There are No Coincidences

BUSINESS There are No Coincidences a person for whom meaning is very important, who appreciates the freedom of independence, loves a fun approach to life and accepts responsibility for everything she does, who is convinced that very few things can be coincidences and that almost everything has a solution: we bring you an interview with Hana Čmielová, CEO of Storybend, an expert on the Inpram platform and a Barret Values Centre certified coach. Mrs Čmielová, you are the co-founder and director of the non-profit organization Zkuseni. cz. What is the goal of the project and where did the idea to establish such organization come from? That thought had its journey. I’ll relate it to my childhood. Even back then I was fascinated by old people – and I mean that in the best possible way –because I had an amazing relationship with my parents and grandparents. I got along with the older people. So by the time my baby, so to speak, flew the coop, I had fewer responsibilities. So the question arose as to what to do with all this free time. And, as they say, there are no coincidences – at this time I was approached by my colleague, Milan Lindovsky, who thought that we could come up with something for active seniors, and it was done. We started to operate the social portal Zkušení.cz within the company Storybend s.r.o. Its main mission was and is the possibility of a new, fully-fledged involvement of the elderly in society via finding new occasional job opportunities, thus enabling them to pass on their talents, experience, products, etc. The activities of Zkuseni.cz have gradually grown since then. Originally, we did not intend to establish a non-profit organization, but the circumstances forced us to ‘enter’ the non-profit field and the original social portal transformed into the registered institute ZKUŠENÍ.CZ, z.ú. If you are curious about other activities or events we offer, please visit www. ZKUSENI.CZ. Text: redakce Foto: archiv Hany Čmielové You are a very active woman—CEO of the Storybend company, an expert on the Inpram platform and a Barret Values Centre certified coach. Could you please describe these institutions briefly? What do they do? Oh yes, sometimes I surprise myself. The world is colourful and offers a plethora of opportunities. Storybend s.r.o., which celebrated its twentieth anniversary this September, focuses on event management, advertising and production. My colleagues and I at Inpram are trying to help companies increase employee engagement and productivity by targeting their strengths and values. Values are my ‘thing’. And it’s a big topic in today’s society! I work with values on the basis of the unique global methodology Barrett Values Centre. Even though we don’t realise it, values govern our internal settings that fundamentally influences what decisions we make in specific life situations, regardless of whether it’s work or personal life. 28 ǀ POSITIV 4/2021 What surprised you most about working with elderly people? I don’t know if there was something extremely surprising. My expectations often meet with reality and that is probably the basis of my entrepreneurship. I have amazingly creative people around me, understanding and supportive board members who have original ideas. The elderly people, not only in the Moravian-Silesian Region, appreciate that and they enjoy the collaboration with Zkušení.cz. It is a great impulse to do other activities for them. We also manage to connect different generations and ‘break the dogma’ with the younger generation— ’old age = a dirty word’, because contemporary society is focused on performance and the cult of the young. The current two years with COVID are a big challenge for all of us. For this reason, I am very happy that, despite all the restrictions, we managed to organize a series of seminars supported by the Moravian-Silesian Region, ‘Senior Home Alone or (Un)safe Senior 2021’, planned travel, wanderings around the Czech Republic, and regular meetings of the Jiřičky Club. We also didn’t interrupt collaboration with the University of Ostrava Faculty of Social Studies, the VŠB Technical University of Ostrava Faculty of Safety Engineering, the Magnolia Elderly Home, the Moravian-Silesian Region, the Statutory City of Ostrava, other clubs, organizations, supporters … You are a member of the Czech-Moravian Association of Businesswomen and Managers. What were the reasons you joined the association and what does the membership give you? The Czech-Moravian Association of Businesswomen and Managers has a great potential for female entrepreneurs and managers across professions, even globally; I like to use it. We have common projects with many colleagues, everything happens on a win-win principle and in the context of the vision of ‘women supporting women’. For me, this is an extremely encouraging collaboration. I appreciate exchanging experiences in resolving various problematic situations in managing the company; it gives me greater insight outside my field. What makes me especially happy is the professional growth of our young members. It is a very nice feeling to watch and be part of the beginning of their entrepreneurship leading to their first successes!