Amber Blumanis’ Stopover Shines At Talent Unleashed

What do you do when you are young, smart and ambitious? You find out a way to follow your dreams, of course! That’s precisely what Amber Blumanis, a 23-year old entrepreneur from Sydney, Australia has done. The creator of the ‘Stopover’ mobile app has bagged the winner’s award in the under-25 category (Rising Star), at Talent Unleashed Awards 2014.

Held on the night of July 31st, this year’s edition of the award ceremony saw a total tally of six winners. Amber was one of the two Australians among them (Liquid States’ Philip Andrews was the other). In an exclusive interview, she described the awards night as a ‘lifetime experience’ - as her brainchild, ‘Stopover’, won kudos from premier luminaries from the tech world. Apple Inc.’s Steve Wozniak and Virgin Group’s Richard Branson were among the ones who were present to congratulate Amber on the occasion.

The manner in which ‘Stopover’ was developed is mighty interesting in its own right. The concept of this iPhone application came to Amber’s mind when she was - nopes, not at office - but at a Vietnam airport. As she was forced to wait for nearly 14 hours, the idea of making an app that would come in handy for frequent travellers started taking roots - which finally led to the birth of ‘Stopover’.

During the post-award media conference, Amber was frank in saying that she did not have any great expertise in mobile app development techniques. What she really excelled at was online research (she remains ‘a lot on Google’, in her own words!). That helped her in getting in touch with Teknowledge Software - an Indian company. She assigned the project to them, and it was completed within a matter of weeks. Incidentally, Amber visited India during the last week of June - days after Stopover had been released on iTunes.

An independent spirit, an undying love affair with international travel, and an aspiration for leading life on her own terms have been key for Amber’s early and heady professional success. As she explained, the lengthy halt at the Vietnam airport was only one among a series of such frustratingly long airport stopovers she had already faced. Unlike most others though, she has actually done something that would help in making use of this time effectively. Mobile app analysts have unanimously agreed that ‘Stopover’ goes a long way in doing away with boredom at an airport.

The youngster from Australia is, understandably, over the moon regarding the unprecedented success of her app. The words of approval and encouragement from the likes of Branson and Wozniak have also bolstered her spirit further. By her own admission, Amber was ‘still in shock’, since she ‘couldn’t believe’ such famous personalities from the tech world were raving about her app. Well-deserved, for sure!

Although adulations have been pouring in from all quarters, Amber Blumanis has her feet firmly on the ground. She is perfectly aware that ‘Stopover’ is yet to cross 1000 downloads and requires the support of more people worldwide to emerge as a commercial success. Amber is optimistic about the app finding favor among travelers across the globe. The exposure at Talent Unleashed would certainly help in that regard.

Amber recently assumed the mantle of chief operating officer (COO) of Teks Mobile Australia - the Australian chapter of the mobile apps company which had handled the development of ‘Stopover’. She would also be soon off for a week-long trip to the Branson Center of Entrepreneurship, in South Africa. She is confident about learning up new things and getting great business networking opportunities there.

To know more about the company Amber currently heads, visit: http://www.teksmobile.com.au/. She can be contacted directly too - either by phone (+61 04 235 21035) or via email (amber@teksmobile.com.au). The world needs more young visionaries - and Amber has surely shown the way!