Success is having someone to return to in the evening at home and tell about it

Introduce yourself in a few words…

Ivaylo Tonchev, 53, marketing director of Framар pharmacies for 16 years. I live in Stara Zagora, as does most of the team. Married, with a teenage daughter. Workaholic, which I am not proud of ;)

How would you describe your career in a few words?

It is very hard for me to say that I have some kind of career. The concept implies some development, but for me – it just happened that I started by forming a team. After that – I haven't changed anything, my position has been the same, only the responsibilities have become greater. Probably a person grows through the responsibilities they take on, and not through the appointments they have had. It must be so!

What was the most important choice that shaped your path?

I have been working with media and for media probably since the early 90s. The beginning was a music magazine that never saw the light of day, but it gave me very good training. There is nothing better than what you learn the hard way, all by yourself. Losses are particularly valuable and teach you responsibility. Victories – we somehow take them for granted, the luck of the newcomer.

What would you like to know at the beginning of your career that no one told you?

Surely that success is a team sport, but it depends a lot on who is in your team. Don't be afraid of bad additions, part of the magic is to manage to re-educate or overcome them. If you take them for granted, you have an objective problem.

How can a person understand which profession is suitable for them?

I don't think there are unsuitable professions. Just stages that we go through. After a dizzying career with Velvet Underground in the 60s, in 1970 Lou Reed became for one year an employee in his father's office. He is the rock star, all of New York is discussing and looking for him, while he is working on a typewriter and no one knows this. After a year he returns to the stage. He needed a change.

Everyone has such periods. Recently I saw an acquaintance, a former CEO of a large local company, who sells pizzas. The man was happy and smiling. Is that bad?

Which skills do you think will be key in the next 10 years?

Honestly? We are facing difficult years, and the most important thing is to be normal. There are simple things we need to believe in – family, loved ones, Bulgaria, colleagues, meaning. To develop. Everything else should happen.

How do we build a network of useful contacts without appearing interested?

A bit of a strange question. Useful for whom? Can they be useful only for me, but I not be useful for them? There was a children's fairy tale about a hero who helped several animals, and then they helped him. At first, it is the hand we extend and they accept it. After that – whatever happens. I have contacts with whom we have never worked, we have no common projects, but we talk “about the weather" together with them and in this we are useful to each other. Common conversations of synchronously thinking people.

If something happens, someday, somewhere, why not? Pragmatism in collecting a list of contacts, writing down what each can be useful for – that is foreign to me.

What is the biggest mistake you have made in your career, and what did you learn from it?

Too much trust in a person who is not ready for it. Too much trust in myself, when I am not ready for it either. Insufficient trust in myself, when I am absolutely ready for it.

How do we recognize a toxic work environment and when is it time to leave?

We can also create a toxic environment without realizing it. Then how do we leave, when it is within us? Sometimes it makes sense to pack everything and move on, but are you sure the problem won't travel with you?

What would you do differently if you could start over?

Probably nothing. I am a damn lucky person and that probably gives me the courage that everything will come in its own time. You just have to be ready for it.

How do we maintain our motivation during stagnation?

Have fun. Find the useful, the fun, even the slightly cynical, to get through the stagnation. Set macro frameworks and account for even the smallest progress, even if it's just a millimeter. A week ago I returned to the gym after a 6-year break. It's great, it gives me a clear mind and I have fun.

How do we achieve a balance between professional and personal life?

One is several years of 8-9 hours a day, and the other is everything else. You have to decide what is more important. There have been many moments of hesitation for me, but the truth is – both must go hand in hand.

When is it time to change our career, not just the job?

This about changing careers and jobs – I mentioned earlier about the pizzeria where my acquaintance works. What do you change when you change your career or job? Yourself? The qualities you possess? People develop, but a sharp change from one to another is not healthy. Personally, I now think that I would be very happy to apply what I know and can do in a record store. But who knows, who knows...

If you had to give just one piece of advice to people seeking success, what would it be?

Have fun. Do things by the book, but also allow yourself to improvise. Because textbooks sometimes lie. Success is just a moment. Before it and after it, work awaits you.

What is your definition of a “successful career"?

To have someone to return to in the evening at home and tell about successes. It is a blessing to have them listen to you with interest, even if afterwards they send you to wash the dishes. To have fun in the morning and have someone to discuss not the successes, but the problems. Conversations only about successes are dizzying. To change something, to get from point A to point B. In many cases this takes decades. And maybe that is it, human life is not that long.

In the end, we all go to plant a bed of tomatoes in the village or to watch bees. Success is then to be calm and happy.