How was your first day at AM Business and what was your first impression of this company?
That’s quite an interesting question because it’s probably best illustrated by the story of the hen and the egg… At first, I may have thought that even though we had customers and now we also had a brand, I just wasn’t sure how we were going to manage it all. The beginnings of our business were completely instinctive; we didn’t think it through strategically what it was that we wanted to do. Then, as we gained more and more clients, tasks and new colleagues, I started to feel that together we were doing something really good. By the way, to me, it’s not so much a job, rather a party game, which may be the reason why I didn’t view it so formally in the beginning. But lately, the first word that comes to my mind in connection with AM Business is definitely inspiration.
What was your most memorable project?
I believe that every one of our projects was unique! But if I were to give you the cliché classic answer, I’d say that we either won something or learned something… But I think there are also some top cases that we will never forget. I believe there are clients (and I have at least 50% of votes in relation to this subject!) for whom we would work even for free. There is one project that is still vivid in my memory; we were finishing it in December, almost under the Christmas tree, with lots of overtime stretching into the night. This project was about a website, the final version of which we were polishing in cafés in Skopje because its deadline and our family vacation overlapped … Each of the projects was unique somehow and each of them gave us something. But the most memorable moment must be the one when during our trip together, Fanni started to explain to her friend about GRAF scaffoldings. Even though we were not personally present, I think we will keep that in our memory as a collective experience.
What tasks do you perform and which ones do you like the most?
I am sort of a jack of all trades in our Company – do this, do that. I am not sure what the official title would be for it. Once, I was even a human copier. I suppose what I like the best is getting to know our clients, trying to understand what it is they want and why they want it. Apart from that, I, of course, participate in many projects where I write the text or manage campaigns. In addition, I also take care of the basics for our daily operations: to ensure everyone has their own role, everyone’s work balances with the rest of the team, deadlines are met, etc. Fortunately, life does not allow me get bored because every day I have to tackle new things.
How will you remember this period of your life in ten years’ time?
I don’t think I will be able to grasp how I could fit so many things into one working day. Or maybe I will get nostalgic thinking along the lines of “everything used to be better before”. I can see myself doing that. “But in my young days…” By then, I will be even further from our young target audience and it is questionable whether after I turn forty I will still be a marketing expert who can keep up with the times. Perhaps my colleagues will then approach me only with strategic questions and one of them may even say out loud that “so far so good if we don’t see uncle Andris”. Only few people can communicate authentically and well despite an age gap of 20-30 years. What’s more, I am not sure if I can still give an impression of a youthful, dynamic agency with a face of a forty year old. Although, if things keep happening to us at this pace, by the time we answer these questions, those ten years may be up. By the way, the other day I heard that the “good ol’ days” are happening right now. I try to think that way and appreciate the opportunities we have right now. Of course, I hope that in ten years’ time we’ll be able to make progress in this area as well.
What was your most unexpected task?
I remember two such tasks, one of them was realized and the other one was not. We were asked whether we would be able to write song lyrics in Slovak. Unfortunately, in the end it came to nothing, not just for us but, as far as I know, nobody else got involved, either. In any case, it would have been an interesting challenge.
What we did realize was a communication project. One of our clients called me to tell me that he thought my communication skills were brilliant and that he would like to develop them. We worked an awful lot, luckily in a very merry mood and I hope he was also happy with the final result. I believe that one can show off much more confidently even with a single sentence, thanks to which one can easily stand out among the competition.
How would you rate your team?
I’d give them only the highest ranking but I would be criticising myself if I said otherwise. It may sound as a cliché and totally boring but I really like working with them. Each of them has their own personality and I think that’s key to finding mutual harmony… Recently, I have been meeting Réka mostly as the company owner. I used to say that she was the foreign CEO who asks for numbers every quarter or every six months and if everything is in order, she does not ask any questions. Of course, she does more than that but her main strength is strategic orientation. She is absolutely great at this, she won’t let us skip any steps but she will not allow us to be stagnant, either. She has a good sense of when and what we should be developing. Lilla is our “oldest” colleague whose days are always sunny. I believe it must be almost two years now of her never having a bad day; she always approaches every task with enthusiasm and great empathy. Some clients really like her a lot and tend to send huge hearts in their response to her work. And of course we as a team do, too. Benji was the last one to join us and he is a genius when it comes to systems. His slightly “nerdy” attitude was of a huge benefit to us because we have been much better organized since he has joined. And he also always ponders about his next step and the next one after that. And then there is me, a bit of a fool, but they know how to handle me. Overall, I think we have found the right combination of long-term and short-term thinking, creativity and the necessity to stay grounded.
