Clara Figares and Juan M S Clark, journalists and writers from Spain, are the co-founders of Unlocking the Mentors, a private company working on different projects about inspirational persons around the world and relating their stories in book form to the young people. The company’s motto is: “They say a picture is worth a thousand words. We say our inspirational books are worth hundreds of mentors.”
The duo is currently in Qatar. They have a select profile of 65 inspirational persons in Qatar and are conducting interviews with these people to bring out a book.
Community recently caught up with them to talk about the idea and project at length.


How will you best describe the project?
Clara: “We are both professionals. We used to work for the media industry in Spain. We have stinted in print, TV and radio. We also worked for same media companies. We have worked in different countries. We used to produce a lot of media content related to economic development and cover different markets and highlight economic opportunities.
While working in different countries and meeting different set of inspirational people, we realised that there was not enough attention given to inspiration, when, in fact, human capital is the main resource that spurs economic growth. So, we both realised that there was actually a need to share different inspirational stories from around the world. We decided to create something that is more related to human capital.
Then, we realised that the young generations in many countries around the world are looking for inspiration, mentorship and role models. We find that there is a gap that needs to be filled to connect the young people with their role models.
We have been working on the idea for over a year. Qatar and Spain form the first part of that endeavor at our end. Juan is currently working on the Spanish edition. Spain is a big market and the work there will take a lot of time. At parallel, I am working on the Qatar edition.


Why have you selected Qatar as your first choice?
Clara: We both have worked in Qatar earlier. I have worked for over a year and Juan has worked for three years. I have produced different TV documentaries here. We were inspired by some of the Qatari people we met here. This is one of the reasons that we have selected Qatar along with Spain as our first step.
Juan is here for few weeks helping me out in collecting the profile of 65 people. Qatar is the first step in our movement. It is going to be a global movement. Qatar and Spain are going to be the leading countries in our movement.
I had worked in other countries in the Middle East. The country which inspired me by way of meeting a lot of inspiring people is actually Qatar. That is why, as a personal choice, Qatar comes first for my special edition.
One of the other reasons is that Qatar is a country that pushed itself considerably in terms of human capital development. There are plenty of people running different initiatives. They try and encourage youth empowerment. There are different organisations and projects that are very much related to youth empowerment. It makes a lot of sense to come here and run ‘Unlock the Mentors’ here. Our aim is also to empower the younger generation.


How has been your experience of working in Qatar?
For this project, we have been here for just nine weeks. The experience has been amazing. There has been a lot of enthusiasm and excitement to create this sort of initiative, which I think has not been attempted before. People are actually excited and looking forward to seeing the final print. We have been very lucky.
We have gathered 65 profiles across the board — both locals and expatriates — ranging from ministers, CEOs, artists, sportspersons, videographers, and chefs. 


What was the criterion to select the profiles?
Juan: We have good connections in the country. We have selected different profiles from different disciplines. We are looking for real special stories and mentors that do not come mainly from the business world. Consider: we have included mothers who have done something special for their children; we have climbers, inventors, scientists, and social media figures. We have looked for profiles that are inclusive and respond to gender equality. We give space to voices that do not find space in the media.


Can you explain why you have selected two culturally different countries at one time to do your project?
Juan: First of all, we both are connected with Qatar as we have worked here. There is a vision in Qatar for future generations. The country is doing a great job and we are very happy to be a part of it.
Then, Spain is our home country. It is a big country and a part of Europe. It is the world’s 13th largest economy. There are a lot of things happening in Spain, especially on the entrepreneurship side. Spain is a sort of mirror that we look into, especially for sports and acting. We are doing our project in Qatar and Spain. It will have a domino effect, pushing country to country and going beyond boundaries.
We live in a world where things are changing in all fields. We think that we can be a bridge connecting today’s doers with tomorrow’s achievers. We are targeting those human beings who are making remarkable achievements.
Clara: Each country will have a different edition. Each county has its own success stories. There will be two different books for the two countries. Eventually, we want to have worldwide collection of books. The Qatar edition may be published in March or April next year. It will also have a digital edition. We plan to have a book launch event where young people will be able to meet their mentors.


It appears to be a big project. Do you have other partners as well?
Juan: Yes, there is a lot of investment in the project. We have used some personal resources to put this project together. However, we also have local partners in the country. There are some companies that actually believe what we are doing is beautiful.


There are lots of success stories shared every day. How is yours going to be any different?
Juan: We are professional media persons. It is our passion and, universe. However, we want to add something more inspirational with a socio-entrepreneurial touch. We have been doing a lot of interviews. We have a lot of material. (So we thought) Let’s create a book. Let’s get in touch with those generations.
Clara: So far as we know, this book is going to be first of its kind. There is no such book in Qatar.
Juan: We want to go beyond the inspirational stories. We talk about mentorship. The inspirational ones are also sharing their contact details with us and they are ready to mentor young people.