Kuala Lumpur: Taylor's University recently launched its Camp of Leaders programme, which aims to connect students and their startup ideas with industry veterans, utilising their knowledge and experiences in mentorship sessions to hone valuable soft skills that are useful in business development.

Opening doors to future game changers

Aligning with Malaysia's vision to advance from a production-based economy to a knowledge-intensive one, Camp of Leaders serves as a springboard for today’s youth to be game changers for the future, contributing to the nation's progress through education.

These mentoring sessions with industry giants acts as a catalyst to inspire viewpoints, facilitate connections and essentially open doors to the success potential projects, by sharpening the students and alumni’s vision and resilience.

The kick-off session was done with the programme mentors consisting of leaders with vast experiences in their respective industries such as Surina Shukri, Independent Non-Executive Director of Capital A, Shin Tseng, Co-founder of REXKL, Nik Suzila, Co-founder of Kloth Circularity, Yap Sue Yii, founder of Komuniti Tukang Jahit and Lim Yuet Kim, co-founder of PichaEats.

From left to right: Nik Suzila, Surina Shukri, Shin Tseng, Yap Sue Yii and Lim Yuet Kim, mentors for Taylor’s University’s Camp of Leaders programme, at the Kick Off session where they shared their insights on mentorship and the benefits of soft skills in a startup business.

These high-calibre experts were paired with the innovative teams of students seeking to make waves in various fields such as medical technology, renewable and efficient energy, and food and beverages. The pairing of mentor and mentee will be done based on the similarity of industry experience or passion, and student's project.

Why does mentorship really matter?

Lim Yuet Kim said that having mentors are important as they are there to be a guide and a support. Through the Camp of Leaders programme, both the mentors and mentees are able to foster a culture of learning, nurturing, and growth as it is a joint venture that requires both parties to actively attend to each other.

A good mentor must have the disposition and desire to develop other people. It requires a willingness to reflect on and share one’s own experiences, including one’s failures. Great mentors must be able to both “talk the talk” and “walk the walk.”

“We will always meet different types of mentors at every stage of our lives. It is not necessary to always follow only one throughout our life. At the end of the day, the best mentors can help us define and express our inner calling,” said Nik Suzila.

Innovative creations can be refined over time

Having founded the Komuniti Tukang Jahit Malaysia, Yap Sue Yii said that through the Camp of Leaders programme, I see a chance at imparting what I have learnt throughout my experiences and help students gain a better chance at succeeding in their projects.

Very often, I see startups striving for a degree of perfection that is unattainable, and this approach can sometimes eat away at precious time and resources. To prevent this, I encourage my mentees to find a way to bring their ideas to life through the most affordable and quickest way possible.

There are a lot of benefits to cutting down wasted resources as nothing needs to be perfected immediately, and everything can be refined over time. I believe this lesson would serve my mentees well in developing their projects into later stages.

Impactful business innovation

Taylor’s alumni, Jizen Loh Iskandar mentioned that it has been an honour to be selected for the Camp of Leaders programme, despite having graduated from the University this year. He and his group won several startup challenges including the MaGIC University Startup Challenge.

Their innovative project known for its “no-tie shoelaces” innovative comfort wear product, Nexmve came up with a unique proposition which turns laced shoes into secured slip-ons. With only three components such as a secured lock, stretchy laces and a secured stopper, Nexmve solves the need for having to deal with untied shoelaces.

“Taylor's has been playing an active role in supporting the needs of its students with the skills and resources they need to take their projects to the next step. It is exciting to be connected with such a wide range of industry leaders, as young entrepreneurs like us lack real-world experience. Having these mentors guide us along the way can give us a clearer direction on what to do, helping us save time and resources, ultimately giving us a better chance at seeing our ambitions come true," said Jizen.

Whether you have a mentor, want to become a mentor, or want to find a mentor, everyone involved in the experience will benefit from personal and oftentimes, professional growth!

Camp of Leaders is part of Taylor'sphere, a well-balanced ecosystem at Taylor's that nurtures the intellect, creativity, and practical wisdom of students.