About me

At the end of 2022 I relocated to Madeira, Portugal, after 18 years living and working in Prague. Even though it is a bit early to say, I feel that taking my company remotely, repositioning it to cover the entire European Union, and relocating to Madeira was one of the best decisions for my business and life I have taken over the last years.
Currently I am busy providing training and executive mentoring to smart, talented, and ambitious women working in corporate organizations across Europe, so they can manage their careers and grow into the C-Suite at the local, regional, and global level.
Our mission is to triple the number of women CEOs in Europe by 2030 from today’s 7% and I feel that we in the VORNICA business ecosystem, team, clients, and suppliers alike are off to a great start.

What do YOU DO to be SEEN & HEARD?

I write regularly on our company blog, curate THE VORNICA LETTERS, our community email going out three times a week, and host strategic events – webinars, roundtables, virtual masterclasses and masterminds.
I also share my thoughts and experience on LinkedIn, write for traditional media outlets and speak regularly at conferences and on guest podcasts.
This year we also intend to launch THE VORNICA COMMUNITY, an online gathering of smart, talented, and ambitious women working in corporate organizations across Europe who want to grow in their careers and into the C-Suite, and THE VORNICA PODCAST. Please keep fingers crossed for my team and our mission 🙂

What kind of CHANGE you would like to SEE & MAKE?

I want to live long enough to experience equality in terms of leadership roles and compensation between women and men at work.

This is why we are on a mission to triple the number of women CEOs in Europe by 2030 from the current 7%. All we’ve got to do then is to double the number – from 24% to 48% – and we will be one step closer to equality, hopefully during my lifetime 🙂

What kind of CHALLENGES are the most imporant in 2023?

I think we are all digesting the repercussions of two years of pandemic and one year of war in Ukraine, monster inflation, and energy crisis.
These challenges have taken a toll on our collective mindset. We are negative and polarized. This is felt at the societal level and beyond.
In my view, the greatest challenges we are facing this year are:
1. to stay positive and look for personal, career, and business opportunities even as we navigate a potential recession;
2. to continue investing in ourselves, our people, and our companies even though our margis have been dented by inflation;
3. to stand up to predatory shareholders who push for growth even in times when the company and its resources should rest and restore;
4. to accelerate our digital skills and remote leadership, so we are able to work online, gain more flexibility, and lead anyone, anything, and from anywhere.

What are the topics that are not publicly spoken, but it definitely should be?

How much psychological safety do women leaders enjoy?
What’s behind the lack of visibility of women leaders in traditional media?
What needs to happen for us to enjoy more women leaders role models such as Jacinda Ardern in companies in Europe?
What needs to happen for us to start noticing opportunities beyond our company and our country?
How can we stay in an open-minded, positive mindset even as we go through a recession?
How to protect and nurture our mental health in times of economic downturn?

What would your younger YOU should know?

You will make it. Life will surprise you. It will not be the way you imagine it now, as there will be some things that will be missing from it. But there will be other things as well that will overwhelm you with their positive impact. So keep on listening to your heart and soul and never budge from your values. Live with integrity and deep purpose and soul satisfaction will follow.