Alexandru Olteanu is the kind of person who, together with a small and relentlessly determined team, brings tens of thousands of people to an island in Bacău for four days every year and convinces them that yes, it is possible to build something remarkable from Bacău, not just from Cluj or Bucharest. The other half of him spends every summer hoping it won’t rain on the festival weekend.

C&B: Looking back, what has been the common thread guiding your professional journey?

Alexandru: The common thread has been one simple stubborn belief: to build something here, at home, instead of somewhere else. I’m stubborn in a way that, on paper, should have driven us into bankruptcy long ago, yet on the island it somehow turned into a strategy.

Three moments made all the difference.

The first was deciding to stop organizing one-off events that people forget after a few months and instead create a festival with a strong identity, one people would return to year after year.

The second was realizing that a festival on its own is fragile and that I couldn’t carry it alone. That’s when I started building a team and an entire ecosystem around it, including media, hospitality, and our own brand.

The third comes every time someone tells me to move where the larger audience is. Every single time, I choose to stay.

C&B: What was a difficult moment or a failure that truly changed you?

Alexandru: The year the festival ended in the red.

It’s not exactly the sexiest sentence to include in an interview, but if I’m being honest, that was the most expensive lesson I’ve ever learned. When my team and I analyzed the numbers, we realized that nearly half of the entire budget was going to artists. Add to that a headliner canceling just a few weeks before the festival, after the entire communication strategy had already been built around them.

When a headliner cancels at that stage, it’s like the bride walking away from the wedding after you’ve already paid for the venue, the cake, and the band.

So what changed afterward?

We introduced much stricter cancellation clauses into our contracts, built a more balanced artist lineup so the entire festival wouldn’t depend on one single name, and developed the healthy habit of looking at margins instead of applause. We learned that using our own money and our team’s—that a festival relying on one artist isn’t really a festival. It’s a gamble.

C&B: What is one bold—or perhaps counterintuitive—decision that significantly influenced your path?

Alexandru: Choosing not to move.

Every business textbook tells you the same thing: if you want to build a major festival, go where the people and the money are. We did exactly the opposite. We stayed in Bacău and bet on a young audience across Moldova, people between the ages of 14 and 50.

The comfortable option would have been relocating everything to a bigger, more established city so we wouldn’t have to explain where Bacău is on the map anymore.

The result?

Young Island has reached its sixth edition and earned European recognition through the EFFE Label, all without losing its local identity. And the best part is that the people who come to Bacău still bring an authentic vibe. They aren’t jaded festival-goers who have already seen everything and are impossible to impress. They come with genuine enthusiasm rather than the attitude of, “Let’s see what you’ve got.” Sometimes, your greatest competitive advantage is precisely the place everyone else is trying to escape.

C&B: How have you changed over time as a leader and as a professional?

Alexandru: This is probably where I’ve changed the most.

I used to make decisions based on instinct and tried to do everything myself—from writing copy and handling logistics to negotiating with the scaffolding supplier. I was the kind of person who, if it had been possible, would have held the stage lights up with my own hands just to make sure they were set up properly.

Today, I make important decisions with spreadsheets in front of me and, more importantly, with my team around me. I compare ticket sales across different editions, analyze the average ticket price rather than just the volume sold, and only then draw conclusions—very often together with the people who notice things I might have missed. Under pressure, I’ve learned to stay quiet more often and react less.

When an artist cancels, the first hour matters and panic has never solved anything. The hardest lesson I’ve learned as a leader is that I neither have to nor can do everything myself. A festival isn’t carried by one person. It’s carried by a team. Everything else is just ego.

C&B: Beyond your public image, what do you think the people who work closely with you would say about you?

Alexandru: They’d probably say I move fast—sometimes too fast—and that I change direction the moment I realize something isn’t working. Depending on the day, that’s either my greatest strength or everyone’s worst nightmare.

I’m fairly convinced the team has a separate WhatsApp group just to keep track of how many times I’ve changed the plan. And honestly, I don’t blame them.

One thing my team consistently acknowledges is that I work alongside them. I don’t sit behind a desk giving orders with my feet up—I roll up my sleeves and get involved.

One piece of uncomfortable but fair feedback is that I sometimes assume everyone cares about the project as much as I do, and that’s simply not realistic. It’s something I’m still working on.

You can’t expect people to pour their hearts into your dream without at least telling them “thank you.” My team deserves to hear those words more often.

C&B: What truly sets you apart in the way you build and lead?

Alexandru: The fact that, as a team, we own the entire value chain.

We’re not organizers who hire an agency and wait for an email. We handle production, media, hospitality, and even our own consumer brand—all under the same umbrella.

When we launch a campaign, everything is done in-house: copywriting, filming, voiceovers, distribution—the entire process.

In practical terms, this means we can test an idea on Monday and have it live by Wednesday without involving three suppliers or exchanging five rounds of emails. We don’t hold meetings just to decide when to schedule the next meeting. When you’re a small team that has to perform like one three times its size, speed isn’t a luxury—it’s oxygen. And that speed comes from people, not processes.

C&B: How has today’s environment—technology, AI, and the economy—changed the way you work?

Alexandru: Radically, but without unnecessary drama.

We use artificial intelligence like a teammate who never sleeps, never complains, and never asks for time off on the festival weekend. It helps us create first drafts of copy for all our brands, prepare documents, analyze financial data, and even generate voices for commercials. What used to take three people an entire day now reaches a solid first version in just a few hours, and then our team refines it.

The real impact isn’t that we’ve replaced people. It’s that a small team can now deliver the output of one three times its size. In today’s economy, where costs keep rising across the board, affordable speed is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity.

Technology isn’t taking my job or my team’s jobs. It’s taking care of the first drafts. And that’s a huge difference.

C&B: Is there a habit or routine that has significantly influenced your performance?

Alexandru: During the months leading up to the festival, I check ticket sales almost every day—not obsessively, but the way you monitor a patient’s temperature.

Some people check their horoscope every morning. I check ticket sales. It’s about the same level of anxiety, just with charts.

A spike or a drop immediately tells me whether a campaign is working and how much time we, as a team, still have to make adjustments. The second habit is exercise. It may sound like a cliché in a business interview, but in the months before the festival, your ability to handle stress is literally a resource. A tired organizer makes poor decisions, and poor decisions at a festival cost far more than an hour spent at the gym.

C&B: What principles guide your most important decisions?

Alexandru: Three simple principles.

First, if an idea doesn’t survive in a spreadsheet, it won’t survive in the real world either. Excel is the most honest friend you’ll ever have—it never flatters you.

Second, building a strong brand for the long term always beats making quick money.

Third, I never make major decisions alone. I test them against real data and discuss them with the people around me—not with opinions, not even my own.

That last principle was seriously tested when we had to decide whether to announce another big-name artist after a cancellation.

The answer came from the sales figures, not from ego. And honestly, ego would have been a much more expensive answer.

C&B: How do you see your industry evolving over the next three to five years?

Alexandru: Artist fees will continue to rise. It’s an arms race that isn’t ending anytime soon.

At this pace, in a few years we’ll probably spend more on a single artist than on the entire rest of the festival combined—including staff and electricity. I believe we’ll see significant market consolidation. Weaker festivals will disappear, while those that survive will compete through the quality of the experience, not just by booking the biggest headliners.

The real opportunity lies in regional festivals with a strong identity—festivals that don’t try to become smaller copies of those in the capital. Artificial intelligence will also become the standard in production and marketing. Those who don’t embrace it will end up paying more to deliver less. The audience may not know exactly why, but they’ll certainly notice the difference.

C&B: What role do you hope to play in that evolution?

Alexandru: I want Young Island to become living proof that meaningful culture can be built from a secondary city, and that it can be created by a local team rather than by importing talent from elsewhere.

My dream is that, ten years from now, when someone says, “I’m going to Bacău,” the first reaction won’t be, “Poor you,” but, “You’re so lucky.” Our concrete goal is to turn the festival into a national benchmark starting from Bacău—not despite its location, but precisely because of it. If we succeed, we’ll also open the door for people from smaller cities who believe they have to leave in order to matter. The greatest impact we can have is to make our own story an argument that proves otherwise.

C&B: What genuine advice would you give to someone who wants to build something meaningful today?

Alexandru: Three things, all learned the hard way.

First, don’t build your entire project around one single name. If that name falls through, everything falls with it.

Second, focus on cash flow rather than vanity metrics. Likes don’t pay suppliers.

Third, and most importantly, build a team before you build a product.

Great people are what make the difference between a one-day event and a brand that lasts for years. And here’s one bonus lesson I wish someone had told me much earlier: Start badly, but start.

If someone watched our very first edition today, they’d laugh. I would too. But without that awkward first edition, there would never have been a sixth. Your first edition will never be Tomorrowland. And that’s perfectly okay.

C&B: What is an uncomfortable truth about your industry that few people are willing to talk about?

Alexandru: The truth is that most festivals in Romania don’t make money—or they make so little that it hardly justifies the sleepless nights.

The festival that looks like it’s swimming in money on Instagram is, in reality, swimming in unpaid invoices.

Behind the scenes, you’re often negotiating with suppliers and juggling payment deadlines like a circus performer.

Artist fees have reached a point where audiences expect increasingly bigger names, without realizing that the financial reality behind the scenes is barely holding together.

Anyone who gets into this business believing it’s a money-making machine usually exits quickly—along with some very expensive lessons.

You do it because you’re passionate about it, but you also need the mindset of an accountant and a team that believes in the vision just as much as you do.

If you’re trying to do it alone, fueled only by passion, you’ll go bankrupt beautifully.

Alexandru Olteanu’s interview provides an authentic perspective on entrepreneurship, leadership and large-scale event management. From building the Young Island brand and developing a high-performing team to leveraging artificial intelligence, making data-driven decisions and navigating the challenges of the festival industry, his journey shows how perseverance, strategy and strong local identity can turn a regional project into a nationally recognized success.

The post How Alexandru Olteanu turned Young Island Festival into one of romania’s most promising festivals appeared first on careers-business.com.

Doru Huțuțui is a management consultant, entrepreneur, and PhD candidate in Management, conducting research on adaptive communication strategies in resilient organizations. After nearly 25 years in management, progressing through every professional stage—from Branch Manager, National Trainer, Regional Director, Human Resources Director, and General Manager—he chose to dedicate his accumulated experience to supporting entrepreneurs, CEOs, and executive teams. For ten years, he built his own company alongside his executive career, and for the past seven years, he has been fully devoted to entrepreneurship. Today, he helps organizations strengthen their management, align their executive teams, and make better-informed decisions, firmly believing that sustainable performance begins with people who understand the direction they are heading.

C&B: How would you describe yourself in a single sentence to capture the attention of someone who doesn’t know you?

Doru: After nearly 25 years in management, I believe that, above all else, I am someone who has learned that high-performing organizations are not built through spectacular solutions, but through people, accountable decisions, and consistency.

C&B: Looking back, what has been the common thread guiding your professional journey?

Doru: I never pursued job titles for their own sake. Instead, I wanted to understand how organizations function and what it truly means to lead people in different contexts.

I had the opportunity to grow step by step, from operational management to the position of General Manager. Looking back, I realize that every stage required me to learn something new. In sales, I learned the discipline of achieving results. In training, I discovered how much a person can grow when someone believes in them. In human resources, I understood that trust is an organization’s most valuable asset. And as a General Manager, I learned that, in the end, every decision converges in the same place: responsibility.

Another defining moment was the decision to build my own company. For ten years, I did this while continuing my executive responsibilities. Those were years when my workday often ended late at night, and many weekends turned into working days. It was not easy, but I did not want to take the leap into entrepreneurship until I felt that the experience I had gained could create value for organizations beyond the one I was leading.

Looking back, I believe the common thread throughout my career has been the conviction that success has no elevator. There are only stairs, and each step prepares you for the next.

C&B: What was a difficult moment or failure that truly changed you?

Doru: One of the moments that changed me was realizing that you can be right from a managerial perspective and still fail to achieve the desired outcome.

During an organizational transformation project, I was convinced that the direction we had chosen was the right one. From a technical standpoint, the decision was well-founded. However, I did not dedicate enough time to helping people understand the change and the reasons behind it. As a result, the implementation proved far more difficult than I had anticipated, leading to financial losses for the organization.

That experience completely changed my perspective on management. Today, before proposing solutions, I strive to understand the people and the context. I listen more than I speak, and I pay attention not only to what is being said but also to what remains unspoken. I learned that resistance to change often arises not because people reject change itself, but because they do not understand where they are headed.

C&B: What is one bold (or counterintuitive) decision that significantly influenced your career path?

Doru: The most important decision I made was choosing entrepreneurship after nearly two decades in executive management. It was not an impulsive decision. For ten years, I built my company alongside my corporate responsibilities. I wanted to understand whether my experience could generate results in other organizations, not just the one I was leading.

When I finally took the leap into entrepreneurship, I did not feel that I was leaving management behind. On the contrary, I felt that I was continuing it in a different form. Today, I have the privilege of working alongside entrepreneurs, CEOs, and executive teams from various organizations, each with its own challenges and objectives.

At the same time, if tomorrow I were offered the opportunity to lead an organization where I could create real value and where I felt aligned with its culture and direction, I would seriously consider that possibility. To me, management is not about job titles—it is about the responsibility of building something meaningful.

C&B: How have you changed over time as a leader and professional?

Doru: At the beginning of my career, I believed that a leader had to have an answer to everything. Today, I believe that a great leader is the one who asks the right questions.

Experience has made me more patient and more attentive to context. In the past, I made decisions very quickly. Today, I prefer to understand how others see the same situation because I have learned that different perspectives usually lead to better decisions.

I have also become more attentive to people. During a meeting, I pay attention not only to what is being said but also to what remains unsaid. Body language, hesitation, or the absence of a reaction can sometimes communicate information that is just as important as the arguments themselves.

I believe this is one of the greatest lessons management has taught me: before leading processes, you must first understand people.

C&B: What do you think the people who work directly with you would say about you—beyond your public image?

Doru: I believe they would say that I am someone who listens carefully and tries to understand before expressing my own point of view. I have often received feedback that I help people see the same situation from a different perspective—not because I come up with spectacular solutions, but because I ask questions that encourage them to analyze things more deeply.

They would probably also say that I am demanding. I value discipline in execution, and I believe that honoring commitments is one of the core values that builds trust within a team.

At the same time, I strive to remain a genuine dialogue partner. I do not believe in consulting where someone arrives with ready-made answers before taking the time to understand the organization.

C&B: What truly sets you apart in the way you build or lead?

Doru: I believe my nearly 25 years of management experience allow me to understand organizations from the inside, not just from the perspective of a consultant.

Whenever I am invited to work with an entrepreneur or an executive team, my first objective is not to propose solutions. Instead, I first seek to understand how decisions are made, how information flows, where bottlenecks appear, and whether the team is genuinely aligned around the same goals.

My role is to create the environment in which leaders can examine situations from different perspectives and make well-informed, accountable decisions. I believe this is why I am invited into the strategic discussions of various organizations—not because I bring universal answers, but because I help teams develop their own answers.

C&B: How has today’s context—technology, AI, and the economy—changed the way you work?

Doru: We are living through a time when change is no longer a project but the everyday reality of every organization. The economic environment is more volatile, technology is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and artificial intelligence is already transforming the way we work and make decisions.

I believe, however, that there is a risk. In the race to adopt new technologies, we may forget that organizations are led by people. Artificial intelligence can analyze vast amounts of information and accelerate processes, but it cannot replace judgment, responsibility, or the courage to make decisions when information is incomplete.

In my work, I use these tools and encourage leaders to integrate them into their organizations. However, I always tell them the same thing: AI should support management, not replace it.

At the same time, the current economic environment requires leaders to pay much closer attention to costs, efficiency, and the speed at which their organizations can adapt. I believe the coming years will not be won by the largest companies, but by those with management teams capable of learning quickly and making accountable decisions.

C&B: Is there a habit or routine that has significantly influenced your performance?

Doru: There is one habit I have maintained for many years: after every major project or difficult decision, I set aside time for reflection. I try to answer three simple questions:
What went well?
What could I have done better?
What lesson is worth carrying forward?

I believe that experience is not simply about the number of years spent in a profession. Experience comes when you take the time to learn from what you have lived through.

At the same time, I strive to stay continuously connected to the changes taking place in management. That is one of the reasons I decided to pursue doctoral studies—not for the title itself, but because I felt the need to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that make organizations resilient and capable of adapting to an environment of constant change.

C&B: What principles guide your most important decisions?

Doru: The first principle is to understand the context before making a decision. I have learned that the same solution can work exceptionally well in one organization and very poorly in another.

The second principle is responsibility. Every decision affects people, and I believe leaders should never lose sight of that.

The third principle is dialogue. In many of the projects I am involved in, I often notice that the real issue is not the lack of a solution, but the fact that people begin from different understandings of the same situation. When the objective is clear and the team is aligned, decisions become much easier to take ownership of.

From my experience, management is less about having all the answers and more about creating the environment in which an organization can make the best possible decisions.

C&B: How do you see your field evolving over the next three to five years?

Doru: I believe management will become less about control and increasingly about adaptability.

Leaders will have to navigate economic, technological, and social changes simultaneously. In this context, the ability to learn, communicate effectively, and build trust will become a significant competitive advantage.

I already see that entrepreneurs and CEOs are no longer looking only for one-off solutions. They are seeking trusted thought partners who can help them better understand their organizations and develop their own strategic thinking.

I believe this is also the direction in which management consulting is heading: fewer ready-made formulas and much closer collaboration with executive teams.

C&B: What role do you hope to play in this evolution?

Doru: I want to remain close to the leaders who are building organizations and taking responsibility for both people and results.

I want to contribute to the development of a more mature management culture in Romania—one in which decisions are well-founded, communication is treated as a strategic tool, and performance is built with a long-term perspective.

At the same time, I want to share more of the experience I have gained through conferences, articles, and projects dedicated to leaders. If my experience can help others avoid mistakes I have made or make better decisions, then I believe I have fulfilled my role.

C&B: What genuine advice would you give to someone who wants to build something meaningful today?

Doru: The first thing I would say is: be patient. Today, we often see people’s results, but we rarely see the years of work behind them. I believe there is no elevator to success. There are only stairs. Sometimes you climb faster, sometimes more slowly, but every step prepares you for the next.

My second piece of advice is to invest in people. Technology, products, and strategies will continue to change, but high-performing organizations are built by teams that trust one another.

And perhaps most importantly, never stop learning. After nearly 25 years in management, I am still studying, still researching, and still discovering new things. I believe that the moment you think you know everything is the moment you actually begin to fall behind.

C&B: What is an uncomfortable truth about your field that few people are willing to talk about?

Doru: I believe one of the uncomfortable truths is that many organizations look for quick solutions to problems that have taken years to develop.

Companies invest in technology, systems, and procedures, but sometimes invest far too little in developing management itself. No application and no consultant can replace the responsibility of leaders to build trust, communicate effectively, and make accountable decisions.

Another thing I frequently observe is that, in many organizations, communication is still regarded as a secondary skill. From my experience, communication is one of the most important management tools. The way a leader communicates determines the level of trust within the team, the speed at which change is implemented, and the organization’s ability to remain united during difficult times.

Ultimately, I believe management is not about having all the answers. It is about having the courage to ask the right questions, listening carefully, and making decisions you are prepared to stand behind—even when the circumstances are challenging.

Doru Huțuțui’s interview provides valuable insights into modern leadership, strategic management, and the essential role of communication in building resilient organizations. Drawing on nearly 25 years of management experience, he explores decision-making, executive leadership, organizational alignment, artificial intelligence, and continuous learning as the foundations of sustainable business performance.

The post Doru Huțuțui: “Management is less about having all the answers and more about asking the right questions” appeared first on careers-business.com.

Ovidiu Pena is the Founder and CEO of OVIX Group, an entrepreneur who, together with his team, is building a Romanian ecosystem of integrated HVAC, ventilation, and building automation solutions, with the goal of transforming complex technology into smart comfort that is simple to control.

C&B: How would you describe yourself in a single sentence to capture the attention of someone who has never met you?

Ovidiu: I am an entrepreneur who started in traditional building installations and is now building, together with the OVIX team, an ecosystem where heating, cooling, ventilation, and automation work as one integrated system that is simple for the customer to use.

C&B: Looking back, what has been the common thread guiding your professional journey?

Ovidiu: The common thread has been the desire to transform a technical need into a clearer and better experience for the customer. I started with a local installation business, where I learned firsthand what it means to deliver quality work, how costly a wrong decision can be, and how essential trust is.

The second turning point came when we shifted from simply selling equipment to integrating complete systems. I realized that a high-performance heat pump, a ventilation system, or an automation solution alone cannot create comfort. Real value appears when they are designed and managed together.

The third stage is the one we are building today: OVIX as an ecosystem for energy and comfort in buildings. We opened the OVIX SmartRoom in Otopeni so people can see and test the technology instead of just reading about it in a proposal. Throughout all these stages, one question has remained constant: how do we make complex things easier to understand, buy, and use?

C&B: What was a difficult moment or failure that truly changed you?

Ovidiu: The most difficult moment in business came in 2022. Starting in 2020, we had built a team and an infrastructure largely based on the exceptionally high demand in the post-pandemic construction market and the results generated by online marketing. The business was growing, but the organization behind it had not developed at the same healthy pace.

We still lacked sufficiently clear processes, functional systems, well-defined roles, and a CRM filled with accurate data. When the number of contracts began to decline, we were left with a structure generating very high operating costs, and the losses became significant. That was when I realized that high demand can temporarily hide an organization’s vulnerabilities, but it cannot solve them.

I had to reduce the team to a minimum, drastically optimize expenses, and find new ways to attract customers because online marketing had become extremely expensive. In essence, I had to reinvent both the business and the organization. The lesson that stayed with me is that you should never build only for today’s market, but also for the moment when demand decreases. Sustainable growth requires solid processes, accurate data, clear responsibilities, and systems that can scale.

C&B: What is a bold or counterintuitive decision that significantly influenced your trajectory?

Ovidiu: The decision to invest in a technology showroom and in an import, distribution, and integration structure at a time when the market was calling for caution. The easier alternative would have been to remain a traditional HVAC contractor and equipment reseller in a business we already knew well and that was generating revenue.

Instead, we decided to open the OVIX SmartRoom in Otopeni and expand our portfolio of heat pumps, heat recovery ventilation systems, and automation solutions into an integrated platform. The risk was twofold: the financial investment itself and the effort required to educate a market where many products are still sold separately, without a unified approach.

At this stage, the most important outcome is not only commercial. We have created a place where customers, developers, architects, and designers can clearly understand how an intelligent and energy-efficient building actually works. This decision supports OVIX’s new direction: becoming a systems integrator and a trusted partner for builders, architects, and designers across Romania, rather than simply an equipment supplier.

C&B: How have you changed over time as a leader and as a professional?

Ovidiu: In the beginning, I led through presence and control. I wanted to personally verify many things because I believed that was the safest way to protect the company’s standards. Over time, I realized that excessive control slows talented people down and makes them wait for the leader’s answer instead of developing their own judgment.

Today, I try to lead more through context, objectives, and accountability. We hold recurring sales meetings, monitor performance indicators, and discuss not only the final results but also the activities that generate them. Under pressure, I try to separate what is urgent from what is truly important and avoid automatically transferring my own stress to the team.

This does not mean I have become a leader without high standards. I am still strongly focused on pace and results. The difference is that I now understand sustainable performance is not achieved by expecting people to operate at their limits all the time, but by building a system where they know what they need to do, why it matters, and how progress is measured.

C&B: What do you think the people who work directly with you would say about you beyond your public image?

Ovidiu: I believe the people who work closely with me would say that I am committed, ambitious, and able to spot opportunities before they become obvious. They would probably also say that I raise the standard and that, when I believe in a direction, I mobilize a great deal of energy around it.

However, they have also told me things that were harder to hear. Mircea pointed out that not everything revolves around me and that, at times, I am too focused on my own perspective rather than on the people around me. His message was that I should listen more and make decisions by genuinely respecting other people’s opinions. Vali told me that he needed me to trust him more and to make decisions affecting him based on concrete information and real data, rather than solely on how I felt in the moment.

That feedback helped me understand that entrepreneurial intuition is valuable, but it should never replace listening, data, and trust. I am working on providing more context, giving managers real decision-making space, and avoiding the mistake of confusing involvement with the need for control. To me, maturing as a leader means being able to hear things that do not confirm your self-image and turning them into meaningful behavioral changes.

C&B: What truly differentiates the way you build and lead?

Ovidiu: I don’t believe differentiation comes from claiming that we have better products than everyone else. Many companies can sell high-performance equipment. The difference we are trying to build at OVIX lies in integration: heating, cooling, ventilation, and energy management should all be designed together from the very beginning of a project.

In practice, this means we do not start with the question, “Which equipment do you want?” Instead, we begin by understanding how the building will be used, the level of comfort the client expects, the overall budget, and the long-term operating costs. Then we combine consulting, design, installation, commissioning, and maintenance into one coherent journey.

The SmartRoom in Otopeni perfectly reflects this approach. Customers can see how the systems communicate with each other and understand the difference between a collection of devices and a truly integrated home. Our promise—“Smart comfort. Simple to control.”—is not just a slogan; it is the standard by which we evaluate every solution.

C&B: How has today’s environment—technology, AI, the economy, and new ways of working—changed the way you operate?

Ovidiu: AI has transformed the speed at which we analyze information and the way we structure it. We use it for research, marketing, proposal analysis, process documentation, and decision preparation. However, we have established one important boundary: AI can accelerate judgment, but it cannot replace it where technical, financial, or human responsibility is involved.

At the same time, the economy has forced us to become more disciplined. Customers now compare the initial investment, operating costs, and payback period much more carefully. That is why we have shifted the conversation away from products and toward transparent scenarios that explain energy consumption, compatibility, maintenance, and risks.

Within the business, we have accelerated CRM digitalization, pipeline measurement, and proposal standardization. Technology helps us accomplish more, but the real advantage comes when you improve the process itself rather than simply adding another tool to an unclear way of working.

C&B: Is there a habit or routine that has significantly influenced your performance?

Ovidiu: My professional routine is built on discipline and consistency: weekly management meetings, reviewing performance indicators, documenting company processes with the help of AI, and setting and tracking monthly objectives. These habits help us move decision-making away from assumptions and toward facts, allowing us to correct our direction before problems become major ones.

On a personal level, I begin every morning with 30 minutes of meditation and personal reflection—in other words, I start the day with myself. I strive to remain calm regardless of how important or stressful a decision may be because I know the best decisions are made when I am not reacting under pressure.

I combine reading digital content with reading books. Digital media gives me quick access to information, while books broaden my thinking and creativity. In the evening, I set aside another 30 minutes to reflect on the day. Beyond these routines, my faith in God gives me the strength and balance I need to overcome difficult moments.

C&B: What principles guide your most important decisions?

Ovidiu: I use three filters. The first is real value for the customer: are we solving a problem or simply adding complexity? The second is execution capability: do we have the people, expertise, and resources needed to deliver at the promised standard? The third is long-term relevance: does this decision move us closer to the company we want to build, or does it only generate short-term revenue?

These principles were tested when we decided to invest in systems integration, a technology showroom, and new product portfolios, even though it would have been much easier to continue focusing exclusively on traditional HVAC activities. We accepted a more challenging path because it aligned with our long-term vision. At the same time, I learned that vision must be implemented in stages. Not every good opportunity needs to be pursued immediately.

C&B: How do you see your industry evolving over the next 3–5 years?

Ovidiu: Over the next few years, buildings will increasingly be evaluated as integrated energy systems rather than as a collection of separate pieces of equipment. The electrification of heating, heat pumps, heat recovery ventilation, photovoltaic generation, energy storage, and intelligent energy management will become one unified ecosystem.

The greatest opportunity lies in integration. Property owners do not want five different apps and five different suppliers shifting responsibility from one to another; they want comfort, predictable energy consumption, and a single, reliable point of coordination. At the same time, the greatest risk is the rushed sale of technologies without proper design and sizing. A high-performance piece of equipment installed within a poorly designed system can generate significant costs and undermine confidence in the entire category.

I believe the winners will be the companies that combine technical expertise, data, service, and the ability to explain complex concepts in a simple way. The traditional HVAC installer will not disappear, but the role will evolve into that of a systems integrator and energy consultant.

C&B: What role do you aim to play in that evolution?

Ovidiu: I want OVIX to become a regional benchmark for integrating energy and comfort solutions in buildings. We are building an ecosystem that brings together consulting, design, equipment, installation, automation, commissioning, and maintenance.

Over the coming years, we plan to scale this approach through strategic partners, standardized processes, installer training, and easily replicable solutions for homes and residential developments. Our ambition is not simply to sell as many individual devices as possible, but to increase the number of buildings that operate as coherent and energy-efficient systems.

My role is to maintain the direction, attract the right people, and build an organization capable of carrying this vision forward without depending on a single individual. If OVIX becomes truly relevant, it will be because of a team that has learned how to transform vision into execution.

C&B: What practical advice would you give to someone who wants to build something meaningful today?

Ovidiu: First, talk to customers before you fall in love with your own solution. Many months and significant amounts of money are wasted building products or services that the market does not consider urgent.

Second, measure the activities that drive results as early as possible. Revenue and profit are delayed outcomes. Leads, response time, proposals, follow-ups, and conversion rates reveal much sooner where the process is breaking down.

Third, build your team and your processes before they become an emergency. I learned that a founder can temporarily sustain growth through personal effort, but cannot scale a business sustainably that way. Relevance comes not only from having a great idea, but from executing it consistently.

C&B: What is an uncomfortable truth about your industry that very few people talk about?

Ovidiu: One uncomfortable truth is that, in the HVAC industry, equipment is sometimes sold before the building itself is properly understood. Customers receive products with excellent specifications, but not necessarily a system that will perform well in real-life conditions.

A heat pump, a ventilation unit, or an automation system cannot compensate for poor design, a building with significant energy losses, or careless installation. Moreover, the lowest price in a proposal can ultimately become the highest cost over the system’s lifetime.

The second uncomfortable truth is that true integration requires taking responsibility. It is easy to sell each component separately and blame another supplier when problems arise. It is much harder—but far more valuable—to view the building as a complete system and continue supporting the customer after installation. That is where I believe the real difference will be made between companies that merely participate in the energy transition and those that genuinely drive it.

The transformation of a local business into a comprehensive ecosystem of intelligent building solutions is the central theme of this interview with Ovidiu Pena, Founder and CEO of OVIX Group. From the lessons learned during challenging times to the role of artificial intelligence, HVAC systems integration, heat pumps, and building automation, the interview offers valuable insights into the future of the industry and demonstrates how leadership, innovation, and well-designed processes can generate sustainable growth.

The post Ovidiu Pena, CEO of OVIX Group: “The future of smart buildings lies in the integration of energy, comfort and automation.” appeared first on careers-business.com.

Adrian Ambrose is an entrepreneur and the founder of Fabricat în RO, one of Romania’s largest communities dedicated to promoting Romanian manufacturers, a platform he has been developing since 2014. After spending more than 15 years in multinational technology companies, where he led and developed complex teams and projects, he decided to focus his energy on building initiatives that create long-term value for the Romanian business environment. Today, he is developing an ecosystem that brings together the largest database of Romanian manufacturers, a marketplace, educational content, entrepreneur podcasts, and national media partnerships, with the goal of increasing the visibility, competitiveness, and collaboration of Romanian companies.

C&B: How would you describe yourself in a single sentence to capture the attention of someone who doesn’t know you?

Adrian: I build ecosystems that help entrepreneurs become more visible, more competitive, and better connected.

C&B: Looking back, what has been the “common thread” guiding your professional journey?

Adrian: Looking back, I realize that all my decisions have shared the same denominator: building.

The first stage of my career was in multinational companies, where I led complex teams and projects. That experience taught me that well-designed processes, discipline, and people are the foundation of any organization that wants to grow in a healthy and sustainable way.

At the same time, I started developing Fabricat în RO, driven by the belief that a strong economy begins with supporting local manufacturers. I believe it is important to buy products made in Romania whenever possible and, at the same time, to have access to complete and trustworthy information about the manufacturers and products available nearby. Romanian-made products bring economic, social, and environmental benefits, but in order to be chosen, they first need to be discovered.

That is why I set out to build an ecosystem that gives Romanian manufacturers greater visibility through a dedicated database, a marketplace, search engine optimization and AI-powered platform optimization, social media promotion, educational content, podcasts, and media partnerships.

Looking back, I realize that financial results alone have never been my main motivation. What has always driven me is the desire to leave behind something valuable and lasting. I want Fabricat în RO to continue growing for decades to come, regardless of who leads it in the future. A database of verified Romanian manufacturers, a community of tens of thousands of people who support local consumption, a marketplace, thousands of articles about the benefits of Romanian-made products, and a strong digital presence represent, in my view, a legacy built in support of Romanian manufacturers. I hope this ecosystem will contribute to the long-term development of Romania’s economy, inspire more people to choose products made in Romania, and provide future generations with a reliable starting point when searching for trusted local manufacturers.

C&B: What was a difficult moment or failure that truly changed you?

Adrian: One of the hardest lessons I learned was that having a great idea and working hard are not enough to build a project with real impact. You also need people who believe in the same mission and enough time to earn the market’s trust.

During the early years of Fabricat în RO, I tried to involve more people in the project, but it wasn’t easy to find individuals who shared the same vision and values and who were willing to build something for the long term. Many people seek quick results, while I was convinced that a project like this requires years to generate meaningful impact.

At the same time, I realized that the market tends to trust well-established organizations more easily. When you are just starting out, even if you have a strong idea and promising results, you have to work several times harder to prove that you deserve people’s attention and trust. Credibility is not earned through statements—it is built through consistency and results delivered over time.

These experiences changed me profoundly. They taught me that patience, perseverance, and building a strong reputation are just as important as the idea itself. Today, I no longer try to convince everyone. Instead, I prefer to keep building every single day, let the results speak for themselves, and attract people and partners who share the same mission: contributing to the growth of Romanian manufacturers and entrepreneurs.

C&B: What is one bold (or counterintuitive) decision that significantly influenced your journey?

Adrian: One of our boldest decisions was to expand Fabricat în RO into podcasts dedicated to Romanian entrepreneurs. It was a counterintuitive choice in an already highly competitive field, where many experienced content creators and media professionals are active.

However, we started from a simple belief: people don’t just buy products or services—they also buy the story, the values, and the people behind them. I felt that Romanian entrepreneurs needed a space where they could openly talk about their journey, the challenges they had faced, and the value of the products and services they create.

The risk was that we were investing time and resources into a format that wouldn’t deliver overnight results and had no guarantee of market adoption. We could have continued investing exclusively in traditional promotion and services, but instead, we chose to build a new communication channel designed for long-term impact.

The feedback we received from entrepreneurs confirmed that we had made the right decision. They want to tell their stories, share the lessons they have learned, and better explain the value behind the products and services they develop.

One tangible outcome of this decision is our partnership with A7TV, where Fabricat în RO podcasts will be broadcast as part of a TV show dedicated to Romanian entrepreneurs. For us, this is an important validation and, above all, an opportunity to increase the visibility of Romanian entrepreneurs and manufacturers before an even wider audience.

C&B: How have you changed over time as a leader and professional?

Adrian: My professional development began in multinational companies, where I had the opportunity to work alongside people with decades of experience in management, leadership, and business. That is where I learned organizational discipline, the importance of well-defined processes, and the fact that decisions should be based on data and performance indicators.

For years, I analyzed charts, reports, and KPIs, and I became accustomed to making decisions almost exclusively based on numbers. It was an extraordinary learning experience that shaped the way I think.

Today, as an entrepreneur, I have discovered that numbers tell only part of the story. They show you what has happened so far, but they do not always tell you what comes next. That is why, after years of experience and hundreds of conversations with entrepreneurs, I have started paying much greater attention to intuition, experience, and people. Today, I make important decisions by combining data analysis with the instincts I have developed over time.

Another major change is that I no longer try to control every detail. At the beginning, I believed that a leader had to have all the answers. Today, I believe a leader’s role is to set the direction, bring the right people together, and create an environment where they can perform at their best.

I have also learned to evaluate decisions over a much longer time horizon. I no longer ask myself only what result a decision will produce next month, but what impact it will have five or even ten years from now. I believe this shift in perspective has helped me build stronger projects and remain consistent with the mission I have embraced.

C&B: What do you think people who work directly with you would say about you—beyond your public image?

Adrian: I believe this question should really be answered by my colleagues, but I can share the feedback I have received over the years.

At the moment, the Fabricat în RO team is still relatively small, but we want to grow and bring in people who share the same mission so that we can invest even more energy in developing the project.

Ioana, the colleague who has been with me the longest, often tells me that she appreciates my consistency and the fact that I always try to find solutions, regardless of the challenges. Beyond that close working relationship, the feedback I receive most often is that people appreciate my logical thinking, creativity, professionalism, and reliability. I believe these qualities have helped me build long-lasting relationships based on trust and strong partnerships.

At the same time, I am fully aware that there is always room for improvement. One area I continuously work on is communication. Sometimes, because I am highly focused on goals and on the pace at which I want projects to move forward, I assume that others have the same context or perspective that I do. Experience has taught me that a leader should not only have a clear direction but should also communicate that direction effectively, so that the entire team understands not only what we need to do, but also why we are doing it.

C&B: What truly sets you apart in the way you build or lead?

Adrian: I believe what sets me apart is the way I approach building projects. I do not try to develop isolated services. Instead, I focus on creating an ecosystem in which every component complements another, like pieces of a puzzle that become increasingly valuable as new elements are added.

Whenever we identify a need among Romanian manufacturers, we try to find a solution that complements what we have already built. That is how our database of Romanian manufacturers, the marketplace, SEO-optimized and AI-optimized articles, social media promotion, podcasts, media partnerships, and, more recently, our television show dedicated to Romanian entrepreneurs have all emerged over time. Every new project does not replace the previous one—it increases its value.

Another differentiator is that we have never limited ourselves to a single industry. The platform brings together manufacturers from almost every field of activity, as well as service providers and guesthouses across Romania. Our goal is for anyone looking for a Romanian product, service, or experience to find relevant and trustworthy information in one place.

I also believe that our long-term perspective makes a difference. From the very beginning, I told my colleagues that Fabricat în RO is not a project we build today and abandon tomorrow. It is a project we intend to develop over the coming decades. This vision provides stability, builds trust, and motivates those who join us to create something truly lasting.

Ultimately, I believe leaders are not defined only by what they build, but by their ability to continuously create value. For me, every new idea must answer one simple question: How does it concretely help Romanian manufacturers and entrepreneurs? If the answer is clear, then that piece deserves its place in the puzzle we have been building for more than a decade.

C&B: How has today’s context (technology, AI, the economy) changed the way you work?

Adrian: Technology and artificial intelligence have fundamentally transformed the way I work. In the past, many decisions required days of research, analysis, and consultation. Today, we can evaluate scenarios much faster, analyze large volumes of information, and make better-informed decisions.

At Fabricat în RO, we use artificial intelligence across numerous activities: research, market analysis, content strategy development, search engine and AI platform optimization, digital promotion, and information structuring. On the technical side, AI helps us identify code issues more quickly, streamline debugging processes, and develop new features in significantly less time than before.

Perhaps the greatest benefit is not just reduced costs, but the time we have gained. The hours we saved by automating and optimizing SEO and software development activities have been reinvested in producing video podcasts and creating content for Romanian entrepreneurs. In practice, we have been able to launch this new direction without expanding our team, simply by using technology to work smarter and more efficiently.

For me, this is one of the best examples of how artificial intelligence can create a competitive advantage. We have not used technology to replace people, but to eliminate repetitive tasks and allow our team to focus on projects that require creativity, added value, and meaningful human interaction.

I believe that in the years ahead, the competitive advantage will not belong to companies that simply use artificial intelligence, but to those that integrate it intelligently into their processes and turn the time they save into innovation, better products, and stronger customer relationships.

C&B: Is there a habit or routine that has significantly influenced your performance?

Adrian: One of the rules I have set for myself is to introduce Fabricat în RO and the solutions we develop to at least one new entrepreneur or potential partner every day.

I do not see these conversations merely as a sales process. For me, they are the best way to stay continuously connected to the market. Every conversation helps me better understand the real challenges entrepreneurs face, which solutions are truly useful, what objections arise, and perhaps most importantly, whether people are willing to pay for the value we provide.

I believe the market is the most honest consultant an entrepreneur can have. If an idea does not spark interest or solve a sufficiently important problem, you find out very quickly. On the other hand, when you see that people respond positively and are willing to invest in your solution, you receive one of the most valuable forms of validation.

This habit has helped me continuously improve the services and projects we develop, identify opportunities more quickly, and adapt Fabricat în RO to the real needs of Romanian entrepreneurs and manufacturers. I believe a leader should never become so busy that they lose direct contact with the market and with the people they are building for.

I have learned that the market always tells you the truth. The important thing is to be willing to listen, learn from feedback, and have the courage to adjust your direction whenever necessary.

C&B: What principles guide your most important decisions?

Adrian: Whenever I make an important decision, I almost always ask myself three questions.

The first is: Does it create real value for people? If a project does not solve a problem or bring a tangible benefit to Romanian entrepreneurs and manufacturers, I prefer not to invest time and resources in it.

The second question is: Does it have the potential to remain relevant and continue creating value over time? I strive to build projects and services that do not lose their usefulness after a few months but continue helping people and evolving as the market changes.

The third question is: What does the market say? No matter how good an idea may seem to me, I always try to validate it through direct conversations with entrepreneurs, partners, and customers. I have learned that the market is the most objective test for any project.

A very good example is our decision to invest in video content and build Fabricat în RO’s YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts channels from scratch. It was a difficult decision because we already maintained an active presence on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Threads, and X. Adding three more channels means much more than simply publishing the same content—it requires strategy, adapting materials for each platform, time, resources, and consistency.

Even so, we believed Romanian entrepreneurs needed a space where they could tell their stories in depth, and video content is one of the most effective ways to build trust and credibility. We chose to invest in these channels without any guarantee of immediate results, fully aware that communities and media channels are built over time through consistency and high-quality content.

Today, we can already see that this decision is producing results. Our community continues to grow steadily, entrepreneurs have given us excellent feedback, and our investment in content has opened new collaboration opportunities, including our partnership with A7TV, where Fabricat în RO podcasts will be broadcast as part of a television program dedicated to Romanian entrepreneurs.

I believe the best decisions are not always those that generate the fastest profit, but those that build trust, create communities, and generate long-term value.

C&B: How do you see your industry evolving over the next three to five years?

Adrian: I believe the coming years will bring major changes in the way manufacturers and entrepreneurs promote their businesses and build relationships with customers.

I am noticing an interesting trend: after years in which globalization dominated commerce, more and more consumers are looking for locally made products, while major retail chains are paying increasing attention to nearby manufacturers and developing dedicated campaigns to support them. I am pleased to see this evolution because I believe a healthy economy depends on strong local manufacturers and consumers who understand the story behind the products they choose.

At the same time, I believe having a great product is no longer enough. Entrepreneurs need to step forward, tell their stories, talk about the values and principles that guide their businesses, and be transparent. More and more, people buy from people they trust, and that trust is built through authentic communication.

Another important shift is the way people search for information. The online industry and search engine optimization are undergoing a major transformation. It is no longer enough to rank well only in traditional search engines. More and more users are relying on AI-powered platforms to discover products, services, and recommendations, which means websites will also need to be optimized for these systems. I believe this will become one of the most significant competitive advantages in the years ahead.

I also believe entrepreneurs will benefit increasingly from becoming part of business communities and ecosystems. Collaboration between communities, the exchange of experience, and the development of strong partnerships will matter more than isolated competition. In an increasingly complex economy, no one can build alone at the same speed as a collaborative community.

I am optimistic. I believe technology will continue to reshape the rules of the game, but the values that truly make the difference will remain the same: trust, transparency, collaboration, and the ability to create genuine value for people.

C&B: What role do you want to play in this evolution?

Adrian: My goal is for Fabricat în RO to become one of the leading trusted sources whenever Romanians search for information about Romanian products, services, and manufacturers.

Our vision is that whenever a Romanian searches through search engines or AI-powered applications to discover a product or manufacturer, Fabricat în RO will be among the top recommendations. To achieve this, we continuously create high-quality content, develop the platform, and invest in technologies that reflect the way people search for information today.

We want Fabricat în RO to become the place where Romanians find Romanian solutions—from food products and furniture to services, guesthouses, and other local businesses. We aim to be the answer to what Romanians are looking for, and whenever possible, we want the solutions they find to be Romanian.

At the same time, we want the platform to strengthen collaboration between manufacturers, between manufacturers and distributors, and among entrepreneurs from different industries. I believe a strong local economy is built when companies collaborate, recommend one another’s products and services, and develop long-term partnerships.

We are also looking beyond Romania’s borders. The platform is available in English, and one of our objectives is to increase the visibility of Romanian manufacturers in international markets. We want more companies to receive inquiries from abroad, establish commercial partnerships, and increase their exports. I believe Romanian products have the quality needed to compete internationally—they simply need greater visibility and easier access to potential buyers and distributors.

In the long run, I hope more and more Romanians will choose products made in Romania, not only out of patriotism, but because they know their quality, their story, and the people behind them. If we can contribute to this change in mindset and help thousands of Romanian manufacturers and entrepreneurs become more visible, collaborate more easily, and grow their businesses both in Romania and internationally, I will consider our mission accomplished.

I do not believe success should be measured only by the number of visitors or products listed on the platform. For me, success means that Fabricat în RO becomes a trusted benchmark for consumers and a genuine partner for Romanian entrepreneurs, contributing to the development of a stronger Romanian economy.

C&B: What genuine advice would you give someone who wants to build something meaningful today?

Adrian: My first piece of advice would be to talk to the market as early as possible. Many entrepreneurs spend months or even years perfecting a product or service without validating it with the people who are supposed to buy it. I have learned that real feedback is far more valuable than our own assumptions. If the market does not confirm that you are solving an important problem, it is much better to find that out early and adjust your direction.

My second piece of advice is to build something in Romania and for Romania. We have courageous entrepreneurs, responsible people, highly skilled professionals, and outstanding human talent. I believe we have every reason to develop competitive Romanian products, services, and brands that create value here while successfully representing Romania in international markets. The more strong businesses we build in Romania, the stronger our economy will become.

My third piece of advice is to invest in trust, not just promotion. More and more, people buy from individuals and brands they know and trust. High-quality content, transparency, and consistency build relationships that stand the test of time and are worth far more than any short-term advertising campaign.

At the same time, do not ignore technology. Artificial intelligence can dramatically accelerate business growth and provide access to knowledge and tools that, just a few years ago, were available only to large companies. Used wisely, it can help entrepreneurs save time, make better decisions, and remain competitive.

If I had to summarize everything in a single idea, it would be this: build something that solves a real problem, validate it continuously with the market, and have the courage to build in Romania. I truly believe we have talented people, valuable products, and all the resources needed to create businesses that are appreciated both at home and abroad.

C&B: What is an uncomfortable truth about your industry that few people talk about?

Adrian: I believe one of the biggest uncomfortable truths is that having a great product does not guarantee success. In the digital economy, if people cannot find you, it is as if you do not exist.

Romania has many manufacturers producing outstanding products, yet many of them invest years in product development while investing very little in visibility, brand building, and communicating the values that set them apart. At the same time, I have noticed that we still find it easier to compete than to collaborate. I believe the next stage of Romanian entrepreneurship will be driven by communities, partnerships, and projects built together.

Another truth is that technology cannot compensate for the lack of a strategy. Artificial intelligence can accelerate business growth, but it cannot replace a great idea, a committed team, or relationships built over time.

I believe the future will favor entrepreneurs who have the courage to be more transparent, collaborate more, and invest continuously in visibility and trust. Because before people buy a product, they always choose the brand and the people behind it.

In the digital economy, if people cannot find you, it is as if you do not exist.

Adrian Ambrose’s interview highlights how a long-term vision, supported by technology, artificial intelligence, SEO, and strategic partnerships, can help strengthen Romanian manufacturers and contribute to the growth of the local economy. Through Fabricat în RO, he is building an ecosystem that promotes visibility, collaboration, and business competitiveness, demonstrating that sustainable success is driven by trust, consistency, and the ability to create real value for the community.

The post Adrian Ambrose: How Fabricat în RO is building an ecosystem that empowers romanian manufacturers through SEO, AI and collaboration appeared first on careers-business.com.

Carmen Mihalache began her career in recruitment at the largest real estate company in northern Bucharest, North Bucharest Investments, and currently owns PRO HR, her own recruitment company. Her greatest mentor and leader is Vlad Musteata, whose dedication and professionalism gave her the courage to start her own company and strive for more. It takes courage and the desire to aim higher.

C&B: How would you describe yourself in a single sentence that would capture the attention of someone who doesn’t know you?

Carmen: A problem solver.

C&B: Looking back, what has been the “common thread” guiding your professional journey?

Carmen: Looking back, the common thread throughout my professional journey has been the desire to build trusting relationships and generate results through impactful projects. Regardless of the role or industry, I have consistently focused on identifying opportunities, finding the right candidates, developing partnerships, and turning challenges into practical solutions.

One defining moment was choosing to get involved in projects that required direct interaction with partners and clients, a decision that strengthened my communication, negotiation, and business development skills.

The second key moment was taking on responsibilities in large-scale projects, where I understood the importance of collaboration, efficient coordination, and a results-oriented approach. This experience confirmed that sustainable performance is built through consistency, adaptability, and strong relationships.

What has remained constant throughout all my choices is the desire to keep learning, create value for the organizations and people I work with, and contribute to the development of meaningful projects based on professionalism, trust, and a long-term vision.

C&B: What was a difficult moment or a failure that truly changed you?

Carmen: One of the moments that truly changed me was managing a period in which an important project did not develop as expected, despite the team’s dedication and hard work. It was an experience that forced me out of my comfort zone and helped me understand that success depends not only on competence and effort, but also on context, timing, and the ability to adapt.

C&B: What is a bold (or counterintuitive) decision that significantly influenced your career path?

Carmen: One of the boldest decisions I made was choosing projects with long-term development potential instead of opportunities that offered immediate benefits but limited future prospects. It was a counterintuitive decision because it involved greater responsibility, a higher degree of uncertainty, and results that would only become visible over time.

I carefully assessed the risks—from taking on ambitious goals to the possibility that the investment of time and resources might not produce immediate results. At the same time, I rejected the alternative of a comfortable but predictable career path because I believe that real growth happens when you choose challenges that expand your skills and perspective.

The result was accelerated professional growth, the strengthening of valuable partnerships, and involvement in impactful projects that gave me the opportunity to contribute strategically while developing both my leadership skills and my ability to make decisions in a dynamic environment. This experience confirmed that the most important opportunities often arise from decisions that require courage and confidence in your own vision.

C&B: How have you changed over time as a leader and professional?

Carmen: My transformation as a leader came when I learned to understand that we are all different, that everyone has their own potential and limitations—whether they choose to overcome them or not—and to accept other people’s limitations or even their lack of desire to strive for more.

C&B: What do you think people who work closely with you say about you—beyond your public image?

Carmen: I believe that people who work directly with me would describe me as someone committed, results-oriented, and reliable. I place great value on professionalism, honoring commitments, and building relationships based on trust and collaboration. I enjoy creating an environment where everyone can express their ideas and contribute meaningful value.

At the same time, I know that I can be demanding, both with myself and with those around me. When I commit to a goal, I have high expectations regarding quality and accountability, which may sometimes be perceived as perfectionism, a very intense work pace, or occasional criticism.

C&B: What truly differentiates you in the way you build or lead?

Carmen: I believe what truly sets me apart is the way I turn relationships and ideas into tangible results. To me, leadership is not just about coordination—it is about creating a framework in which people, partnerships, and objectives converge around a shared vision.

In every project I lead, I start with a clear understanding of the objectives and build processes based on communication, accountability, and transparency. I prefer making decisions grounded in data and context, while giving equal importance to intuition developed through experience and continuous dialogue with my team and partners.

One defining characteristic of mine is being solution-oriented. Whenever obstacles arise, my first step is not to identify who is to blame, but to understand the root cause and find the most effective way forward.

C&B: How has the current landscape (technology, AI, the economy) changed the way you work?

Carmen: The current landscape has significantly changed the way we approach recruitment. Artificial intelligence and digitalization have streamlined many operational stages, while also making it even more evident that recruitment remains, at its core, a people-centered process based on understanding the business context.

We have integrated digital tools and AI solutions into activities such as writing and optimizing job descriptions, market analysis, candidate sourcing, and automating administrative processes. This allows us to reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks and devote more energy to interacting with people, assessing the compatibility between candidates and organizations, and delivering a high-quality recruitment experience.

At the same time, the economic environment has changed the way we advise companies. The focus is no longer solely on filling positions quickly, but on sustainable recruitment, talent retention, and identifying candidates who are the right fit both in terms of skills and organizational culture. Today, the success of a recruitment process is measured not only by making a hire but by the candidate’s long-term integration and performance.

I believe technology and artificial intelligence will continue to transform the recruitment industry, but they will not replace the elements that truly make the difference: empathy, judgment, experience, and the ability to build trusted relationships with both employers and the professionals we represent.

C&B: Is there a habit or routine that has had a significant impact on your performance?

Carmen: It’s very simple—for me, there is no such thing as “it can’t be done.” Discipline is extremely important, as is perseverance.

C&B: What principles guide your most important decisions?

Carmen: In recruitment, important decisions must combine objectivity with an understanding of the human context. The principles that guide me are transparency, integrity, accountability, and a focus on sustainable results. I believe that a good decision is one that creates value for both the company and the candidate, not just one that solves an immediate need.

One principle I never compromise on is the genuine fit between the candidate and the organization. Over the years, there have been situations where I advised a client not to finalize a hire, even though the recruitment process was at an advanced stage and there was pressure to fill the position quickly. Our assessment showed that, beyond professional competencies, there were significant differences between the candidate’s values and the organization’s culture, which would have negatively affected long-term integration and retention.

Although this decision meant restarting the recruitment process and making an additional effort, the outcome was finding a candidate who successfully integrated into the organization and contributed to the team’s long-term development. To me, this is a clear example that the right decisions are not always the fastest ones, but those that create lasting impact and are built on trust, professionalism, and responsibility.

C&B: How do you see your industry evolving over the next three to five years?

Carmen: Over the next three to five years, I believe recruitment will become increasingly strategic and more heavily influenced by technology, without diminishing the importance of the human factor. Artificial intelligence will automate a significant portion of administrative and sourcing activities, but decisions related to candidate selection, compatibility assessment, and relationship building will continue to rely on the experience and judgment of recruitment professionals.

C&B: What role do you aim to play in this evolution?

Carmen: I would be tempted to say that I want PRO HR to become the largest recruitment company in Romania, but let me correct that—I want PRO HR to become the best recruitment company in Romania.

C&B: What genuine advice would you give to someone who wants to build something meaningful today?

Carmen: My first piece of advice would be to invest time in truly understanding the market’s needs before investing in solutions. Very often, the enthusiasm of building something new leads entrepreneurs to focus on what they believe is valuable rather than on what customers genuinely need. In my opinion, listening to the market is one of the greatest competitive advantages.

My second piece of advice is to build relationships before chasing results. In recruitment, as in business in general, trust is earned over time and becomes a true differentiator. The most valuable collaborations and opportunities come from relationships built on consistency, professionalism, and mutual respect—not from short-term objectives.

Perhaps the most important lesson I have learned is not to confuse speed with progress. There were times when I tried to do too many things at once, and experience taught me that sustainable results come from prioritization, discipline, and consistent execution. Today, I prefer building step by step, with clear objectives and well-founded decisions, rather than pursuing rapid growth that cannot be sustained over the long term.

C&B: What is an uncomfortable truth about your industry that few people talk about?

Carmen: An uncomfortable truth about recruitment is that, more often than not, the problem is not the lack of candidates, but the lack of a clear definition of what the employer is actually looking for. Many recruitment processes are prolonged not because of the market, but because the candidate profile changes throughout the process, the decision-makers are not aligned on the selection criteria, or expectations are not consistent with market realities.

Another aspect that is rarely discussed is that recruitment cannot compensate for an organization’s internal problems. Neither the best recruiter nor the most suitable candidate can succeed in an environment where clarity, leadership, or a healthy organizational culture are missing. Recruitment can bring the right people to the table, but retention and performance depend on what they find after joining the company.

That is why I believe the future of recruitment is not only about identifying talent but also about playing an increasingly important role as a strategic consultant, capable of providing organizations with a realistic perspective on the market, candidate expectations, and the conditions required to build high-performing teams for the long term.

Carmen Mihalache’s interview provides an authentic perspective on the future of recruitment, the role of artificial intelligence in HR, trust-based leadership, and the importance of aligning people with organizational culture.

The post Carmen Mihalache, founder of PRO HR: “The future of recruitment is driven by technology and built on trust” appeared first on careers-business.com.

Fabian Scholtes is a Brand Creator, Business Coach, Personal Branding Strategist with over 15 years of experience, and the CEO of SCHOLTES.STUDIO. He is a multidisciplinary professional whose career has evolved organically across the visual arts, from fashion design and interior design to branding consultancy, publishing, and business mentoring. Throughout his career, Fabian has transformed his passion for aesthetics and structure into a tool for reshaping business mindsets, working directly with leaders and entrepreneurs to translate conceptual visions into powerful brand identities that create real market impact.

C&B: How would you describe yourself in a single sentence to capture the attention of someone who has never met you?

Fabian: I am a translator of visions: I use the power of design and brand strategy to transform a leader’s abstract ideas into visual identities and business structures that generate impact, value, and loyalty.

C&B: Looking back, what has been the “common thread” guiding your professional journey?

Fabian: My common thread has always been an obsession with beauty, driven by a deep desire to create value for the people around me. My journey has been defined by three major turning points:

At 18 (Fashion & Empirical Branding): I started designing clothing without financial resources, yet presented everything as a premium product. That was when I realized that perception creates value. My inspiration came from perfume bottles and packaging that I had collected since childhood.

The Interior Design Years (4–5 Years): This was a period during which I excelled at translating clients’ personalities into physical spaces. It became an exceptional school of proportions, project management, and client psychology.

The Transition to Branding and Writing: I realized that beyond clothes or walls, what truly defines me is my ability to solve identity and mindset challenges. The one constant has always been my refusal to deliver aesthetics without substance.

C&B: What was a difficult moment or failure that truly changed you?

Fabian: The year 2020 and the pandemic abruptly froze the interior design market where I was active. Material costs increased dramatically, demand declined, and construction projects came to a standstill. It was a period of enormous uncertainty that forced me to reinvent myself. The immediate financial impact was a 45% decline in revenue from physical projects during those first months.

I then made a radical shift, moving my focus from external spaces to the inner world. I began writing, publishing books such as The 90 Second Discipline Journal / 90 Days and The 4-Hour Discipline (available on Amazon), exploring personal development and mental clarity in business. What initially seemed like an external failure ultimately opened the path toward consultancy and integrated branding, proving to me that the most stable structure you can ever build is a person’s mindset.

C&B: What is one bold or counterintuitive decision that significantly influenced your career?

Fabian: I decided not to specialize in a single niche within the visual industry, even though every “expert” recommended hyper-specialization. I deliberately chose to explore fashion, painting, interior design, and graphic design, accepting the risk of appearing to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I also turned down secure employment opportunities and rigid partnerships in traditional design.

The tangible result was the creation of SCHOLTES STUDIO, where this multidisciplinary background became my greatest competitive advantage. Today, I don’t simply design a logo; I understand volume, space, tactile experience, and consumer psychology as one integrated system, enabling me to deliver true 360-degree solutions for clients.

C&B: How have you evolved over time as a leader and professional?

Fabian: At the beginning, between the ages of 18 and 20, I made decisions almost entirely based on intuition, artistic instinct, and speed. Today, as CEO, I combine intuition with data-driven strategy, mental clarity, and behavioral analysis.

Where I once managed pressure by overworking, I now manage it through effective delegation and by protecting my mental space. I’ve learned that a leader doesn’t need to have all the answers; they need to ask the right questions that unlock the potential of both their team and their clients.

C&B: What do you think people who work closely with you say about you beyond your public image?

Fabian: My team members and one-on-one clients would probably say that I have exceptionally high standards when it comes to vision and execution, with zero tolerance for superficiality or half-measures. The feedback I receive most often is that I’m a catalyst. I have a direct, sometimes uncomfortable way of bringing clarity where there is chaos. My greatest strength is strategic empathy, while the most challenging aspect of working with me is the fast pace at which I want change to happen.

C&B: What truly sets you apart in the way you build or lead?

Fabian: What sets me apart is my philosophy of indirect transformation. I’ve learned that if you want to save a business or a leader from failure, simply telling them what to do rarely works. Real change happens indirectly, through the people around them. One individual with a transformed mindset can reshape the culture of an entire organization faster than any external consultant.

At SCHOLTES STUDIO, our branding process doesn’t begin with colors or design elements. It starts with deep one-on-one mental clarity sessions with founders. We build brands from the inside out.

C&B: How has today’s landscape—technology, AI, and the economy—changed the way you work?

Fabian: The AI-driven landscape has eliminated much of the routine execution work and forced us to move entirely toward high-level strategy and authentic human connection. Specifically, we’ve integrated AI tools into our brainstorming and moodboarding processes, reducing research time by approximately 75% while optimizing early-stage production costs. Our strategy has shifted aggressively toward hyper-personalization and premium consulting services, where technology simply cannot replace the emotional intuition of a brand creator.

C&B: Is there a habit or routine that has significantly improved your performance?

Fabian: My daily writing practice and mental clarity exercise, which I’ve maintained every morning for over eight years. I dedicate the first 30 minutes of every day to being completely disconnected from technology while organizing my thoughts on paper. This habit has structured my mind in the same way design structures a space, greatly improving my focus during strategic sessions and substantially reducing decision-making errors under pressure.

C&B: What principles guide your most important decisions?

Fabian: My core principle is: Value through people, for people. I don’t accept projects that are driven solely by financial gain if they fail to create genuine value for the community or if the founder’s mindset is fundamentally toxic.

A real example was when I turned down a €150,000 branding contract with a large company because its leadership refused to implement the internal cultural changes that were clearly needed. Instead, I chose to protect the integrity of my studio and my team’s energy by working with a smaller business that genuinely wanted transformation. That company eventually tripled its revenue.

C&B: How do you see your industry evolving over the next three to five years?

Fabian: Purely aesthetic branding—the kind that simply delivers “a beautiful logo”—will disappear entirely as AI democratizes and automates it. The greatest risk is a marketplace flooded with generic visual identities that lack soul.

The greatest opportunity, and the area where we’ll see exponential growth, belongs to deep branding and community-driven personal branding. The brands of the future will function as systems of beliefs and values, capable of bringing people together around a meaningful vision.

C&B: What role do you hope to play in that evolution?

Fabian: Through SCHOLTES STUDIO, I want us to become architects of this transition from empty visuals to visuals with substance. I’m developing an integrated methodology that combines behavioral psychology, premium design, and mindset consulting. My goal over the next three years is to help leaders redefine their business identities, proving that the strongest brands are not those that shout the loudest, but those that resonate most deeply with human values.

C&B: What genuine advice would you give to someone trying to build something meaningful today?

Fabian: First, don’t wait until you have a huge budget before presenting yourself as premium. Package your idea with genuine respect for your customer and make the smartest possible use of the limited resources you have—just as I did when I was 18.

Second, don’t try to change markets before you’ve clarified your own mind. The greatest enemy of any startup is the chaos inside its founder’s head.

Finally, invest in the people around you. They are the true multipliers of your vision.

C&B: What is an uncomfortable truth about your industry that few people are willing to admit?

Fabian: The uncomfortable truth is that more than 80% of rebranding projects are nothing more than cosmetic makeovers designed to hide serious management issues, weak products, or toxic organizational cultures. Agencies happily accept massive budgets to create beautiful facades while fully aware that the foundation of the business is rotten.

Great design cannot save a poorly built business. Authentic branding requires, above all else, the courage to face the truth and change the mindset at the very top.

Fabian Scholtes’ interview provides valuable insights into how branding, leadership, and strategic clarity can transform a business into an authentic and relevant brand. From design and personal branding to the impact of artificial intelligence on the industry, his experience demonstrates that sustainable success begins with a clear vision, a strong mindset, and solid values.

The post Fabian Scholtes, CEO of SCHOLTES.STUDIO: “Strong brands don’t shout louder—they resonate more deeply with human values.” appeared first on careers-business.com.

Aurelian Chitez is Sales Director at Mida Soft Business, with more than 15 years of experience in commercial organization development, digital transformation, and building high-performing teams. Throughout his career, he has contributed to the growth of rapidly expanding organizations, led commercial teams, and been involved in complex organizational transformation processes, always believing that sustainable success is built through people.

C&B: How would you describe yourself in a single sentence to capture the attention of someone who doesn’t know you?

Aurelian: A leader’s impact is not measured by the position they hold, but by the people and organizations they leave better behind them.

C&B: Looking back, what is the “common thread” that has guided your professional journey?

Aurelian: Looking back, I realize that all the important decisions I have made have had one thing in common: the desire to build. I had the privilege of being part of an organization undergoing rapid growth and, together with my colleagues, contributing to its transformation from a company with approximately €100,000 in annual revenue into a business exceeding €7 million. This experience showed me that exceptional results do not happen overnight and are never the achievement of a single person. They are the outcome of a clear vision, a strong team, and consistent execution. Another defining moment was my decision to pursue an Executive MBA, which transformed the way I view leadership, strategy, and organizational development.

C&B: What was a difficult moment or failure that truly changed you?

Aurelian: Early in my career, I made the mistake of judging a client based on appearances and the potential I believed they had. I focused my attention on opportunities that seemed bigger and treated another relationship superficially, only to later discover that it was far more valuable than I had initially estimated. It was an important lesson in respect, professionalism, and the value of long-term relationships.

C&B: What is one bold (or counterintuitive) decision that significantly influenced your career path?

Aurelian: One of the boldest decisions I have ever made was to begin an Executive MBA at a time when I already held a leadership position and had an established career. It was a significant investment of time, energy, and resources that fundamentally changed the way I analyze business and approach organizational development.

C&B: How have you evolved over time as a leader and professional?

Aurelian: At the beginning of my career, I was highly results-oriented and believed that a leader had to have all the answers. Today, I believe a leader’s role is to ask the right questions, create the environment in which people can perform, and remove the obstacles standing in their way.

C&B: What do you think the people who work closely with you would say about you beyond your public image?

Aurelian: I believe people appreciate that my attention is focused on them and on their success. One of the questions I ask most often is, “How can I help you?” I believe that a leader’s role is to create the right environment for people to perform and grow.

C&B: What truly sets you apart in the way you build or lead?

Aurelian: I believe what sets me apart is that I invest in people before I invest in processes. My greatest professional achievement is not a contract won or a sales target exceeded, but having built a team from the ground up and seeing people grow professionally and become leaders themselves.

C&B: How has today’s context (technology, AI, the economy) changed the way you work?

Aurelian: Technology and artificial intelligence are fundamentally transforming the way we work. At the same time, I believe technology will never replace trust, empathy, and the ability to build authentic relationships.

C&B: Is there a habit or routine that has significantly influenced your performance?

Aurelian: I consistently set aside time for learning and reflection. Whether through books, podcasts, business studies, or conversations with people from other industries, I strive to learn something new every week.

C&B: What principles guide your most important decisions?

Aurelian: There are three principles I never compromise on: integrity, trust, and keeping my promises.

C&B: How do you see your field evolving over the next three to five years?

Aurelian: I believe we will witness a significant acceleration in digitalization, automation, and the adoption of artificial intelligence. The difference between organizations will be determined by their ability to combine technology with people who can adapt quickly to change.

C&B: What role do you aim to play in that evolution?

Aurelian: In the coming years, I aspire to grow into CEO roles while, at the same time, developing my own entrepreneurial initiatives. I want to build high-performing organizations that are people-oriented, driven by innovation, and focused on sustainable results.

C&B: What genuine advice would you give to someone who wants to build something meaningful today?

Aurelian: Invest in people. Never stop learning. Be patient. The most valuable results are built over time through consistency and discipline.

C&B: What is an uncomfortable truth about your field that few people talk about?

Aurelian: Many people believe that sales is all about persuasion and negotiation. In reality, the best results come when you stop trying to sell and start truly understanding your customer’s problems.

Aurelian Chitez’s interview highlights the value of authentic leadership, investing in people, and embracing continuous adaptation in today’s evolving business landscape. His experience in organizational growth, digital transformation, and team development offers valuable insights for executives, entrepreneurs, and professionals seeking to build resilient, future-ready organizations.

The post Aurelian Chitez – A leader’s impact is not measured by the position they hold, but by the people and organizations they leave better than they found them appeared first on careers-business.com.

Graduate of the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Ilie Preda, founder of AdeonaCamps, is an unconventional entrepreneur fascinated by mountains, karate, people, and the philosophy behind every kind of ascent. At just 19 years old, he founded the Ochiul Muntelui Mountain Tourism Student Club. He never practiced in the field he originally studied, choosing instead to build his own vision of mountain tourism from a young age while continuing to climb some of the world’s great mountain ranges: the Tatras, the Alps, the Andes, and the Himalayas. Yet the ascent that matters most is undoubtedly AdeonaCamps. Even today, after 25 years, he remains actively involved in organizing mountain camps and excursions for children, playing a significant role in the development of adventure tourism in Romania.

He believes entrepreneurship is much like high-altitude expeditions. There are no guaranteed recipes for success, no certainties—perhaps only the beauty of each unique story. Attitude determines altitude!

C&B: How would you describe yourself in a single sentence that would capture the attention of someone who doesn’t know you?

Ilie: In the autumn of 2016, I decided to share lesser-known aspects of my life with people. Four years later, after repeatedly revisiting and rewriting entire chapters, a book emerged about a man who is always climbing, searching for a summit that does not exist—a Sisyphean effort whose ending remains uncertain.

On the Other Side brings together the years spent in the karate dojo, the mountains I have climbed, the entrepreneurial projects I have built, and the people who, in one way or another, influenced my transformation.

Even today, I firmly believe these worlds complement one another naturally because, at their core, they all require hard work, humility, determination, and respect.

C&B: Looking back, what has been the “red thread” guiding your professional journey?

Ilie: Avoiding a theoretical answer, I would rather highlight five personal moments that significantly contributed to my professional path and likely shaped me into who I am today:

1. Founding a karate club for children at just 18 years old, together with a close friend who was equally fearless.
2. Deciding to establish the Ochiul Muntelui Mountain Tourism Student Club in Cluj. It was an extraordinary opportunity and my first encounter with what I would later understand as leadership.
3. Choosing to resign from what was then a very well-paid job after learning the basics of sales and deciding to follow my own dream.
4. Signing the first long-term contract and building the first dedicated location for AdeonaCamps camps.
5. Stepping away from the operational side of the business and delegating decision-making.

If I were to draw a common thread, I would say: vision, motivation, attitude, learning, values, and hard work.

Exactly in that order.

C&B: What was a difficult moment or failure that truly changed you?

Ilie: I believe people stubbornly refuse to learn much in the absence of pain.

Each of us evolves through the accumulation of experiences over time, but meaningful change only occurs when we are pushed beyond our limits.

For me, the critical moment came in 2021, immediately after the pandemic, when it became clear that my heart condition was far more complex than I had believed. Three medical interventions quickly pulled me into a new reality that was difficult to accept.

I was forced to understand that the mountains would remain the same without me and that the only true profit is life itself and my family. No one can stay at the summit forever.

C&B: What courageous—or counterintuitive—decision significantly influenced your trajectory?

Ilie: It happened in 2009, the year my daughter was born and also the year the global economic crisis was causing dramatic effects across every industry.

At that time, I signed a 15-year contract for a mountain lodge in the Retezat Mountains, a property requiring extensive renovations and a substantial budget.

It seemed crazy, but I took the risk and borrowed the money needed to start the investment, surprising everyone around me—including my own family.

It worked. From that year on, AdeonaCamps began a steadily upward journey.

There was very little time before the start of the summer season, and what followed felt worthy of a Hollywood movie. I described the episode in detail in the book I mentioned earlier. In short, our first guests had already left Timișoara while we were still landscaping the property.

Romania’s road infrastructure unexpectedly helped us. The group was delayed, and the extra two hours we gained before their arrival meant flowers throughout the courtyard and the smell of fresh paint everywhere.

Today, I remember those times fondly, especially since Lolaia remains part of the Adeona portfolio—a place very close to my heart.

C&B: How have you changed over time as a leader and professional?

Ilie: I believe the passing years and especially the health issues I mentioned earlier taught me to slow down.

Deadline-driven projects and an endless list of achievements—if I may put quotation marks around the word—come with a price, one paid first by the leader and later by the team.

I have come to the conclusion that the process is more important than the numbers, even if this somehow contradicts entrepreneurial thinking and is therefore difficult to accept.

It wasn’t easy for me, but I believe I eventually understood that in life—and therefore in business—everything should be measured, yet time is the most important resource. All other resources will naturally align afterward.

C&B: What do you think the people who work closely with you would say about you beyond your public image?

Ilie: I don’t have a professionally crafted public image. Some say that is not something to be proud of and that an entrepreneur or leader should embody the image of their business.

I don’t feel the need to be at the center of attention, although I have often found myself in that position and managed reasonably well.

In fact, I do not believe I deliver what is popular today—inflated numbers, clichés, and glitter—but rather a certain spirit of humility, perhaps even an excessive one, which I cultivated through mountain climbing and years spent in the dojo.

To answer the question, I would like to believe that I inspire the people around me, even if I am often challenging.

C&B: What truly differentiates the way you build or lead?

Ilie: I believe there have been two completely different stages in my evolution.

The first was before the age of 45, when deadline-driven projects were the norm. The second began with my health issues.

As I mentioned earlier, every action comes with a cost. When that cost is no longer measured in money but in days spent in a hospital, decisions become self-evident.

As for my leadership style, I genuinely believe organizational culture is what people do when the leader is not present—not what they say they do, but what they actually do.

For this reason, I have avoided controlling people and invested heavily in trust. The real battle was against inherited prejudices and my own fears.

Sometimes I was wrong. Sometimes I made poor choices. But that is part of the game.

I do not hide the fact that there were occasions—few, fortunately—when my perspective was completely mistaken and I treated valuable people unfairly. That too is part of my evolution, even if it is less comfortable to acknowledge.

C&B: How has the current context—technology, AI, and the economy—changed the way you work?

Ilie: A large part of AdeonaCamps’ activity takes place in nature, in the mountains, or on sports fields.

Apart from the inevitable business tools used for communication, promotion, and marketing, we are only minimally affected by technological transformations.

I could say that the current context dramatically influences the behavior of our customers, and that behavior, in turn, transforms us and the way we operate. However, that is a much broader discussion than the space here allows.

C&B: Is there a habit or routine that has significantly influenced your performance?

Ilie: First of all, I believe I should define what performance means to me in business: I managed to build a model organization in a niche field without resources, relevant information, or established examples to follow.

Today, Adeona’s impact is significant, confirmed by the tens of thousands of students who have participated in our programs over the years. For most entrepreneurs, performance is measured through revenue, number of employees, or profit.

My main routine is organization. I do not start projects until I know exactly what steps need to be taken and what scenarios might arise.

At the beginning of each year, I create a rigorous plan that includes personal goals, new projects, ongoing projects, development initiatives, and investments.

All of these are anchored in a calendar and supported by separate budgets.

This does not mean such planning guarantees success, but it certainly provides a mirror that accurately reflects reality.

It helps that I can break down long-term objectives into smaller ones and track their achievement in detail without excessive effort.

I believe we should make a habit of taking one small step every day toward the summit we are trying to reach.

Long-term results do not come from spectacular leaps but from small, consistent, repeated achievements that accumulate quietly until they become a difficult-to-match advantage.

Real progress appears when you do those “small things” even on the days when you don’t feel like it.

Rhythm beats intensity, and consistency becomes a multiplier of results.

This is the formula through which strong careers, resilient businesses, and highly capable people are built.

C&B: What principles guide your most important decisions?

Ilie: It is a complex question with many possible answers. I will try to limit myself to five principles derived from five questions that I consider essential:

1. Why am I doing this? Is it important for me or for the business? How clear is the objective?
2. What resources does the project require? Time, energy, and money—in that order.
3. What are the possible scenarios? What is the downside risk for me or for potential partners?
4. Who are the partners and people involved? Do we share the same values, standards, and expectations?
5. Have enough days passed since I formulated my answers? Are those answers still valid? If yes, the project is probably viable.

I can honestly say that whenever I failed to answer one of these questions rationally and allowed emotions to dominate the analysis process—or avoided or vaguely answered one of them—I encountered problems in managing the project, some of them quite serious.

C&B: How do you see your industry evolving over the next three to five years?

Ilie: I believe there will be substantial transformations.

I expect a restructuring and resizing of the market, a clearer specialization by activity type—mountain camps, seaside camps, educational camps, sports camps, and so on—and, not least, a forced professionalization of the sector.

By that, I mean well-defined processes and standards established by the key players in the market.

C&B: What role do you intend to play in that evolution?

Ilie: AdeonaCamps is approaching the end of a stage marked by numerous organizational transformations.

It is time to consolidate the final conclusions and balance the elements that still do not function exactly as we would like within the systems we have built.

Once this process is completed, we will move toward an accelerated franchising strategy.

Franchising itself requires professionalism, processes, standards, evaluation methods, and more.

C&B: What practical advice would you give someone who wants to build something meaningful today?

Ilie: I will be as concise as possible and limit myself to five essential questions:

1. Are you sure your dream or project is not just a passing trend or temporary whim? What will it look like years from now?
2. Can you create transformation, progress, or meaningful impact in your chosen field?
3. Do you have the necessary resources? What is their source?
4. Who will accompany you on this journey?
5. Who do you want to become by the end of it?

If the answers satisfy you, it is time to act.

If, after many years, you remain relevant, you probably answered those questions correctly.

If you need to constantly praise yourself on social media, you may be making money—I cannot say—but it is certain that you have not built anything truly meaningful.

C&B: What is an uncomfortable truth about your industry that few people talk about?

Ilie: Unfortunately, the children’s camp market—the market in which we also operate—is undergoing continuous transformation, and not necessarily in a positive direction. This is only my personal opinion and should be treated as such.

Behavioral patterns are changing at an astonishing speed from one generation to the next.

Social media and the isolation of young people are part of this irreversible process. The confusion between reality and the virtual world seems to be becoming acceptable.

Mountains, nature, and sports of any kind all require a certain level of physical effort.

What is sad is that fewer and fewer children are willing to make the effort necessary to experience the joy of a hike in nature or a ball game with friends. Instant gratification is only one click away.

The real issue is this: parents are part of this transformation as well.

The mountains are a way of life, and I believe each of us has a responsibility to bring them, in one form or another, into our children’s lives.

But perhaps that is a conversation for another time.

Ilie Preda’s story proves that authentic performance is built over time through discipline, patience, and the ability to remain true to one’s values. From mountain expeditions to the development of AdeonaCamps, every stage of his journey reflects the power of consistency and trust-based leadership.

The post Ilie Preda, AdeonaCamps: “Attitude determines altitude. In business, just like in the mountains, every summit has its lessons” appeared first on careers-business.com.

Cristina Filip is an entrepreneur and organizational development consultant, the founder of Be Connected, with over 15 years of business experience and more than 17 years in the corporate environment, where she supports leaders and organizations in identifying blockages within their internal systems, aligning people, processes, and leadership, and building engaged teams and sustainable performance. At the same time, as a family and systemic constellations facilitator, she integrates into her work a profound perspective on the invisible dynamics that influence decisions, relationships, and results, working with people and organizations at a systemic level to bring clarity, stability, and direction where things seem blocked.

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

Cristina Filip: The narrative thread of my career is built around several moments that, looking back, fundamentally changed the way I understand performance, decision-making, and people.

One defining moment was joining a multinational organization where entrepreneurship was not just a concept, but a value lived every day. It was both a business school and a life school, where I learned what real responsibility means, how to make decisions under pressure, and the impact leadership has on people and results.

The second moment was the transition to entrepreneurship and the founding of Be Connected. Moving from the role of HR and Training Director, as part of the board, to becoming an entrepreneur meant stepping out of a system that supports and validates you into a space where you are the one creating direction, structure, and trust. It was a profound stage of professional and personal maturation.

However, the moment that radically changed my perspective was the loss of my husband. It opened another dimension of understanding — beyond logic and control — and brought me into contact with the world of family constellations, a space where I began to understand how deeply our choices and direction are influenced by invisible dynamics.

Discovering systemic constellations was the next natural step, where I realized that the same principles governing family systems are also present in organizations: in relationships, positioning, decisions, and results.

Today, what defines my work is the integration of these two worlds — the organizational one, connected to people, processes, and performance, and the deeply human one, connected to the relationship with the self. I believe true potential emerges when these two dimensions are no longer separated.

This perspective is also the foundation of my book, Când viața se rescrie – Relații transformate prin constelații familiale, in which I explore, through real experiences and personal reflections, how profound change begins from within and is then reflected in all areas of life and business.

C&B: What has been the most difficult moment in your journey so far, and how did you overcome it?

Cristina Filip: For me, the most difficult moment was losing my husband during a period when I was simultaneously responsible for leading two businesses. It was a context where it was no longer only about business decisions, but about finding the inner resources to move forward during a time of profound personal instability.

During that period, I discovered family constellations, and later chose to deepen this direction through facilitator training. It was a turning point because I started finding answers I had been searching for in business, but could not access solely through logic or analysis.

The clarity I gained through this experience helped me not only navigate that moment, but also rebuild the way I view decisions, relationships, and leadership.

The people around me — my community, family, and friends — also played an essential role, offering real support not only emotionally, but also through their presence and grounding in reality.

Looking back, it was one of the most difficult periods, but also one that profoundly changed my direction and the way I work today with people and organizations.

C&B: When did you realize this project could become a scalable business?

Cristina Filip: The moment I realized this project could become a scalable business was when I deeply understood the mechanisms behind blockages — not only at an individual level, but also within organizations.

Until that point, I had been working more intuitively, based on experience. But when I started seeing recurring patterns — in decisions, relationships, and team dynamics — and understanding what generated them and how they could be transformed, it became clear that this was not only about isolated interventions, but about a model that could be replicated and scaled.

That was when I realized I could take this approach further — not only to individuals, but also to entrepreneurs, leaders, and organizations facing similar blockages, even if they appeared in different forms.

For me, scalability did not come only from structure or products, but from the clarity of the method and the fact that the results are relevant across various contexts — from personal life to strategic business decisions.

C&B: What personally motivated you to pursue the learning & organizational development field?

Cristina Filip: For me, choosing the learning and organizational development field was not a calculated decision, but rather a natural direction.

I have always been drawn to the idea of development — real growth, not only in terms of results, but also at the human level. I was constantly interested in how I could use more of what I enjoy and what feels meaningful to me. And the answer came simply: by working with people and contributing to their growth.

Over time, I realized that beyond strategies, processes, or information, what truly makes the difference in an organization is its people — the way they think, relate, make decisions, and manage pressure. That is where blockages appear, but also where potential exists.

My motivation comes from the desire to create spaces where people can see more clearly, understand what blocks them, and make more conscious choices — both for themselves and for the organizations they are part of.

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

Cristina Filip: I believe that if you asked the people I work with, they would first talk about connection — about the way I manage to create a space where they feel seen and understood.

They would say that I offer guidance and support, but without imposing directions, instead helping them find their own answers. That I pay attention to people, nuances, and to what is not said directly, yet still influences relationships and decisions.

They would probably also mention the energy I bring — positive, yet grounded in reality — and my ability to mobilize people, becoming a sort of engine in achieving goals, especially when things seem blocked.

And perhaps most importantly, that I work “together with them,” in an authentic partnership where growth is built step by step.

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

Cristina Filip: I do not believe there was a single decision that was “the most important” and completely changed my trajectory.

Rather, my journey has been built through a series of choices and events that, put together, guided me toward where I am today. There were many turning points — some conscious, others shaped by circumstances I could not control — but each contributed to greater clarity and the next step forward.

Looking back, I realize the common thread was not one singular decision, but the willingness to listen to myself, adapt, and move forward even when I did not have all the answers.

All these “small” decisions actually built the big change.

C&B: How did you build your leadership style and your way of making decisions? Was it a natural or learned process?

Cristina Filip: When I look back at my first leadership role and the journey that followed, I can say that my leadership style and the way I make decisions were not fixed or something I was simply “given,” but rather an ongoing process of development.

They were built over time, through direct experience, different contexts, and the people I worked with. Every situation — especially the difficult or high-stakes ones — challenged me to adapt my approach, better understand relationship dynamics, and recognize the impact decisions have on teams and results.

To a large extent, it was a learned process, but one deeply grounded in practice. Not only from theory, but from reality: from understanding what works, what does not, and from the ability to constantly reflect and adjust.

Today, I would say my leadership style is based on connection, clarity, and responsibility — and my decisions come from a balance between analysis, intuition, and a deep understanding of the human context behind every situation.

C&B: What are the most common mistakes organizations make when trying to motivate employees?

Cristina Filip: One of the most common mistakes organizations make is believing motivation can be “solved” mechanically — through salary increases or benefit packages — and that this will automatically lead to engagement, satisfaction, and performance.

In reality, things are far more nuanced.

Salaries and benefits are essential for market alignment and competitiveness. But they are not enough to build an environment where people truly want to stay and perform. Real motivation comes from a much more complex mix: the quality of relationships, leadership style, sense of meaning, recognition, and psychological safety.

Another mistake is implementing initiatives without truly understanding the organization’s reality. My recommendation is simple: do not offer solutions before measuring. Understand where you are, what people feel, and what they want. An employee opinion survey can be a valuable starting point.

But equally important is what happens afterward. Very often, organizations collect feedback but fail to act concretely, which leads to even greater frustration and mistrust.

And perhaps most importantly, the impact of toxic relationships is often ignored. Sometimes, changing a manager or removing destructive behavior can completely transform the atmosphere and restore people’s energy, joy, and willingness to engage.

Motivation is not a button you press. It is the result of a system of relationships, decisions, and contexts that you create day by day.

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

Cristina Filip: My days never look the same — and I think that is exactly what makes them alive. I work with a variety of contexts, people, and challenges, and the rhythm comes from this diversity: client meetings, work sessions, workshop preparation, or moments of reflection and structuring.

Still, there is a common thread that gives meaning to every day.

The greatest moments of satisfaction appear when, while working with clients, that “aha” moment happens. When I hear: “I never thought this could be what was blocking me.” That is the moment when something becomes visible and clear, and the perspective shifts.

Equally valuable are the moments when I see people succeed in removing blockages — whether related to difficult decisions, relationships, or professional contexts. That is where not only clarity appears, but also energy, courage, and direction.

For me, satisfaction comes from these real transformations, from the changes I see in people and in the way they choose to move forward.

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

Cristina Filip: The values and principles that guide me are not just things I believe in, but things I live every day in everything I do.

Authentic connection with people
For me, relationships are the foundation. I create spaces where people can truly see themselves beyond roles or titles. In every interaction, I choose to be present, attentive, and open.

Clarity beyond appearances
I do not stop at what is visible or logical. I look deeper, where the real blockages exist. I enjoy guiding conversations to the point where clarity appears and things begin to make sense.

Personal responsibility
I believe every person has the resources needed to find their own answers. My role is to create the context and guide, not to provide ready-made solutions. I encourage ownership and conscious choices.

Growth through awareness
I do not believe only in “doing more,” but in understanding better. Real and sustainable change comes from that understanding. That is what I pursue in everything I do.

Authenticity and coherence
For me, it is important that there is alignment between what I say and what I do. People feel this coherence, and trust is built from there.

I apply these values daily through the way I work with people, through the questions I ask, the space I create, and the decisions I make.

C&B: How did the idea behind Be Connected emerge, and what real problem did you want to solve in the market?

Cristina Filip: Be Connected emerged from a real need I observed while working with organizations, leaders, and teams: although strategies, processes, and investments in people exist, retention and engagement remain constant challenges.

I wanted to create more than traditional consulting and organizational or personal development services. I wanted to create a framework where we could go beyond the surface — to the place where the blockages affecting performance, relationships, and decisions are actually formed.

Studies and direct experience confirmed for me that motivation and retention are not only about benefits or isolated initiatives. That is why I built initiatives such as Engage, Retain & Grow – Executive Event and programs dedicated to the organizational environment, approaching employee engagement in an integrated way: leadership, relationships, organizational culture, and the invisible mechanisms influencing behavior.

At the same time, the workshops — both organizational and individual — complement this approach. They add an experiential dimension, where people not only understand, but concretely see what blocks them and can create real change.

The problem I wanted to solve is not the lack of information, but the lack of clarity and connection. Because most of the time, organizations know what they should do, but fail to truly change how people function internally.

Be Connected is the answer to this need: an approach that connects strategy with the human reality inside organizations and creates contexts in which people can become more engaged, stay longer, and perform — not out of obligation, but out of meaning and alignment.

C&B: How have companies’ needs changed in recent years?

Cristina Filip: Looking at the evolution of recent years, I believe companies’ needs have changed not only in depth, but also in pace — much faster than they were used to.

In the past, the focus was on processes, efficiency, and results. Today, these remain important, but they are complemented by two major pressures: people and technology, especially AI.

On one hand, companies increasingly feel the challenges related to retention and engagement. It is no longer enough to offer stability or benefits. People are looking for meaning, autonomy, healthy relationships, and leadership that truly sees and understands them. This creates a real need to build organizational cultures where people choose to stay, not simply remain.

On the other hand, AI is fundamentally changing the way we work. It automates processes and increases efficiency, but at the same time places pressure on roles, competencies, and the way leaders make decisions. Companies no longer need only people who execute, but people who think, adapt, and can work in a constantly changing environment.

And here an interesting tension appears: the more technology advances, the more important the human component becomes. Relationships, trust, clarity in decisions, and the ability to navigate uncertainty cannot be automated.

At the same time, leaders face increasingly complex decisions: how to integrate AI without losing people, how to increase performance without creating burnout, and how to remain relevant in a constantly changing context.

That is why I believe companies today have a dual need: to keep pace with technology while not losing sight of what is essential — people and the way they function together.

Ultimately, the difference will not be made by whoever adopts AI the fastest, but by whoever manages to create a real balance between technological performance and human maturity within organizations.

C&B: How was the Engage, Retain & Grow event born, and what role does it play in your ecosystem?

Cristina Filip: The Engage, Retain & Grow event did not emerge as an isolated initiative, but as part of a broader ecosystem we built around a very clear organizational need: how do we truly create engagement, retention, and sustainable performance?

Everything started with the analysis and deep understanding of the phenomenon — through a study dedicated to retention and engagement, where we examined not only the data, but also the business impact and the practices that genuinely work. This study highlighted one essential thing: the difference is not made by isolated initiatives, but by the coherence between leadership, culture, and the way people experience the organization day by day.

Based on these insights, Engage, Retain & Grow – Executive Event was created as a space where leaders can understand these dynamics, see concrete examples, and have relevant conversations that go beyond theory.

However, the event is only one part of the ecosystem.

We also built the “Engage, Retain & Grow” program, structured into eight modules, which takes things further — from awareness into implementation. It is a framework in which organizations can work practically on their own realities: from leadership and relationships to the mechanisms influencing engagement and retention.

The role of the event within this ecosystem is one of opening and clarification. It is the place where the right questions emerge, where leaders begin to see what is not working and where the actual blockages exist.

Then, through the program and subsequent interventions, this process continues and transforms into concrete actions and real change.

In essence, Engage, Retain & Grow is not just an event, but an integrated system — from understanding (study), to awareness (event), to transformation (program) — built to respond to a real challenge in today’s business environment.

Through her expertise in leadership, organizational development, and systemic constellations, Cristina Filip offers an integrated perspective on how organizations can build employee retention, engagement, and sustainable performance.

The post Cristina Filip, Founder of Be Connected – Leadership, organizational development, and employee retention in modern business appeared first on careers-business.com.

Adriana Preda is a social innovator, strategist, and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience at the intersection of social impact, business, and systemic innovation, known for building and scaling programs and platforms that create real opportunities for young people and vulnerable communities in Romania, Central and Eastern Europe, and more recently in the United States, working across both the non-profit sector and the areas of strategic consulting and initiatives with integrated social value. She is currently a Board Member of The Social Incubator Association, a strategy, impact, and ESG consultant at Nimble Minds, and is developing a startup in the impact-driven advertising space, focused on models through which marketing budgets can support concrete social change.

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

Adriana Preda: If I were to look at my career as a narrative thread, I wouldn’t say it was built on spectacular moments, but rather on a few decisions that changed its direction and proved to be lasting.

The first important moment came from the legal field, directly tied to my education. At the beginning, law seemed to me a powerful tool to correct injustices. I have always been moved by situations of abuse, helplessness, and people who lack the language or resources to defend themselves. I believed the law could be a real vehicle for balance and protection. The experience shaped me, but it also awakened me. I quickly understood that formal justice does not automatically reach those who need it most, and that systems, no matter how well-intentioned, have their limits.

Then came television. I entered that space with the sincere desire to be the voice of stories that were not being told and of people who were not being heard. I believed in the power of visibility and in the role of public exposure as a form of change. It was an intense and deeply clarifying stage. I saw how easily nuance gets lost, how complex realities are compressed into formats that demand quick impact. I learned that telling a story is not enough if there is no responsibility after the spotlight fades. A voice, without continuity, sometimes remains just noise.

The Social Incubator, however, was the place where all these threads came together. That’s where the need for justice, the desire to give voice, and especially the need to build something lasting met. I moved from signaling problems to working, day by day, on solutions. From reaction to structure. From emotion to systems that can support real people over the long term. It was the space where I learned what leadership responsibility means, the pressure of decision-making, and the invisible work behind real impact. Looking back, this beginning was more of a search than a plan. I was searching for the right tool. Law gave me the framework. Television gave me the voice. Civil society gave me the place where the two could be put to work, with meaning, patience, and real consequences.

Now I am at the intersection of all these worlds. I work between civil society, business, and consulting, with the same question in mind, but with much clearer tools. I build bridges between impact and economy, between good intentions and systems that can function at scale, between real needs on the ground and resources that exist but are often poorly connected.

After years of working directly with young people, organizations, and communities, I understood that sustainable change does not come from a single sector. It comes from the ability to hold them together. To translate between them. To create models where doing good does not depend only on grants or favorable contexts, but is integrated into how organizations, companies, and markets function.

C&B: What is the biggest challenge you have faced as a leader of a non-profit organization, and how did you overcome it?

Adriana Preda: The biggest challenge was keeping the organization whole in moments when nothing was certain. Unstable funding, constant pressure for results, tired teams, and people looking to leadership for direction, even when I myself had few clear answers.

In the non-profit world, crises don’t come one at a time. They overlap. And the temptation is to accelerate, to compensate through control, to promise more than you know you can deliver. There was a moment when I understood that the biggest mistake would be to perform certainty. I chose the opposite—I was explicit about what we knew and what we didn’t, I set clear boundaries, and I slowed down decisions driven by fear, moving them back into reason.

Another real challenge was balancing mission and people. The desire to help can quickly become a form of collective burnout. I learned to protect the team, even when external needs seemed more urgent. I held the pressure at the leadership level and refused to let it cascade downward. It wasn’t always a popular decision, but it was a necessary one.

I overcame these moments by changing how I defined success. Not only through delivered impact, but through the organization’s ability to remain healthy, coherent, and dignified in difficult conditions. With clearer processes, accountable decisions, and a lot of presence—without spectacular solutions. Just constant, honest, human building.

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

Adriana Preda: The ambition that has consistently guided me has been to build contexts in which people have real chances, not just inspirational success stories. From the very beginning, I was less interested in the idea of saving and much more in the idea of building fair conditions. Access, reference points, people who see you at the right time, and systems that don’t exclude you from the start.

Along the way, the shape of this dream has changed. At first, it was about being on the side of those who were wronged. Then about giving them a voice. Today, it is about changing the rules of the game that produce the same inequalities, generation after generation, through structures that function even when enthusiasm fades.

What has remained constant is the refusal to accept that some destinies are “natural.” I don’t believe that. I believe many trajectories are the result of context, not personal value. My ambition is to work exactly where context can be redesigned. Even if it’s slower, even if it’s harder to explain. For me, true success is when change no longer depends on me, but can continue without me.

C&B: What were you like at the beginning of your journey, and how do you feel you have transformed up to now?

Adriana Preda: At the beginning, I was very determined, but also very rushed. I had a lot of energy, a lot of frustration with injustice, and a strong need to prove that things could be done differently. I believed that if you worked hard enough and spoke clearly, change would follow almost naturally. I was involved everywhere, present in every detail, with the feeling that responsibility always rested on my shoulders.

Over time, I have transformed more than I planned. I learned to slow down without losing direction. To choose the battles that truly matter. Not to confuse urgency with importance. I learned that leadership means creating clarity, space, and trust for others—not being visible all the time.

Perhaps the biggest change has been how I relate to myself. I moved from defining myself through effort and sacrifice to defining myself through judgment, consistency, and healthy boundaries. Today, I no longer feel the need to constantly prove myself. I care more about what remains than what is seen. And, perhaps paradoxically, this grounding has made the work stronger and more sustainable.

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

Adriana Preda: They would probably say that I am demanding and results-oriented, but also fair and consistent. I place a strong emphasis on clarity, responsibility, and meaning. I believe in autonomy, but also in accountability, and I try to create a space where people can express themselves and grow, even when things are difficult.

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

Adriana Preda: The most important decision was to let go of the idea that I had to choose a single direction and stick to it at all costs. For a long time, I felt the pressure to fit into a clearly defined role—lawyer, journalist, NGO leader. At some point, I consciously chose to stop separating these identities and to build exactly at their intersection.

This decision meant stepping out of comfortable zones and easy-to-explain labels. It meant accepting a path that is harder to read from the outside, but much more coherent on the inside. It also meant the risk of being perceived as “too much” or “too different” for some contexts—and I embraced that.

From that moment on, my trajectory changed. I started thinking long-term, building bridges between worlds that don’t naturally speak to each other, and making decisions not for the next step, but for the architecture of the entire journey. It was the moment I truly moved from execution to building.

C&B: How did you build your leadership style or your way of making decisions? Was it a natural or learned process?

Adriana Preda: My leadership style did not emerge from a single moment or role—it was built over time, from reality, pressure, and deliberate choices. It has been a deeply learned process, but also a very personal one. I invested a lot in learning, in mentors, in coaching, and in reflection spaces where I could understand not just what I do, but how and why I do it.

At some point, I realized that if I wanted to build something that lasts, I couldn’t lead purely “by instinct” forever. So I chose to treat leadership as a competency, just like strategy or finance. I approached the non-profit organization with the same rigor as a business—clear structure, functional processes, defined responsibilities, data-driven decisions. At the same time, I knew that the human dimension is not a “soft skill,” but the invisible infrastructure that holds everything together.

I worked a lot with the idea of transfer. What can be taken from business and adapted into social impact, what principles are universal, how do you build sustainability without losing meaning? This cross-sector thinking completely changed how I make decisions. It helped me move from reaction to architecture—not just solving today’s problems, but preventing tomorrow’s.

In the beginning, I was very present in all the details. I believed leadership meant being everywhere, carrying everything, compensating. Over time, I learned something more difficult but essential—that true authority comes from clarity, and that sometimes the best decision is to step back, create space, and trust.

Today, my leadership style is calmer, more strategic, and more human. I make decisions with people, consequences, and time in mind. I care just as much about how a result is achieved as about the result itself. And perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned is this—leadership never ends. It evolves, it refines itself, and it always requires honesty with yourself and with those who walk alongside you.

C&B: What is the fundamental mission of the organization and how has it evolved since its launch?

Adriana Preda: The organization’s mission has been, from the beginning, to create real opportunities for young people who start with a significant contextual disadvantage, in a concrete way. Access to relevant education, to people who see them, to experiences that can change their trajectory before the system locks them into a label.

At launch, the mission was very focused on direct intervention. We worked with young people leaving the protection system who urgently needed guidance, skills, and support to integrate professionally. It was about being there, close to them, and filling obvious gaps—basic education, orientation, first contact with the labor market.

Over time, the mission matured. We realized it wasn’t enough to work only with end beneficiaries, no matter how well we did it. So we expanded our intervention to the ecosystem—companies, schools, institutions, decision-makers. We began building programs that not only help young people, but change how organizations work with them. We shifted the focus from “how do we support one young person” to “how do we change the system that excludes them.”

Today, the mission is broader and clearer. We build models that can be replicated, partnerships that sustain long-term impact, and real bridges between the social and economic sectors. We are no longer just talking about integration, but about equity of opportunity and the collective responsibility not to waste potential.

The evolution has been natural—from reaction to architecture, from solutions for individual cases to interventions that can change the rules of the game. The mission remained the same in essence; only the tools became more mature.

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

Adriana Preda: Honestly, there is no truly typical day. My days are a mix of strategic work, decisions that require clarity, and many conversations that don’t appear on the agenda but matter immensely. I might start the morning in a strategy call or a board discussion and end it in a meeting where the stakes are purely human.

A significant part of my time is dedicated to thinking—analyzing, structuring, connecting dots between projects, people, and different contexts. I work with teams and partners from very different areas, so a large part of my day is about translation—between languages, expectations, and rhythms.

But there are also days that completely break the rhythm. Days when one of our young people walks in or calls just to say they got into university. Or that they’ve completed their first month at their first job and their voice still trembles a little when they talk about it. Or that, for the first time, they feel like they belong. These moments are not planned and don’t show up in reports, but they give meaning to everything else.

Equally important are the simple moments with the team—the laughter between meetings, a story shared in passing, a joke that releases the tension of a hard day. These small things hold people together and make long-term work possible.

The greatest satisfaction comes from this mix—from being able to work on systems while also seeing real people going through real change. When strategy and life meet, that’s when I know I’m exactly where I need to be.

C&B: What concrete changes has The Social Incubator brought to the communities you work with?

Adriana Preda: The changes brought by The Social Incubator are most visible in transformed trajectories—and we don’t look only at numbers. In the communities we work with, we have helped many young people move from a space of risk and uncertainty to one of stability, autonomy, and perspective. Young people who entered programs without clear direction and who today are employed, students, mentors, or even leaders in their own communities.

Concretely, we have created real bridges between vulnerable youth and the labor market through direct exposure, practical experiences, and long-term relationships with employers. We have changed how companies relate to these young people—from distrust to responsibility, from “they are not ready” to “what can we do differently so they are.”

At the community level, we introduced working models that did not previously exist—integrated programs combining education, career guidance, emotional support, and mentorship. We professionalized social intervention and brought rigor where often there was only good intention. This increased not only impact, but also trust from local partners and institutions.

Perhaps one of the most important changes is cultural. We contributed to shifting the narrative about young people from vulnerable backgrounds—from “beneficiaries” to people with potential, from exceptions to resources. This shift in perspective created effects that go beyond the organization and are felt in communities, schools, companies, and families.

C&B: How was The Social Incubator Association born and what was the initial inspiration behind this project?

Adriana Preda: The Social Incubator Association was born from a very simple and very harsh reality. There was (and still is) a huge gap between young people who had access to education, networks, and opportunities, and those leaving the protection system or vulnerable environments without any safety net.

The initial inspiration came from a very concrete question asked by the founding members—people who had been volunteering for many years in foster care centers and were witnessing this critical moment from the inside: what happens to these young people after they are no longer “anyone’s responsibility”?

At the beginning, the idea was to build a transition space—a place where young people are not treated as beneficiaries, but as individuals at the start of their journey, with real potential. A place that offers not just skills, but also confidence, exposure, and meaningful relationships. That is also where the name comes from—an incubator does not artificially accelerate growth, but creates the conditions for something fragile to take root.

Over time, the project grew far beyond its initial form. We quickly understood that it is not enough to work only with young people, no matter how well we do it. So we began building partnerships with companies, mentors, institutions, and local communities. We brought together actors who do not normally collaborate and connected them through a shared responsibility.

The inspiration remains the same to this day—the belief that talent is equally distributed, but opportunities are not. The Social Incubator was created to reduce this gap and continues to exist to demonstrate that when context changes, destinies can change too.

C&B: How would you describe your leadership style in an NGO and how does it differ from a similar role in a traditional business?

Adriana Preda: In an NGO, my leadership is deeply anchored in people and purpose. Decisions are never purely operational, because almost every choice has a direct impact on real lives. That requires attention, clarity, and constant presence, because you cannot lead only through results. You have to account for context, different rhythms, and vulnerabilities that don’t show up in a P&L but deeply influence the work.

At the same time, I have led an NGO with the rigor of a business—clear structure, measurable objectives, well-defined responsibilities, and accountable decisions. I strongly believe that lack of professionalization does more harm than lack of resources. The difference is that in an NGO, performance is measured in trust, stability, and the organization’s ability to remain healthy in the long term.

In a traditional business, things are more direct—decisions can be faster, accountability chains clearer, and performance pressure explicit. In an NGO, the pressure is more diffuse, but often heavier. It comes from moral expectations, social urgency, and responsibility toward communities that have no alternatives.

The major difference, however, is not technical, but about stakes. In business, mistakes cost money. In an NGO, mistakes can cost trust, lost time, or real opportunities for people. That’s why my leadership style in the non-profit space is more deliberate, more attentive, and more oriented toward long-term building—less about speed and more about direction.

Adriana Preda’s story is one of long-term building, intentional leadership, and the ability to connect different worlds to create real change. At the intersection of social impact, business, and strategy, she is redefining how opportunities can be created and scaled for young people and vulnerable communities.

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