There is always a solution to the problems, but it is found with patience and calmness

Introduce yourself in a few sentences!
Hello, I am Karina Karanyotova and I have been working at the Bulgarian National Television for 13 years. Now I am a reporter in the news, and during the summer I also lead the news in the morning block. Previously, I was also a news anchor and morning block host at BNT2, as well as the author of many documentary programs.

What did you dream of becoming in your childhood?
When I was little, I wanted to become an actress like my mother Yuliana Karanyotova and my grandmother Slavka Slavova, but they were against it. Later, I enrolled to study “Mass Communications” and in the very first year, I started working as a host of the travel show “The Globe”. This charted my future path as a journalist.

At what age did you earn your first money? Tell us an interesting story?
I was about 11 when I was punished at school and suspended for a week. This was very hard for me because I was studying at a wonderful private school and I went there with great enthusiasm. To avoid staying at home during this time, my father made me work in his café then. Right in front of it, there was a photocopier. People started coming and asking me if I could copy something for them. I told them I could for 20 stotinki per page. There was a huge influx, and in one week I managed to earn quite a bit of money from that photocopier, of course, without telling my parents about my secret business. That’s how I earned my first money. Later, at 16, I wrote short articles for the newspaper “Night Work” and there I already earned money from fees.

What are the main factors and examples that shape us as individuals at an early age and form our interests? What is your recipe for curiosity, sources, and wells of information and inspiration at this stage of our human development?
Of course, at the beginning, it is always the family. I have drawn a lot from them and I am very grateful for that. The truth is that after the age of 13-14, other authorities enter your life, who most often try to ruin what you learned from your parents. And here comes the role of the authority and upbringing of the family – they should be so strong and rooted that even with bad external influence, they can withstand. And the factors are simple and easy – these are kindness, honesty, and love. If we are good and honest and love ourselves and others, we should have a happy life, of which we are satisfied and grateful.

Has there been any significant change in your perceptions in more mature age regarding what motivates you to do or not do something?
Honestly, there is not much difference – I have always been motivated by interesting and socially useful topics. I do not like mediocrity, unnecessary escalation of situations, as well as stupidity.

Whose decision was it where to pursue higher education and what to study? Was this decision correct, looking at today’s date?
Whether to pursue higher education has never been a case. I wanted to study in Berlin and even passed the exams. However, at that time, my mother got sick, and I stayed to study in Bulgaria.

Share more about your interests, knowledge, skills, and hobbies?
If you ask my son, he will tell you that I am only interested in Facebook. But my Facebook is quite interesting. The content in it I have created myself, as over the years I have optimized my friends and the things I want to see. The socially significant topics and the attitudes of society, the problems of homeless animals in our country, the ready ecological solutions in developed cities – greening, pedestrian spaces, bike lanes, sports, fashion, style, life wisdom, books, movies, events – all of this is my synthesized world.
This world is open – to enter and exit from it, taking the most necessary and interesting. Quality content in social networks is not a mirage, but something that can be skillfully handled and contribute to the real world. And vice versa – how many topics for reports, how much advice, help, and ideas I have taken from there.
And thank goodness for sports, so I can leave my phone a little. I love going to yoga, sometimes I run in the park, do exercises at home or on the bars in front of us. I really love riding a bike and rollerblading, and my favorite activity is hiking in the mountains. I can cook and I do it with pleasure for my loved ones. Sometimes I dare to open another book – actually, I have the bad habit of reading several at once, as well as not finishing them. ;)

Would you change your profession today and which areas of activity capture your interest?
Rather, I would not change my profession. If I have to – I can always become a fitness instructor. Now, when I was in Bansko and went running, they asked me if I was a fitness instructor.

They say that the personal brand is everything that people say about you when you are not in the same room with them. What would you like to hear today?
If this is the personal brand – it’s hard for me. :) I know what I will not hear about myself and that makes me happy. I know very well how people perceive me. There are wise sayings that say that people perceive you as they want and how you make them feel. I have always felt when someone does not like me and does not feel good in my presence, but that cannot be changed. Still, I would be happy if people perceive me as a good, compassionate, and positive person. I have a few loyal friends who will always tell me the truth to my face and name my weaknesses in character with their exact names. That’s what true friends are for. And my shortcomings are explosiveness, impulsiveness, and excessive dramatization.

Emotional intelligence, adaptability, and flexibility, as well as our soft skills, are key conditions for success in recent years. How do you cope with the daily challenges of life to be in good shape and mood?
I am a positive person and even if I get angry, it passes quickly. I can even laugh while crying. Still, the main rules in communication with others are not to raise your voice and not to insult others with epithets, no matter how much they have angered you. There is always a solution to the problems, but it is found with patience and calmness. I know how to create conflicts because I do not like to keep injustices inside me, but I also know how to resolve conflicts well. I am cheerful and smiling, I love small daily conversations with shopkeepers, neighbors, and even sometimes with random passersby – mostly those with dogs. :) I think that as a society we should support each other, respect each other, and be united.

What are the most important conclusions you have made so far about maintaining proper communication considering the different characters of the people you meet daily – colleagues, friends, relatives?
I am not the person who can say what the proper communication is because I rather do not master it. I find it difficult to make new friendships, and with the old ones, we are often in conflict. With close ones, the relationships are also too dynamic – either we love each other very much, or we argue. There is no middle ground. I hope at least the colleagues do not feel burdened by communicating with me. I try to be a light person, but when I “ride the broom” it’s better not to be around me. I promise to try harder... for everyone. :)

What do you think about money? What is their influence on your life? What is your advice to people who often ask themselves questions related to money and how sufficient they are?
And here we have to start with clichés, and that is that money is a necessity, but it is not everything. Lately, there are quite a few memes on social networks showing that the best things in life are free – love, nature, joy, friends, laughter, family. I am grateful for my family, which I can always rely on – that is luck. Still, a person's labor should be properly valued, but sometimes that does not happen exactly like that here, which is a pity. I hope that on our path to European integration, things will fall into place.

What is the most valuable career advice you would give to people?
To be good, to love what they do, and to do it from the heart and soul. To give their all, not to spare their efforts, because every effort comes back afterward. It may not be immediate, but it comes back. The greatest recognition in my profession is when people come to me and thank me for helping them. Then I feel useful and significant. And that is the feeling that everyone should experience from their work – satisfaction!