Barbora Uher Hanko - Key Skill Effective Time Management
90ǀ POSITIV WOMAN
ŽENY
What led you to decide to pursue the field of
watchmaking, commerce, and hotel industry? What
was your career path to your current position?
The answer is quite simple: a family business. Since
I was 14, I had the chance to learn from my parents
firsthand, especially my father. Summer jobs and
subsequent visits to watch exhibitions in Switzerland,
Germany, or Hong Kong have been part of my life
since the beginning. Initially, however, I focused mainly
on the hotel industry, which I was very close to due
to internships and subsequent two years of work in
London at The May Fair Hotel. After returning from
abroad, I joined the family company MPM Quality,
focusing on sales for our market and branches in CZ,
HU, PL, and SK. I had to quickly orient myself in the
new environment and deal with the gradual transfer
of all competencies for the company’s handover
and decision-making. In a family business, you know
everyone pretty much since they were in “diapers,”
and that was one of the things that I had to learn
to work with. To be quite honest, I went through
several positions from being a waiter to working in
warehouses, production, or IT development. It’s not
easy to describe my current position; I certainly don’t
like to call myself the director of the company (I prefer
to leave that title to my father), but generally, I manage
the entire company in terms of trade, purchasing,
design and business development. I have a great team
of people around me, with whom I work well with, and
together we try to advance and develop the company
further.
You have had to face various challenges in your
career. Can you share some of the most difficult
situations you encountered on this journey and how
you handled them?
For me, it was mainly the decision to leave
a well-established career in London. I studied
at an international school and subsequently lived in
China and studied in England. Returning to the Czech
Republic, specifically to Frýdek-Místek, was not
the easiest. But I got used to it, and I wouldn’t change
anything.
The mentality of people and the approach to work
were different abroad, and I had to figure out how to
work with people in the Czech Republic to achieve
what I wanted. At the end of the day it’s our family
business, and my idea of how I want the business to
function is entirely up to me.
Changing the working approach, accepting change,
and implementing it is one of the biggest challenges
I deal with at the company daily. Whether it’s speeding
up processes, changing software, or altering how
hotels operate, it’s essential to accept that the path is
never easy, but in the end, the results are evident. And
that’s what I’ve been doing with the team for the past
seven years since returning to the Czech Republic.
You are a graduate of the 1st International School of
Ostrava. How does this school support students to
become not only academically successful but also
prepared for the dynamic job market of the future?
The decision I made for ISO when I was 15 was clear
because I knew I needed a school that provides space,
understanding, and trust in its students. It was mainly
“
To be quite honest, I went through
several posions from being a waiter to
working in warehouses, producon, or IT
development.
”
Key Skill
Eecve Time Management
Barbora Uher Hanko, a successful manager and member of the family-owned company MPM
Quality, shares in this interview her journey from an internaonal career in hospitality to leading
a business focused on trade, design, and business development.
Barbora Uher Hanko has extensive experience in
the service and hospitality industry, beginning with
an F&B internship in 2014 at the presgious May
Fair Hotel in London. Her dedicaon quickly led her
to a head of oor posion, followed by a role as F&B
Reservaons Manager and a member of the Service
Excellence Team from 2016 to 2017 with The May
Fair and Radisson Blu Collecon. Since 2017, she
has served as Managing Director of MPM Quality
vos, where she applies her experience to drive
the brand’s growth and development under her
leadership.