From sport, through entrepreneurship, to working with family businesses
My professional path began in sport — a world where results aren't negotiated but built through discipline, consistency and teamwork. I later carried those principles, almost unconsciously, into entrepreneurship: first through my own ventures, and then through consulting and working with company owners.
The turning point was meeting my mentor Eric from the Netherlands, who opened the world of family-business professionalization to me.
Through that relationship I saw for the first time what mature, international practice with family businesses looks like — where family, ownership and management are clearly separated, where there are rules of the game, boards and planned succession. I realized that this is exactly what most companies in our region are missing, and that it isn't a question of company size but of mindset.
Since then I have devoted my work entirely to family businesses. I built an approach that blends international management models with the reality of our companies — without copying others' templates, authentic and applicable. The goal is always the same: that the company can grow and operate independently of any single person, and be ready for the generations to come.
Professional roles
Books and public engagement
In the books “The Modern Family Company” and “The Art of Entrepreneurship” I distilled the experience of working with hundreds of owners and successors into practical guides. I regularly speak at international and regional events dedicated to family businesses — from European institutions and conferences to business summits and expert media — with the same goal: to make knowledge of professionalization, management and succession available to owners in our region.