For everything, a strategy is needed, not a sixth sense

Introduce yourself – what do you do, which areas of activity are of interest to you?

With strategy, international business development, and technology, specifically PropTech.

When did you realizeyou, that you wantedto bean entrepreneur, not just an employee?

That moment was not pleasant. It had a quite strong bitter taste. Ten years ago.
I realized that I had no other choice but this. The moment was when a classmate of mine from the English High School in Plovdiv, but from my sister's graduating class, who at that time was the Executive Director of an IT company, called me on the phone and said: “I just want to hear how a person with such a CV like yours sounds. I don’t have a position for you, but I still wanted to hear how a person with such a professional level sounds.” This was after 125 applications submitted CV and only 2 phone calls.
So it sounds quite false to me when it is claimed that there is a lack of qualified staff, that they cannot find people, etc. No one wants people who are qualified because they are not manipulable. That is the simple truth.

What were the most defining moments in your professional path so far?

Graduating from MBA degree in the UK in the field of Strategy and international business development. This MBA is in the top 1% of MBA programs in the world and lasts 5 years, not 1 or 2 years like the mass ones. Why was it defining? Because it unfolded and developed my potential in the field of strategy – an area where I have a strong developed talent and abilities.

Was there a turning point that changed your vision of success?

My vision of success has always been the same – unfolding my personal potential. I have had this vision since childhood. No one imposed it on me. These are my understandings, which I have reached on my own since my early childhood. I will write more on your next question below.

How has your role in business changed over time – from creator to leader?

It has not changed – I have always been a creator and leader because we are not many people who feel in our element when there is a problem that needs to be solved.
Most people hide even at the mere hint of a problem because they do not want to take responsibility, they do not want to strain, they find excuses, get sick – of course, feigning, go to the sea or skiing (nothing against that, but when there is a problem and someone is enjoying themselves while others are facing the “fire”, it is not acceptable) etc.

Where do your ideas come from – intuition, market, need?

From everywhere, but mostly from intensive analyses, some of which last for years.

How do you understandwhen an idea has value and potential, and not just sounds good?

This is part of the process of strategizing. There is no short answer to this question. The answer is the result of serious analyses, not of sixth, seventh, eighth, etc. sense.

How do you approachthe creative process – do you have rituals, methods, or do you relyon the moment?

This process is different for each person. For me, creativity is expressed in strategic thinking, finding a strategy to deal with difficult – sometimes unimaginably difficult – situations.

What inspiresyou outside of business – art, people, travel?

Books on archaeology, history, the Bible. And nice people. There are very few.

What are your unchanging principles in work and life?

The principles in personal life and the principles in work relationships must necessarily be different to some extent. Many people have unhappy relationships because they apply in their work principles that should only be for their closest people, and vice versa.

Ethics first. It applies necessarily to both areas.
Reciprocity in business. Mandatory. But it is not good to seek reciprocity at any cost in personal relationships.

Setting boundaries on the demands, expectations of others. Always. In both areas.

In conflicts in personal life, one works with persuasion and mutual assistance, not with rejection and threats.
In conflicts at work, one works with negotiations. If the other party is not willing to reciprocate, the relationships are terminated either immediately or for some period, but necessarily.

What does the word “success” mean to you today – and is it different from five years ago?

A huge part of manipulations in business are an emanation of the concept of success – personal and professional. Even adults and, presumably, mature people constantly compare themselves to someone else and thus measure their success. For me, this behavior is, to put it mildly, immature.
For me, success has always – since childhood – been to realize my personal potential, as well as the personal potential of my closest people, as well as of quality people around me. And every person is different. Therefore, it is not possible to have one formula for success.

For me, my personal potential has never been based on my appearance, even though I am a woman, but on my intellectual capacity. This is extremely rare. Since I have never identified myself in the template of little princesses, I do not have such behavior and in many businesses and hierarchical levels dominated by men, I have felt completely at home.

Understandings of success are also entirely based on the value system of a given person. For someone, it is success to deceive, to steal an idea without punishment, to slander someone and thus take their position, etc. For another, success is to help a person in need on the street and for no one to know about it.

What place does ethics occupy in entrepreneurship according to you?

It occupies first place. If a potential business partner is not ethical, they will never become our partner. If a real business partner decides that they can only pursue their own interest at our expense or at the expense of another partner, they immediately become a former partner and others are warned to be careful when working with the respective company or individual.

Do you believein the balance between personal and professional life or do you acceptthat it is an illusion?

I believe that personal – family and/or intimate relationships – must necessarily have nothing to do with professional realization, workplace, etc.
So that is not the right question  - everyone decides for themselves what balance between their personal and professional life means.
The right question is to what extent a given person has personal relationships at their workplace. From here come a huge part of the problems in the professional environment.

What is the most valuable lesson you havelearned “the hard way”?

Self-control. A person must always fight first and foremost with themselves – to control themselves constructively, not to act based on emotions. Every person must struggle with this, but few do. Even the Western culture that is taking over Bulgaria is like this – emotions are elevated to cult status, not reason. That is why people shout, yell, everyone does whatever they please, and there is no analysis, no striving for making sober, balanced decisions that balance the interests of as many parties as possible in a given problematic situation.

How do you motivateyourself in moments of doubt or failure?

There is no failure. From the lemon, you must make lemonade.
A person takes their lessons, steps on the ruins, picks up the pieces and creates something new and constructive as illustrated by theJapanese technique of broken vessels – kintsugi (Kintsugi), which literally means “golden joinery” or “golden repair”. This technique is an ancient art of restoration, where the cracks are not hidden, but highlighted with gold (or silver) powder and special glue.
A person has no reason to hide the scars from their battles – they are proof that they have risen and continued.

What legacy do you wantto leave behind – as an entrepreneur, but also as a person?

I want to be able to influence more people to be critically thinking, not led by the masses; analyzing, not emotionally fluid; seeking to uplift others, not themselves at any cost; charging from critical situations because they see in them an opportunity to help someone in need, not cowards; using the material as a means, not striving for the material as the only goal that gives meaning to their life.