If you can't change the events, change the way you perceive them

Introduce yourself in a few words..

I am Svilen Ivanov and I currently work as a marketing lecturer at the Economic University – Varna. My work at the University is related not only to teaching, but also to conducting research and participating as a consultant in various national and international projects. My interests are generally directed towards advertising and communications, as before I became part of the University, I worked for almost 20 years as a journalist and copywriter. At the same time, I continue to write scripts for animated films, having more than ten films that have been broadcast on television and on the big screen. I am the author of a poetry book and another children's story, which are also available in bookstores.

How would you describe your career in a few words?

This is already a hard question. I have the chance to live in a time when people have the opportunity to change not only their jobs but also the professions they practice. Unlike my parents, who had only one job throughout their lives, I have had the chance to be a literature teacher, a radio host, a reporter in radio, a journalist in a newspaper, a copywriter, a screenwriter, a consultant, a commodity expert in a company that gasifies one third of Bulgaria, a public relations specialist, a marketing director, an entrepreneur, and ultimately – a university lecturer. It sounds incredible, but the experience you can accumulate – both life and professional – gives you an incredible perspective.

What was the most important choice that shaped your path?

It's hard to say, because every choice is of immense importance and can turn your career upside down. For example, after studying for five whole years to be able to teach literature in school, after two years I decided to change my profession. Not because I didn't like it, or I wasn't good at my job, but because the income from this profession didn't allow me (at that time) to fully dedicate myself to it and to be able to lead a normal life at the same time. In fact, only after I realized that my salary didn't allow me to buy even one book a month, I decided that I needed to change my profession. If I hadn't made that decision back then, I probably wouldn't have worked anything else after that. Looking back at my career path, I see that I have made such decisions on average every three years. Sometimes it was because of income, other times because I had fallen into a routine and stopped developing. In fact, the most important choice I have made in my career is to trust the idea that if a door opens in front of you, you must pass through it, no matter how scary and uncertain it may seem.

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

That the most important thing is how you will feel at your workplace – whether you work for someone or you are an entrepreneur. That neither your profession, nor the size and capabilities of the company or organization you work for are as important as the people with whom you spend at least a third of your time.

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

I don't think it's possible to understand before you have accumulated a few years of experience in a particular profession. Because at the beginning, it's always interesting; these are new challenges, new contacts, a new environment – and all of this makes you feel excited. Only when you accumulate enough experience and expertise in a particular profession can you assess whether the routine helps you develop and be capable of doing new things, or the opposite – it puts you in some comfort zone where you stop developing. If that moment never comes and you continue to find it interesting and go to your workplace with desire and even anticipation, it means you have found the right profession for yourself.

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

Those that we now see gradually disappearing. The ability to think abstractly, to connect the dots into new and unexpected shapes. The ability to communicate with people, to be able to unite them around a common cause or task. The ability to inspire others. At the moment, we are observing how our work is becoming easier, thanks to tools with generative artificial intelligence. Something that used to take you weeks can now be done in a few hours. The feeling is that you have an entire department of specialists at your disposal. And this is where the catch is. Now, thanks to the experience and knowledge we have, we can critically evaluate the result we receive and change it if it does not meet our requirements. This means that our work will become increasingly easier and more enjoyable. But what would happen if we lacked the knowledge, experience, and expertise? Very simply – we would not have those reference points that allow us to maintain control over what we are doing. So, if these trends continue, in ten years personal knowledge and expertise that we have built will be key to our successful realization, not the ability to use the tools.

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

Definitely, the network of contacts is key to the success of any job or business project. In this sense, proactive, even at times aggressive behavior in creating new contacts can play a bad service to us. I think that if we can provide value to the other side from establishing the contact, to communicate in a correct, understandable, but at the same time delicate way about the things we can be helpful with, we will be able to build a network of mutually beneficial contacts with others. 

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

While I was working in a managerial position, I started my own business together with a friend. Although my work and the field in which we were developing our business project had nothing in common, it was not right. A person must decide for themselves whether they want to be a worker or an entrepreneur. Trying to combine the two roles in one career cannot be successful. Moreover, in both directions. If you are an employee and want to become an entrepreneur, you must first stop being an employee and only then take the risk. Because when you have the security of your salary, you cannot give everything of yourself to succeed as an entrepreneur. On the other hand, your failure can give you even more than the security brings you.

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

There are many signs that the environment is toxic. We can start recognizing them even during the interview for the position we want to take. As long as we look carefully at the people, their faces and expressions. When we walk through the office, what do we see? Do all the people look happy, do they all smile, do they all work with desire? If we see people isolated from the others, this is the first sign that we may encounter a toxic environment. Sometimes just one person is enough to turn the environment toxic, especially if they have been delegated a lot of power and responsibilities. Usually, this person surrounds themselves with people like them and our decent colleagues one by one leave.

In fact, a toxic environment is a rather broad concept. For me, a toxic workplace is one where you are deliberately given more tasks, accompanied by unclear instructions, than you are able to complete. Here, it is crucial that this is done deliberately, so that you can be constantly crushed and criticized for not managing. Meanwhile, you see other colleagues who do almost nothing, but at the same time are favored and advance quickly in their careers.

A toxic work environment is characterized by the presence of three types of employees. The first are those who have mastered control over the others and in the name of preserving this control and positions, constantly crush the rest. We can add to this group their “followers,” who constantly flatter them and support the idea of their own significance to the company or organization. The second group is the experts without whom the work cannot actually be done. Usually, no one bothers them because without their expertise, the processes in the organization would be hard to carry out successfully. And the third group is those who perform routine tasks related to goals and deadlines. Regardless of which of the three types of employees you are, the moment your work starts to take more from you than it gives, it is time to leave. Because ultimately this is your life and it is not a good idea to spend a third of it in such toxic conditions.

What would you do differently if you could start over?

I would probably start taking solfeggio and harmony lessons, rather than just playing the classical guitar while struggling to read the notes and counting them like a first-grader. I would probably become a musician first, and then open my own café, in which, besides brewing coffee in a cezve, I would also observe my customers. Of course, I say this jokingly, but if I have to be serious beyond my childhood dreams, I think I wouldn't have succeeded in doing anything differently, even if I wanted to. I am convinced that at every moment a person does what they are truly capable of at that moment and would not be able to do anything more. Therefore, I think that if I could actually start over, I would take the same steps, even if I wanted something different.

How to maintain our motivation in times of stagnation?

This is a very difficult task, which, however, seems easy as long as you believe in yourself and in the strategy you are following. It is completely normal for your career not to develop rhythmically, to have periods of declines and stagnation. If this happens, it means there is some reason – internal, which is part of you, or external, which comes from the environment you are in. To cope with this, it is enough to perceive your career as a long-distance run. At the same time, your stagnation gives you the opportunity to rethink your goals and possibilities, to discover your weak spots and to make a plan on how to improve them. From this perspective, stagnation in your career can turn out to be more beneficial for you than a leap forward. There is a very strong starting point for maintaining motivation in such moments – if you can't change the situation or the course of events that you don't like, you can change the way you perceive them. And that helps a lot.

How to achieve a balance between professional and personal life?

This, perhaps, is one of the most difficult challenges. Ideally, work and personal life are like a hat – when you go out, you put it on your head and when you come back, you leave it on the hook and stop thinking about it. In life, however, it happens exactly the opposite. At home, you think about your work and at work – often about your personal life. Finding a balance is always a matter of discipline and self-control. At the very beginning of your professional life, it is very difficult to accept the idea that if you are not there, someone else will always find a way to do your job and the world will not end. If we divide the day into three equal parts, we will have one third for work, for sleep, and for personal life. However, when you really like your job, when you are passionate about it, especially when you work for yourself, your work becomes your personal life and your personal life becomes your work. And there is nothing wrong with that because here we simply have a different type of balance. But no matter how difficult it seems, a balance between the two can only be achieved after determining and, of course, adhering to clear boundaries between what we define as work and what we call “personal life”.

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

I suppose the answers here are just as many as there are people. The short answer for me is – when the profession no longer makes you happy, when everything that happens to you during work you have already done and seen. When you realize that even if you put everything into it, you are not able to achieve better results. If your priority is your own development – both professionally and personally – the moment for a career change comes when you realize that in this particular profession you cannot become better than you are now.

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

Ask yourself the question – does what I am doing right now make me feel happy? If the answer is no, whatever career you have chosen, it will not become a success for you.

What is your definition of a “successful career”?

To do something that makes you happy and that you do not perceive as work, but as a calling. If your work makes you burn inside, to approach it every day with excitement and joy, then you already have a successful career.