I was 27 years old in this picture. I’ve got older since then of course. This picture and this number are very important in my life because I reached my first big milestone in my professional life when I was that age. The feeling of being capable of something stayed with me forever. I was among the first to found a company when only a few dared to do that in our country. I entered the international media market. I took on the world to learn what true capitalism is like. In Hungary, in this small, Central-Eastern European country, there weren’t a lot of opportunities to do that before. After London, Paris, and Brussels, I flew all the way across the ocean for new experiences, and I can honestly say that I don’t regret any of it. I was all alone on a foreign continent, thousands of miles from my home, in a country where I could count only on myself. And I didn’t get lost. I achieved everything I wanted to. The first $100,000 before I turned 30, as the Americans say. I also found friends and supportive people. Communication, work, performance, and success are all in my blood. I believe that failure is simply a springboard for success. I had my fair share of that too. Still, I was happy. Both in America and at home. Despite the ups and downs, the highs and lows. I’ve had a busy life. Hermes Trismegistus, were he alive, might base the philosophy of above and below, within and without, on me. I truly believe that everything turned out as it was supposed to. It all made me into who I am today. Weak yet strong, persistent yet insecure, a determined businesswoman and a soft woman, happy and unhappy at the same time. I never got anything handed to me for free, life did not go easy on me. That’s exactly why I appreciate so much all that I accomplished. Because I worked and suffered for it. All of it. There are no miracles, just faith, will, and persistence. They grow within and do not come from an external source like some kind of reward.
Hermes Trismegistus put it this way:
“Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, acting prudently and with judgment. (…) Thus you will obtain the glory of the whole world, and all obscurity will fly far away from you.”
For me, this is the message of the new decade.
