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!