May 14, 2018 – Continuing our look at the female entrepreneurs in Croatia, next up is Ivana – an academic painter, former EU Female Entrepreneurship Ambassador, president, vice president, and co-author who is raising awareness to the importance of creativity and culture within the community.
1. For our international readers who perhaps do not know you, quickly introduce yourself and what you do.
My name is Ivana Nikolić Popović, and I am an academic painter with an entrepreneurial background, but also very active in the artistic field through different projects and painting. I successfully run my own company for 20 years, and I am President of the Association Development and Creativity Net, awarded several times for professional achievements. I was also an EU Female Entrepreneurship Ambassador from 2010 until 2012, an expert in the areas of branding and creativity, perfectly understanding creative and cultural industry’s situation. In 2013, I was chosen for the President of Croatian Competitiveness Cluster of Creative and Cultural Industry and in 2014, I was named the Vice president of the Community of Creative and Cultural Industries of Croatian Chamber of Commerce.
Together with my colleague Aleksandar Battista Ilić, I am a co-author of the project Ilica Q’Art which is just about to begin in Zagreb. We are trying to raise awareness towards the importance of culture in the community, and we have created a one-week festival to emphasize our primary goal. I am also the author of my project Creative Cities – and its purpose is the exchange opinions, R&D of creative industries potential and the valorization of the best practices. My passion towards creativity and communication is my crucial motivator, and I am always trying to develop projects of public interest.
2. How did the business start, and what were the major obstacles and achievements along the way?
Twelve years ago I started to work on various projects connected to creativity, and CCI (creative and culture industries) and I noticed the niche nobody was working on in Croatia. The key problems were public incomprehension of creativity – a key obstacle because we linearly educate young people, without connecting different fields, which is, for today’s life and business, essential. We have no idea today which jobs are going to exist in 10 years. Linear education today is a big problem, and it is imperative for people to develop creativity to be able to create new value from the different knowledge they achieved throughout the years and to adapt to new circumstances. For example, if you learn that there is only one solution for some problem you won’t be able to look for more answers and will remain caught in linear thinking.
3. People have told me on many occasions that the perfect combination in life is to live in Croatia and to make your money abroad. Do you agree?
Absolutely. Many Croatian scientists came back to Croatia, despite world success, and they appreciate the Croatian quality of life, but they continued to work on international projects. That’s also the critical value of creative industries, you can live here and work all around the world.
4. Let’s talk about the business climate in Croatia, which does not have the best reputation. Give us some positives and some negatives.
Positives – Creative industries are developing even if they are not nurtured, and foreign countries have recognized the potential of creative and cultural industries in Croatia,
Negatives – Our institutions are still dealing with industries from the 20th century – they do not think of innovations. We are talking about how to save shipyards and textile industry without investing in high-quality industries with added value – like local fashion design and luxury yachts.
5. If there are three things which you could change to improve things dramatically, what would they be?
I’d help people to become creative and start to think laterally – connect many segments, encourage cooperation among different sectors – we have a “ghetto” principle here – motivate cities to develop their potential via CCI.
5. Your advice to foreign entrepreneurs interested in investing in Croatia? And to young local businesspeople who want to try?
They should connect with private initiatives and small entrepreneurs and invest to CCI – there is an enormous potential that needs significant investments on the State level – but they are still small investments with great ROI
You should follow your heart and dare to try; passion is the key to success.
7. How do you think the business climate will look in 10 years in Croatia?
I don’t know, if we will start as a country to invest in the Creative economy there is a chance for changes.
8. How has 2013 EU entry changed business in Croatia?
Are you sure anything changed? Actually, it became worse.
9. Being an entrepreneur in Croatia is not easy. What are the additional challenges experienced by female entrepreneurs in your opinion?
There is a big difference when a woman asks for a loan and when the man does. So, financial possibilities are not the same, and there is only 20 percent of Croatian women in high management positions, meaning women entrepreneurs do not get the space businesswise – and men will always have an advantage and then appear as more successful although that is not true. If you compare men and women in the same position, women very often have lower salaries, and working contracts are also a massive problem as they have specific conditions on maternity leave. Our maternity law is not well defined in our country – there is no flexibility – for example, to enable flex work.
10. If you knew now what you knew then, would you have decided to go ahead? What was good, what was bad, and what would you do differently next time?
I’d always take the same path, I have recently started some new projects; I would have a different approach now with this state of mind and knowledge I accumulated over the years.
