“Undertaking the Junior Achievement Company of the Year competition has been an excellent experience for us in nurturing our entrepreneurial spirit. It was a hard challenge, requiring approximately 12 weeks of hard work, brainstorming, writing business reports and simply keeping ourselves motivated.

Nonetheless, it was an honour coming in 2nd place against all the other schools in Singapore, and winning the best commercial of the year prize! (You can watch our commercial here!)

A major lesson we learned is that hard work and a well planned strategy are needed to fuel entrepreneurship. While last minute preparation will always remain and may sometimes be inevitable, the need to remain focused and passionate to your cause will reap benefits.”

– Sharaf, President of M.M. Mindful Mugs

Mindful Mugs

by Kinari

“This isn’t a black and white world. Not everyone has a healthy mind, and no one should have to deal with it themselves in an attempt to fix their problems. Mental health is important, but some people have difficulty keeping it fit. We must embrace the colours within different minds, and work together for a healthy mind. A healthy, not black and white future.”

Sharaf Momen (G12), President of Mindful Mugs

As explained by Sharaf, the world is not a perfect place for the human mental condition as we are constantly being thrown at by life, various challenges and dilemmas. While some might succeed at getting past these challenges, for others it might be very difficult and essentially impact them to the core. This is what led a company to start its business, offering not just a great product but more importantly, a great message. Through interviews with various members of the team, we were able to get a thorough behind-the-scenes insight.

What is Mindful Mugs?

Mindful Mugs is a company that was started in August 2016. Created as part of the Junior Achievement Singapore competition, this company offers both a product and a service. Through various colourful and creative designs printed on our mugs, this product hopes to be a great addition to your daily needs as well as a cheerful reminder to brighten up your day and keep you motivated. Another important aspect of it is its QR code. When scanned, it will lead you to our website. Here, you are able to learn more information about who we are as a company, what we value and most importantly, view weekly posts of inspiring videos, quotes, photographs, stories and more! Many of these are original work from our team, which is a service we work hard to provide.

What is the problem? What is the solution?

While selling a mug is great on its own, we wanted to do something bigger – we wanted to create a difference, even if that meant one small step at a time. Being a group of teenagers, we understand the challenges that come with growing up and how our mental health can be easily affected by stress, experiences and more. For many out there, it is a struggle to get through the day or even get out of bed as their depression and anxiety have become a major part of their lives. Statistics show that those who are struggling hardly ever ask for help and that is because of the stigma that is associated with mental illnesses. This is caused by a lack of awareness among communities. Most importantly, because it is a topic that is often avoided, no solution or help is being given.

Vision 

To create a world of utmost social satisfaction through strong mental health.

Mission

Serving awareness in our mugs to quench the thirst of understanding that people with mental issues face.

Who are we?

The Mindful Mugs team consists of 16 students from ISS International School with an array of diverse backgrounds. Each of us are currently studying in our last year of the IB Diploma Programme (DP) and while we are actively revising and working on school assignments, we couldn’t miss out on this great opportunity to experience the process of building a company from scratch. While most of us are studying Business and Management as one of our core subjects, we also have students who do not study Business but are interested in learning more about it.

For more information on the company and the team members, please do go to their website: mindfulmugs.co.vu!