Marius Girlea – The Man with Many Hats and Roots

Interview with Marius Girlea, wine specialist, doctor, and business consultant. A story of passion, courage, and unconventional careers.

Marius Girlea is a man with many hats. On one, it says pediatric specialist doctor, on another it says business consultant (among others for The Walt Disney Company), on another it says wine specialist (most likely the only Romanian with a tourist visa as a wine judge on both coasts of the Atlantic, in Georgia, USA and in California), on another it says human resources (the first virtual 3D career fair in Romania), on another it says… He is a person with many roots, which he calls “home”: Constanța, Timișoara, Bucharest, the United States, and again home, Bucharest. And he is also the only wine man who makes wine history on social media…

C&B: How would you describe yourself in a single sentence, in such a way that you would make those who don’t know you yet curious?
Marius Girlea: You have to be really smart to summarize 57 years in one sentence… So I’ll borrow someone else’s sentence, truly wise: To be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society is not a sign of health (Krishnamurti).

C&B: If we were to look at the narrative thread of your career or business, what were the key moments that defined you?
Marius Girlea: At every point in my career, there was a providential person. In the sense that meeting someone made me change direction. Whether for better or worse is hard to say post factum, just as it is hard to decide a priori… Some don’t change anything and remain in the “train track syndrome,” which, in the long run, is most often extremely efficient because it almost inevitably carries you upward hierarchically. Others change a little, let’s say not the field but the company, the department. That’s OK too. Others change direction completely—and that’s me.

C&B: What has been the most difficult moment in your journey so far, and how did you overcome it?
Marius Girlea: In life and in Romania, you have to choose between a professional CV and an entrepreneurial CV. Theoretically, nothing stops you from moving from one to the other whenever you want. Practically, however, it is easy to change the professional one into the entrepreneurial one, but the reverse is a whole different story. I myself neither knew nor foresaw this reality, so once I stepped into entrepreneurship, whether I liked it or not, I had to manage within it. Take what I say now as applicable only to me. Surely other people are more performant, more versatile, and more resilient.

C&B: Is there a dream or ambition that has always guided you, regardless of obstacles?
Marius Girlea: Yes, something not very heroic or romantic. Actually, two things: “the 10 o’clock movie” and “I’m not a good employee.” In short, I wanted to be able to go to the movies at any hour—read: schedule freedom—and I couldn’t work without getting bored in routine areas—read: occupational ADHD. I wish I had a more engaging answer, but each person’s truths are rather simple and human… The movie one, anyone can understand. The employee one, maybe fewer. And maybe some find themselves in that situation without realizing it. Careful, it’s not about the person–activity binomial but about the person–…

C&B: What did you look like at the beginning of your journey, and how do you feel you have transformed up to now?
Marius Girlea: I was tempted to say I haven’t changed too much but, frankly, that would be lying… I started with the first Private Practice License in Romania granted to a trainee doctor in 1992 and ended up moving across so many fields… It’s impossible for all this not to change you, not to round off some corners or sharpen some sensitivities!

C&B: If we met your team or collaborators, what do you think they would say about you?
Marius Girlea: My best collaborators today have their own companies, some even on other continents. I have no idea what they would say, but I believe—or more directly put, I hope—that our words would mirror each other. I was never particularly skilled with people, but I was lucky with colleagues. Moreover, I was kind of a lone wolf once I realized I wasn’t a performant boss. So when it comes to the “team” chapter, at least numerically, I don’t score too high…

C&B: What is the most important decision you’ve made that changed your trajectory?
Marius Girlea: Definitely leaving healthcare. How many doctors do you know who quit entirely?… I mean, not working in pharma, not in healthcare administration, not in anything related to medicine… So I am a rara avis from this perspective, and certainly, I haven’t made a bigger switch since. So that’s number one. Number two hasn’t been awarded, and number three is moving to the United States. Between them lie 20 years! The first decision gave me confidence that there is life outside the medical system, and the second brought me into the world of wine, which today fills my free time in the most delightful way possible.

C&B: How did you develop your leadership style or your way of making decisions? Was it a natural or a learned process?
Marius Girlea: I am far from having a leadership style. I don’t follow a specific pattern when making decisions. In principle, human contact helps me in decision-making. This, I think, I can say hand on heart I have learned: to evaluate my interlocutors’ reactions, to identify sensitivities, to navigate between the islands of potential negative triggers. I work a lot with people, I am helped by genetics, by foreign languages, and by a native ability to adapt to diverse human ecosystems. Now that I list them, I realize it’s not much my merit. Since people are a combo of biology and society, I think I’ve been quite lucky in both departments.

C&B: What do you think differentiates your business or your professional approach from the rest of the industry?
Marius Girlea: Which business? To refer just to the wine industry, where I do live presentations and wine history in short online, I think I’m quite unique, with this emphasis on “if you don’t know history, how can you understand the present and especially imagine the future.” On the business consulting side, the focus on lobbying and communication could be a differentiator, but I don’t think it’s decisive. Chemistry with the person in front of you matters most. Before Excel and databases! And that’s my strong point and most likely my main asset.

C&B: What does a typical day look like for you now, and what moments of the day bring you the greatest satisfaction?
Marius Girlea: I work remotely, haven’t had an office for over 10 years. That’s both good and bad. In both cases, there’s a big dose of uncertainty. If the phone rings, especially friends, the whole schedule goes down the drain. So I can work at any time during the 24 hours of the day but can also have battery-recharging breaks just as unpredictable. Obviously, I subconsciously prioritize what I like doing, and obviously, I push the areas where I either have no ideas, or no crystallized opinion yet, or don’t know where to start, as far away in time as possible. But who doesn’t do that? I think we’re all the same here!

C&B: What values or principles guide you in what you do, and how do you apply them day by day?
Marius Girlea: Any deed, action, or word can influence you in only three ways: for better, for worse, or be indifferent. I try not to harm anyone. Usually, when asked “what are you doing?” I say “I only do good things”… It’s not an effort; it’s a normality.

C&B: How did you come up with the idea to start this business and give it this name?
Marius Girlea: The stories of the businesses I’ve tried to build are nice, but they’re long. Let me tell the one with wine, which is just as much, if not more, a hobby, quickly. Year: 2014. Providential person: Sorin B. Essential circumstance: visit to the United States. Key change decision: setting up a company importing barrels from Europe into the USA. Opportunity: wine judge on both American coasts, 3,000 wineries visited, over a period of 7 years. Continuation in Romania: wine presentations/tastings and wine history online.

C&B: If you were to send a message to people following your example, what would it be?
Marius Girlea: Take another example, with or without me the sun will rise tomorrow. I’d rather give some banal advice:
a) Learn what you like—in the sense that it is inefficient to waste resources correcting your weaknesses, and it is much easier to develop your strengths.
b) Read as much as possible, gather information from everywhere, otherwise you’ll never know what you like.
c) It’s easy to do what you like, harder to like what you do; many people never discover what they would have liked to do, and if you are one of them, that’s okay.

Marius Girlea is living proof that passion, courage, and adaptability can shape a truly unique career path. From medicine to business consulting, from human resources to wine, he shows that success means following your intuition and turning experiences into opportunities.