Second Acts: A Lawyer’s Journey to Hospitality
Hi, I’m A, a former lawyer from town of Prievidza in Slovakia. I am 56 and I have a successful 25 year long career of a lawyer behind me. I am happy it is already behind me… During the pandemics, things started to go wrong. I developed health problems and environment had also changed. Also due to political changes Slovakia has become extremely unpleasant environment in general. I felt I had to make a dramatic change in my career as I lost all my motivation to continue to be a lawyer and I knew that ideally I will also manage to move out of the country. There was no way I could continue this way. I wanted to do something completely different. I had an idea but at the same time I was full of doubts.
In 2022 I met D.I.. We met by accident at an ordinary workshop related to legal issues. We became friends and he mentioned he worked as a consultant in business development activities. D. consulted couple of my cases and in 2023 and in the meantime, we discussed my situation. I revealed my current thoughts and vague plans to D. and then he came up with an idea that I could get involved with him more intensively as a client. I had no idea I was already becoming part of the SASSI LLC project.
With D. we carried out several sessions and analysed my current situation as well as my future plans. This process brought about number of different perspectives. First, I realised my fears and how much they hindered any potential progress. Second, he helped me to break down my plans into smaller steps and helped me imagine concrete actions I could realistically undertake. All I knew was that I was determined to end my lawyer career and very much wanted to do something in hospitality business.
We focused on two main areas: 1) building my confidence and 2) formulating my goals and planning concrete steps. I never thought that one´s uncertainties could be so strong. And with age they become even stronger. I did not believe I was capable of making such a dramatic change. I somehow lost a large part of my confidence. This was a big topic we discussed with Dušan continuously. What helped me a lot was turning my rather “vague” ideas into something more concrete. Even formulating my fears brought me closer to formulating solutions. We continued step by step, one by one.
My ideas became actually reality. I started working with D. in spring 2023. In summer I was already managing a simple hotel owned by my former client and a friend who due to sudden changes needed a new managing director very fast. And I was there. This was a great start in a rather safe environment as I knew the owner and his activities very well. At the same time another former client of mine was working on developing on new investments in Europe. At the moment he is buying few properties in Northern Italy with a plan of developing a small resort. Using my lawyer knowledge, I helped him with legal issue and thanks to my newly gained experience in managing a hotel I am involved in development plans in Italy. If everything goes well, I will leave Slovakia and move to Italy in spring 2025.
Working with D. has been incredibly valuable. We even became good friends. He took the time to understand my peculiar concerns and needs and provided personalized guidance every step of the way. Thanks to his support, I was able to transition into a new career that aligns perfectly with my interests and dreams.