Ed (Edu) Giansante, Founder & CEO of E-Dublin
Ed Giansante is the founder and CEO of E-Dublin - the largest channel of information for Brazilian expats based in Europe.
Since its launch in 2008, E-Dublin has helped millions of Brazilians searching for information about studies abroad. Ed's work has been recognised many times globally, including being awarded 4x as the Best Blog Abroad.
While building his side hustle, Ed has worked for many multinational companies including Intel, Zynga and Dropbox, where he led global community operations and ambassadors programs. He was also elected the Community Professional of the Year by CMX.
“If I look back 12 years ago, when I moved to Ireland, I was no one. I didn't speak English; I didn't have family support; there was no YouTube or Instagram channel explaining to me what to do when moving abroad. I had to figure it all out.”
Ed Giansante
Tell us about your current role and what you like about your career/role or areas of focus.
I'm the founder and content creator of E-Dublin, founder and instructor at EduPro Academy, book author and (my own) dog walker. I love enabling expats to have a better life abroad.
What inspires you, motivates you, helps you to make each day count?
Every little thing inspires me.
A thank you note, a piece of valuable feedback, a full day of teaching, recording and producing content, planning next years' strategy, listening to a mentee.
Outside of that, I have a greater belief in God and my purpose - I'm thankful for the opportunities I have, the privileges, the ability to inspire and influence others to a greater good.
Outside of your professional work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
I play some instruments - in fact, I played in an Irish rock band for a few years, got even an album on Spotify!
Danone, my dog, loves to bring me to the mountains for a morning hike, so we do that every morning while I listen to some audiobooks. It's great to exercise in nature while learning something new from books - I listened to about 30+ books this year. It's great!
My dog went through a lot this year - he had 30% chances of survival in surgery due to a perforation in his stomach. That was early in January, before the pandemic. Getting through it made me remember what matters most, and the pandemic was just an extension of it.
When it comes to your life chosen career, is there a phrase, quote or saying that you really like?
"I'm a failure." According to standards, the norm.
My degree is in Design, but I never worked as a designer. The largest online community I built was years before I was getting paid to define a strategy and implement an online community.
That doesn't mean I'm delivering work that matters - work that touches millions of people, inspires them, that I love and that I can be well paid for.
These are the 4 key elements of your IKIGAI (a Japanese word for 'reason for being'). Doing what you're good at, what you love, what the world needs and what you can get paid for.
What are you most proud of in your life?
If I look back 12 years ago, when I moved to Ireland, I was no one. I didn't speak English; I didn't have (and still don't) a European Citizenship; I didn't have family support; there was no YouTube or Instagram channel explaining to me what to do when moving abroad. I had to figure it all out.
There was no Google Maps to walk around; companies didn't know what a work visa was (neither did I).
It's insane to see how much it's grown, the Brazilian community, E-Dublin as a consequence, reaching millions of people every month, with a great team working behind it.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
That it ain't easy. As simple as it sounds when you look back, It wasn't an easy journey. I had to deal with a lot, and it took me about years to make some money.
Also, doing what's right can hurt people with bad intentions, and you have to be strong to stand for what you believe in and stand for what's right.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles?
I follow and admire hundreds of professionals, and it would be unfair to call out just a few of them. It's not about a strong name in the media - it can be a former boss, a work colleague, someone behind the scenes in a project or conference I was in.
People I see giving their best, people who care about what needs to be done and not about what's their job to do. I admire people who go above and beyond, people who can make an impact even in small things, just because they care.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
Same as the above, companies are made of humans. While some companies set standards for the industry, like Apple and Disney, when you work with other entrepreneurs, you find that there are great companies (groups of people working towards a goal) that are not even known in the market.
Some small cafes with passionate owners; some great restaurants; some companies disrupting the status quo like Ikea, Amazon, Airbnb, Uber (as much as they had issues with their former founder), and even McDonald's (keeping a food standard with thousands of stores is insanely hard).
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Rule #6 - "don't take yourself too seriously." That came from Benjamin Franklin in a talk about the art of possibilities. Super recommend you to watch it.
What drives or motivates you each day in a work environment?
Same motivations as I have on my personal level. I may be wrong, but I don't see different motivations in work compared to life.
I value integrity, attitude, commitment, the right to express and respect opinions, and the ability to inspire and challenge how things are done. It works with friends, family, in relationships, and also with work colleagues. 😊
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
Social media is a set of mediums, not an end goal. It will keep evolving with video and audio, allowing for more types of interaction, but all in a short span of life. The more people can create, the quicker they'll have to be to produce and get audiences' attention.
There's also what I call 'the disposable knowledge' - in a sense that great content produced with great insights will last just a day or even less. Once it's gone, it's gone - people will look for the next insight or piece of advice shared online. That puts pressure on creators to keep producing (and re-doing).
There's room for AI to be more actively used in social media like it's being done with chatbots on Messenger and WhatsApp.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
I use LinkedIn daily to share insights but also capture some from other industry professionals. It's a great place to network too. I like Instagram for short, interactive content with my followers like quizzes and AMAs ('ask me anything').
I like YouTube for tutorials and inspirational content, like a TED talk or a travel vlog. However, if the tutorial is on Vimeo or any other video platform, I'll watch it anyways. TED wasn't born on YouTube, and people may consume it in Podcast format, TED's video platform or YouTube itself.
As said, the medium (the social media channel) doesn't matter.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever been a mentor to anyone?
I had several mentors in life - some worked directly with me; some were from the same industry. I don't think they all know they were mentors to me.
As for being a mentor, I had the privilege of mentoring over 300 professionals individually in their career goals.
How do you network? What is your prefered way to network?
By adding value. The more I create and share. The more people feel inclined to talk to me.
It also reduced barriers to reach other people I want to engage with and sometimes ask a question.
I used to do it a lot in events I was speaking, but also on LinkedIn, Instagram, and now virtual conferences.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work?
Not sure if this question is meant to be 'same area of work' as in, doing work that I do or 'same area of work' based on their degree perhaps? In any case, the best way to 'get work that you care' or to be recognized for what you do, or to find your dream job, is to start by adding value. It's not about having professional experiences, it's about giving value.
If you want to be a marketeer abroad and have zero experience, you can start by putting a marketing campaign together for a local charity. Set yourself a target: achieve 1K in donations within a month.
Ask for help from local businesses, from market experts - tell them it's charity work, and they'll help with advice and mentoring. That way, you can learn with practical work and do good for your community.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Fear. People fear being judged for mediocre work, fear they're not capable of doing it, fear getting started, fear getting too busy. The fear is then dressed as excuses or over-studying.
Over studying is when you think you're still not ready and keep studying theories a bit more, and a bit more, and you become a PhD of nothingness.
You won't learn how to ride a bike if you read a book on how to ride a bike. And you will only know if you failed or if you don't want to do it when you hop on a bike and try to cycle.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience?
Success is measured by the impact of your work - and if your work can't be measured, you didn't do it.
You're successful at finding a job abroad when you actually sign a job offer. It's measurable. You are successful if you lost that extra kilo in a given timeframe you set for yourself. What you define as success may not be what I define as success - and that's another system called expectations.
Expectations come from perception (i.e If I'm talking to someone coming out of college, my expectations will be lower as I perceive them as juniors).
The best lesson I could share around perception and expectations is that it's all based on what you do and say. The more (or less) you do and say, the higher or lower the perception (and subsequently expectations) from people on you, it will be.
Once you deliver a measurable work that's in par with their expectations, you have been successful.
What skills do you feel have helped you to become successful?
I'm naturally creative but forcibly analytical. They're both incredible skills to have. However, any skill can be learned.
You can learn to be creative or analytical through methodology and practice. I learned how to be a good communicator, how to be resilient, but it all comes down to one thing: attitude. You can't learn or practise if you don't do it.
Anything else you would like to share with our audience?
If you're unclear on what you want to do, then do anything. Once you start doing anything, you'll learn what you don't want to do. And that's good. You will then be able to ask for feedback on what you've done.
You'll learn what people perceive you as good (or bad) at. You will then be able to know what you like and dislike consciously. What you're gravitating more naturally towards and what you always try to avoid (we call it procrastination).
Is there anything new that you are working on or involved in that you would like to share?
I recently launched the EduPro Academy - an online academy to help professionals abroad through education. Not formal education like a degree, but real-life learning experiences compiled in online lessons that will help people feel more confident, connected and well... educated to achieve their goals.
We have over 3 thousand mentees, and we're launching more courses in 2021, so I strongly advise you to sign up for our news on https://edupro.academy.