
  
• A Resource Hub: Free content on the FlamAid website—emergency contacts, legal guidance, safety strategies—designed for both users and the public.
  
  
• Partnerships: Collaborate with NGOs, police, and transit agencies to place FlamAid’s message where it’s needed most—on the ground.
  
  
• A Purpose-Driven PR Campaign: Launch “Buy One, Give One” initiatives supporting at-risk communities and young women.
  
  Their bottom line: Make FlamAid a movement, not just a product.

📈 Challenge 2: Expanding Sales & Global Reach

To grow sales and expand internationally, this group offered:

• TikTok Shop & Trend Marketing: Leveraging social trends to promote FlamAid's emotional value, not just its function.
  
  
• University Roadshows: Pop-up booths and hands-on demos at campuses around Europe and the U.S.
  
  
• Retail Placement & User-Centered Web Design: Simplify the buying process, test navigation, and streamline the customer journey.
  
  
• Localized Instagram Pages & Influencer Engagement: Let the message speak in local languages—visually and emotionally.
  
  They stressed the importance of reaching users where they already are, in the tone and language that fits their lives.

🧠 Challenge 3: Mapping the Mind of the User

This group tackled a topic founders often struggle with—user behavior. Their insights were deeply behavioral and actionable:

• Emotional Data Loops: Use real-time microfeedback (stars, thumbs up/down) to capture emotional user experiences.
  
  
• Privacy-First Analytics: Understand how users move through the app, where they pause, and where they drop off.
  
  
• Personalization & Loyalty: Quick emotional check-ins, badges for early adopters, and founding-user groups to boost loyalty.
  
  
• Relationship Surveys: Use psychology-rooted surveys to stay ahead of changing customer expectations and feelings.
  
  Their message: empathy builds loyalty. FlamAid should strive to become not just trusted, but loved.

‍💥 Learning Through Action

This workshop wasn’t just another class activity. It was real. Students were treated as consultants, not observers—and their ideas may help shape the next phase of FlamAid’s growth.

Thanks to Professor Carmina Bech, whose leadership and collaboration made this experience possible, and who will continue to support Friends of Bata in future case study co-creation, curriculum design, and international student engagement.

👏 What’s Next?

This event marks the beginning of a long-term partnership: 

✅ Annual “experienceship” workshops in Barcelona
✅ Jointly developed case studies for classroom and public use
✅ Opportunities for students to join our entrepreneurial network and events
✅ Thought leadership, roundtables across Europe and the U.S, and more!