BUSINESS
Being Brave and Pursuing Goals
Renáta Valerie Nešporek is a woman of many facets. The first vice-president of the CzechMoravian Association of Businesswomen and Managers (Českomoravská asociace podnikatelek
a manažerek) and the chair of the institution’s branch in Ostrava, a mediator who respects win-win
solutions, good communication and high professionalism, is also a fundraiser for the Entrepreneurs
Trade Unions–the Union of Entrepreneurs and Freelancers Associations (Podnikatelské odbory –
Unie podnikatelských a živnostenských spolků, z.s.) and the manager of the designer fashion brand
MarVa de Luxe. She independently contracts with a few universities. This lady lives every moment
to the fullest and cannot picture herself doing what she would not truly enjoy.
Mrs Nešporek, you are the first vice-president
of the Czech-Moravian Association of
Businesswomen and Managers and also the
chairwoman of the Ostrava branch. What was
your personal goal when taking up the position?
The Ostrava branch will celebrate its ninth birthday
this year. My goal was to make it the best club in
the association. And that became true. It is not
just my personal feeling, but it is also supported
with numbers. And I believe that ‘you can manage
only the things you can measure’. The satisfaction
of the members is important to me, that they feel
good in the club and see the value added for their
businesses development from the meetings.
As the first vice-president, I have been responsible
mainly for the internal operations of the
association since 2018, i.e. ensuring effective
communication between individual clubs (eight
in total), improving relationships with external
partners and, last but not least, carrying out our
strategies.
Could you please give us an idea what
services the association offers to managers
and businesswomen and why you believe it is
important to support them in this field?
Businesswomen and female managers need
a ‘place’ to meet each other. It doesn’t matter
whether it is online or offline. It is important to
share experiences, discover and realize new
opportunities and develop oneself.
The association has a number of tools, programmes
and activities. As the members form a wide
spectrum of professional specialization, age and
values, we react to and offer many interesting
things in this context.
Establishing a long-term collaboration with Veuve
Clicquot and L´Occitane en Provence is the
newest thing, but you already mentioned it in your
newsletter. We joined the international project
‘Choose Women’, we are showing our children
the path into business via the ‘Next Generation’
programme--I could go on.
We enjoy almost every Friday morning a ‘morning
coffee’ with interesting guests. The Ostrava branch
organizes an online ‘glass of wine or club meeting
of successful women’ every second Thursday of
the month.
What are you currently working on and what are
your plans for the upcoming weeks or months?
I keep fulfilling my dreams. Once, I wanted to be
a lawyer or a fashion designer. And now I have both
in a somehow transformed way.
At the moment, I am establishing a mediation
office in Ostrava. I ‘fell in love’ with mediation as
such during my LL.M. studies and I think that the
out-of-court settlement of conflicts is an amazing
opportunity to improve our lives. I became
a registered mediator this year and at the moment
I am meeting with my clients online.
I have been actively engaged in fashion for two
years. I work as a fashion manager for the Ostrava
fashion brand MarVa de Luxe. I also create myself.
My domain is silk hand-painted scarfs. And I also
want to try jewelry.
Antifragility, creativity and tenaciousness are my
key characteristics. I am convinced that every
period brings new challenges, opportunities and
possibilities. I live and do business here and now.
I am not waiting for SOMETHING to change.
What was your path to becoming one of the top
managers? Did luck play any part or did you have
to fight for your position?
There was no fight. I am a lover of opportunities, so
I just used them. They were no dream positions, but
they were somehow interesting for me. I am used
to pushing things forward. The passive approach is
strange to me. My time-proven method is to surround
myself with great people and use their potential.
I don’t suffer from impostor syndrome. I am not
afraid. Success is like living water to me and I love it.
Where do you draw your energy from to be able
to function again the next morning? How do you
manage to combine business with family life?
I hope that you ask men the same question (laughing).
I have my work-life balance managed. I had
my workaholic period a long time ago. I don’t
do anything I wouldn’t enjoy and with anyone
I wouldn’t enjoy doing it. I can say NO and I can
also say to myself ENOUGH. And I am authentic.
It is nice to be able to do it and dare to do it. And
I can.
Thank you for the interview.
Text: redakce
Foto: Sergey Sekurov
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