Florin Ghindă – Romania Pozitivă and the Art of Turning Good into Inspiration

Interview with Florin Ghinda, founder of Romania Pozitivă, about optimism, education, balance, and the power of seeing the Good around us.

Founder of RomaniaPozitiva.ro, Florin Ghinda is a facilitator of emotion and positive thinking. Florin supports this mission through his training and facilitation programs, as well as through the information and positive education platform www.RomaniaPozitiva.ro, which features over 30 authors and more than 60,000 stories of good news about Romania, published since 2006. Florin has 20 years of experience as a trainer and facilitator, having worked with over 10,000 participants. His areas of expertise include learning process facilitation, solution-oriented thinking, entrepreneurship (including social entrepreneurship), “train the trainers & facilitators,” design thinking, team management, project management, time management, and communication.

C&B: How would you describe yourself in a single sentence that would make those who don’t know you yet curious?

Florin Ghinda: A pragmatic optimist by nature, with action-driven energy, musical, passionate about training and facilitation, travel, and the sea.

C&B: If we were to look at the narrative thread of your career or business, what were the key moments that defined you?

Florin Ghinda: The beginning matters a lot because at the start of a career, you experience your first meaningful social interactions, learning processes, and quality professional environments. For me, it all began in college, with two student organizations — AIESEC and ARDOR — to which I owe great gratitude. Officially, my first days in a professional career in human resources found me alongside a fantastic team at AIMS, in their Timișoara office. I call them my professional family — people I still can’t imagine visiting Timișoara without dropping by to see, even more than 20 years later.

Of course, there have been many key moments in my career over the years: India in 2006 taught me to live every moment vividly and gave me the idea for RomaniaPozitiva.ro, without which it would be hard to define myself personally or professionally. Then came another wonderful team, with whom I navigated the corporate world for four years. Since 2010, I’ve lived key moments alongside clients and business partners in what has become my entrepreneurial career.

Sometimes, a thought, a dream, or a quality person we meet along the way can become, over time, essential ingredients of a professional journey we can be proud of.

C&B: In a media context dominated by negative news, how do you manage to maintain balance and bring positive stories to light?

Florin Ghinda: We see and read the negative ones too. It’s actually difficult to define what “positive” or “negative” means — it depends on the angle from which we look. A broken window in a house might signal abandonment — bad news — but sometimes, that same broken window could mean the start of renovations, which is good news.

Balance is fragile, perhaps even utopian, but I also believe it’s a personal choice. For me, and probably for those who follow us regularly, some of the good news provides the energy to also see what’s working around us. Every person or organization that manages to solve a problem or improve something in their environment is a source of inspiration for a better future. And that future includes our present, with both its good and bad sides.

C&B: Is there a dream or ambition that has always guided you, regardless of obstacles?

Florin Ghinda: I’ll turn to three quotes that I think express something about the compass that helps me navigate obstacles.

“Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” (possibly John Lennon)
“You have one life. Live it!” (heard from Karina Hollekim)
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” (Mahatma Gandhi)

C&B: What were you like at the beginning of your journey, and how do you feel you’ve transformed since then?

Florin Ghinda: I hope that in many ways, I haven’t changed too much. 😊 I think my energy and desire to be involved in projects that bring me fulfillment and direction are still the same. Of course, perhaps over time, I’ve gained a bit more pragmatism, and sometimes a touch of stubbornness (which I don’t like), but also a sense of trust that the right people will come together in projects, collaborations, and partnerships where their careers can truly flourish.

C&B: If we were to meet your team or collaborators, what do you think they would say about you?

Florin Ghinda: I usually ask for feedback from my business partners, and the recurring comments are that I bring good energy and strong commitment to finding solutions. Well, there’s still work to do when it comes to small deTails* (you saw the “T,” right?) and patience. Yes, patience is not my strongest suit — it seems that for me, the right time in my career is always NOW.

C&B: What is the most important decision you’ve made that changed your trajectory?

Florin Ghinda: I think there are two key moments with corresponding decisions. The first was in 2006, when, even though I was very satisfied with my career in Timișoara, I decided I wanted to experience — even briefly — the exoticism of another culture: India. It was a bold, even crazy move, but it gave me so much. Even though many years have passed, I still believe India gave me a significant part of who I am today.

The second key moment was in 2010, when I decided to start an entrepreneurial career in training and facilitation, under a big online umbrella called RomaniaPozitiva.ro. I essentially built my own “job” from career fragments according to what I wanted — which wasn’t easy at the time. I believe it’s vital to love what we do professionally, and even if the perfect job might not exist, at the end of the day, we should still find joy in what we’ve lived. Life is made of hours, and often the line between personal and professional life isn’t that clear.

C&B: What have been the most emotional or inspirational projects you’ve presented so far?

Florin Ghinda: Phew, that’s hard to answer, because I find motivation in every project I take on with my partners — and if I don’t find that motivation, I’d rather say “no” to the project. Of course, in entrepreneurship, there are good moments and difficult ones, but it’s important to keep looking for solutions — and when they don’t come or when we face failure, to make peace with it and learn something from it. Easier said than done…

It’s inspiring to moderate conferences like TEDx events or engage in conversations with organizations in education. But it’s also emotional when a participant in a corporate facilitation program experiences an “aha” moment about how they can have a positive impact on those around them — colleagues, clients, or society in general.

C&B: What is the main mission of Romania Pozitivă, and what impact has it had on the community so far?

Florin Ghinda: “Good News About Romania.” But not in the sense we sometimes see around us today — not with arrogance or inflated nationalism born of frustration. No.

For us, “Good News About Romania” means the glass half full — the over 60,000 examples published in nearly 20 years: people, projects, and organizations striving to solve problems, improve education, drive community development, protect nature, and bring positive change. And where things aren’t good — yes, RomaniaPozitiva also means civic engagement, social involvement, civilized protest, and healthy pressure to achieve positive impact.

We’ve had around 5 million unique visits to RomaniaPozitiva.ro so far, but perhaps the number itself isn’t what matters most (there might even be a few bots in there 😄). What truly matters is that some people may have been inspired by the examples they read — maybe it changed their moment, their day, or who knows, their life.

C&B: What does a typical day look like for you now, and what moments bring you the most satisfaction?

Florin Ghinda: I like to smile when I wake up (yes, a good coffee helps), because life is made of hours. Did I mention that before? 😊 Music is important to me — to listen to it, to dance to it loudly until 9 AM, and sometimes to sing it — not always to the delight of those around me, especially when I suddenly hum a Christmas carol lost in my thoughts in the middle of summer at 40 degrees.

Yes, good conversations, a great training project, a good deed published on RomaniaPozitiva.ro, an invoice sent, and a walk through the city — all of these bring me joy. In recent years, I’ve realized that I enjoy remote work, so my laptop has seen many terraces and cafés, both in the mountains and by the sea.

C&B: What values or principles guide what you do, and how do you apply them day to day?

Florin Ghinda: I regularly revisit and reflect on my values each year. I think my first structured exercises on this topic were around age 19 or 20. The little note I wrote this year rests in my wallet — it’s pretty crumpled by now — but for authenticity’s sake, here’s a picture of three elements I hope continue to guide me.

C&B: How did the idea of launching the Romania Pozitivă platform come about, and what motivated you to build this project?

Florin Ghinda: India, 2006 — a rickshaw driver, incredibly optimistic about his future and that of his country, made me wonder why we Romanians tend to be culturally so pessimistic. The “valley of tears” seems to be home for us in this part of the world — but maybe that’s exactly why I thought there must be people who see things differently. And a friend helped me technically build a blog. Almost 20 years later, the idea still stands strong. Powerful ideas tend to last, and for me, RomaniaPozitiva.ro has been one that made me feel the mountain is worth climbing.

Here’s a link to a short video called “Build Your Optimism,” in which I hope to share some of the motivation behind RomaniaPozitiva.ro.

C&B: What are Romania Pozitivă’s development plans for the coming years?

Florin Ghinda: Team, greater impact, learning programs, maybe a bit more autonomy from me 😊, and more partners — while keeping the current friends close. I think it’s important to always leave room for growth and reinvention. We’re working on that.

“Good News About Romania” can actually mean good news for each of us — right where it matters, whether in our careers or in our personal lives.

Through Romania Pozitivă, he continues to inspire generations of people who choose to see and build the Good beyond everyday challenges.