Liliana Fernández, UCAM Olympic athlete and European beach volley champion, participated this week in one of the round tables of the South Summit 2015, the main meeting for entrepreneurs, investors and companies held in Southern Europe. The panel, “Beyond the limits”, wanted to reflect the parallels existing between sports and business, through the eyes of successful sport professionals.

Leadership, talent and competitiveness in the business world are deeply related to sport abilities. This was, among others, the main idea to retain out of the round table. The meeting was moderated by Alex Hoye, co-founder of Factions Skis, and counted with the participation of Liliana, together with other professionals such as Nerio Alessandri, president and founder of TechnoGym; José Ildefonso, founder and CEO of the First V1sion; and Gigliola Aycardi, co-founder of Bodytech.

The athlete, national and international reference in beach volley, shared the obstacle raced that has been her sporting career, in front of an audience of more than 1.000 people. Even though it was hard, her path enabled her to acquire more experience and perseverance to grow further in this world, years after years. “Physical and mental training, motivation, competition spirit, ability to overcome failure and confidence are some of the factors you have to work on everyday, both in sports and in the workplace”. Her recommendation for future entrepreneurs: “Make mistakes. Failing is essential to learn. You won't reach the top by celebrating achievements, but by overcoming failures”.

About South Summit

The city of Madrid hosted the 2015 edition of South Summit, the largest gathering of entrepreneurs, investors and corporations in Southern Europe. The bullfighting arena of Las Ventas was the chosen venue by the organizers, Spain Startup, in collaboration with the IE Business School and the Incyde Foundation, for the 175 speakers exposing their points of view about innovation and entrepreneurship, on five different stages.