What do love and business have in common? You guessed it, the right partner
Written by Andrea Vushkova and Scott Green, photos by Ilias Latropulos
"Never above you, never below you, always beside you."
This quote by Walter Winchell perfectly sums up the ideal equilibrium that people should seek in a partnership, no matter if it is an intimate or professional one. When the two are combined, this balance is more important than ever.
Do you think it’s feasible for two people to be successful partners both in life and business? Many of you might deem that mission impossible, but Open Bulgaria, Synergy Bulgaria, and Networking Premium came back with another Story.Me event to prove that love can be a powerful catalyst for many great things!
On 24 February a lot of you joined us at Network Premium Rakovska to hear the inspiring stories of three wonderful couples who told us all about their partnership, their triumphs and setbacks, the power of love, and the challenges of finding the balance between personal and professional.
Monika and Emil Shekerdzhiiski
The first speakers of the night were Monika and Emil Shekerdzhiiski. They are married and have been together for 3 years, and run the Networking Premium Coworking spaces side by side.
They looked like an energetic and intuitive couple when it comes to their partnership in life as well as business. Monika and Emil both love what they do and said they face obstacles on a daily basis but they manage to overcome everything together.
When they started talking about the beginning of their relationship, it turned out that each of them had a different story to share. Emil, as the cofounder of Networking Premium, was looking to hire new people for his team, and highlighted the fact that when he met Monika as a potential employee, he really liked her way of thinking and working. Meanwhile, Monika said, “You know, they say love starts with feeling sorry for someone.” She did pity Emil for dressing the way he did and wanted to help him.
She also shared a favorite story of theirs, the main idea of which was that people are conditioned to love themselves and their children the most, since that’s where they invest the most, be it care, or time, or effort. That’s why, Monika said, you have to invest in your partner, to “cultivate” them, in order to really love them.
Yulia and Yassar Markos
Yulia and Yassar Markos were our second speakers. They truly give the feeling of a power couple, their vision to build their own empire and change the world is an inspiring one to listen to. Although, just two years ago they were feeling hopeless and broke, crying themselves to sleep as well as waking up with tears in their eyes.
Things just weren’t working out. Shortly thereafter they made the decision to create a great future together and are now successfully growing an online business and an international NGO. They are both passionate about working with people and transforming education in the fields of entrepreneurship and youth work.
In regards to what helped them grow together so fast, Yulia said: “I love how aligned we are in our vision, values, and approaches. Still, we work a lot on both our relationship and business. And if I need to choose one thing that defines us: we’re totally transparent with each other and keep pushing forward no matter what.”
Pastor Maxim and Teodora Asenov
The third couple to share their story was Pastor Maxim and his wife Teodora. They seemed to be in complete harmony and understanding.
Maxim and Teodora were quite young when they met, and at the end of their first date, he told her “You will be my wife!”. Only 19 years old at the time, she did not believe him at first, but they did end up married with 2 kids.
They are preachers of the gospel, and together founded the fastest growing church in Bulgaria, Awakening. Pastor Maxim is also an international speaker and life coach. He and Teodora repeated that “you don’t have to search for the right person, you should be the right person”. They both emphasized the importance of accepting and loving yourself first, before you can fully love someone else.
In contrast with Yulia and Yassar, Maxim and Teodora set firm boundaries of their business and personal life. They have no work talks in their bedroom, and always try to have at least one date per week, just to have some time for themselves as a couple, and not as business partners.
Spending the evening listening to the inspiring stories of each couple, about how they are conquering it in the business world was enough to make us want to head out into the depths to make our own way. This feeling was reflected in the faces of those who attended as you could see them pondering how they could implement the advice each speaker gave.
As the evening taught us, having a loved one by your side is one of the greatest things when starting a business. If you are further interested in learning more about business, and how to better prepare yourself in taking the first steps of entrepreneurship you might find our next event enlightening.
Story.Me Business Edition: Overcoming Force Majeure is on 7 April at 19:00 where our speakers will discuss how they overcame world-changing hurdles. See you there!
