First rule for success - to overcome your fears

Introduce yourself in a few words..

My name is Mihaela Georgieva, entrepreneur, commercial director, and partner at the real estate agency Galardo Real Estate and co-founder of Assure.Next - an insurance structure in exclusive commercial partnership with the international insurance brand Allianz.

For the past 18 years, I have held leadership positions internationally in the commercial and marketing business sectors.

Before rediscovering entrepreneurship in the real estate sector in Bulgaria as a core of multifunctional and high-value services for end clients, I worked in the field of insurance, and before that in France - I managed international projects related to the international development of global alcoholic beverage brands, such as the French liqueurs Marie Brizard, Cognac Gautier, and wines Marques del Puerto.

How would you describe your career in a few words?

My career to this day is a sea of adventures and experiences. Along my professional path in France and in Bulgaria, I met several people who shaped me as a person and professional. I believe that a person is largely shaped by the environment in which they thrive. I have always chosen to surround myself with emotionally rich people, well-read with high general culture, goal-oriented, sincere, and positive. It is these human qualities that accompany my career today and the way I lead processes and teams. Today, after 18 years of international professional experience, I actually feel that I am just beginning to build a career, as every day I wake up with a new goal and mission to help those around me achieve something even more beautiful and good than yesterday.

What was the most important choice that shaped your path?

The first of my most important choices in life was at the age of 18, when I left to study in France. From this choice, my personal path of dealing with difficulties and challenges was largely constructed, as well as meeting my professional destiny in international Trade and Marketing. When my parents left me with a suitcase at the bus station, I told myself only one thing – “You are now, go and take from life what you dream of and what you want to be.” And that was to manage brands that become valuable assets for international companies, to create and unite teams that are the most valuable element in the effectiveness of a given company. And today I have all of this in the form of entrepreneurship, which became my second most important choice in life. I halted my professional development in the corporate world and chose to be the direction of the wind in the real estate and insurance business sectors.

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

No one told me that along the way there are not only sincere people. There are also those who, under the mask of friendship, are prone to manipulative tactics in their relationships and can make you abandon your dreams. But this is part of the game of life and a great challenge for the spirit - it proves to you how much you believe in yourself and can only rely on yourself to build the career you desire and are capable of.

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

In my opinion, a person does not choose their profession. It chooses them and attracts them on an emotional level. It recognizes our qualities and turns them into a driver of a given economic system. In the past, I thought I would become a journalist and that I was born for it… Nothing like that - now I am absorbed by the real estate sector, which I want to turn into a working core of high-value services for consumers over time.

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

It may already be a cliché, but the ability to work effectively with “artificial intelligence” enriches us with knowledge on one hand, and on the other hand, it is a way to optimize costs throughout the entire business chain. We observe its progressive implementation in almost all sectors of the economy, which makes processes happen faster with a good effect on time and investment resources.

On the other hand, our work with “artificial intelligence” should not deprive us of key soft skills that will never disappear from the “quality set” that every good employer looks for in their teams - analytical thinking, organization, goal orientation, proactivity, teamwork, and empathetic communication.

How to build a network of useful contacts without appearing interested?

When building useful contacts, you cannot help but appear and be interested. This is precisely what lies in building a useful contact - both parties must be well aware of the added value that the interlocutor can provide them. Otherwise, you only collect names on business cards without any weight for a specific business. I prefer to meet one person and spend sufficient time in work discussions with them than to meet five contacts, with the sole aim of just taking their business cards. The time spent building stable business relationships is not a matter of hours, but a process that is maintained by both sides with interest and persistence.

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

I do not think I have made mistakes in my career, but instead, I have diverse experiences from which I learn constantly. One of those experiences is to place too much trust in a given person, constantly giving them opportunities for development and proving themselves, while they abuse that trust, taking it for granted. Business is managed with a firm hand, while in the past my approach to managing people was more empathetic than rational.

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

A toxic work environment is one that eats away at your happiness daily. And not at all costs should we fight to change it. A person must wisely choose their battles, so as to preserve themselves over time, respecting above all themselves and being ready to build their own reality of happiness. You should leave when you are no longer happy. Because in life, happiness, just like in work and personal life, should be our guide every day.

What would you do differently if you could start over?

I would change absolutely nothing… Everything that happens to us has its significance for our next steps in life. The people, situations, emotions, challenges - they have their logical sequence that we must experience to go where we desire and strive to be.

How to maintain your motivation in times of stagnation?

In times of stagnation, I personally love to analyze the situation and communicate with the people around me. And maybe this motivates me, as I discover the reasons for the stagnation and find solutions to create change. I love to share and talk with the people around me. There is a lot of emotion in my character, and when I release it, I recharge with energy and motivation again. Sharing is not a weakness, but a way to be heard and understood, thus receiving good advice that can unlock a new rhythm of motivation.

How to achieve a balance between professional and personal life?

I have always felt work as part of my personal life. It makes me feel alive and useful, so I have “absorbed” it as part of my personal life. I simply do not separate them, as I invest the same energy and desire in their parallel good maintenance. As for balance - it is up to us to prioritize which task at which moment is more important to be completed.

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

We change careers when we realize that we are capable of something else that continues to speak to us in our mind and heart. From my work in the alcoholic industry, I rushed into the insurance and real estate sector because I realized for myself that I have a penchant for financial products through which a person preserves their assets and can successfully invest through them.

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

First rule for success - to overcome your fears! With fear, you cannot move forward, just as you cannot move forward with prejudices and heavy dependencies on people and situations. You just jump, guided by your intuition.

Additionally, I believe that the very definition of the word “success” is actually true success. Many people wander with the idea that by changing their job and position, earning more from a financial perspective, they achieve success… My advice to them is to clearly define what success is for them. Because success in life is not only career and financial development. Realizing who you are, who you want to be, and why - this is the absolute formula that will take you where success is meant to be for you. My greatest success is my children. Helping them receive a wonderful education, both academically and personally, so that they develop a critical and fighting spirit through the will to set their own directions in their lives.

What is your definition of a “successful career”?

A successful career is one that makes you wake up early in the morning eagerly wanting to go to the office and quickly tackle tasks. A successful career is also one that makes you dream of a new project in the evening, and even on weekends, you might not even notice that you continue to send emails. A successful career is not about numbers… It is a way of life that moves you on an emotional level.