Mirjana Prokic, Founder and CEO, hangAIR Global Ltd
Founder & CEO of hangAIR Global, the world's first smart rocking incliner with a subscription model to help people sleep, breathe and reset. Formally, I am an awarded Global Chief Marketing Officer and Business Turnaround Expert with 18 years of outstanding performance successfully managing Global and Regional B2B and B2C sales and marketing ecosystems for diverse companies and industries. Specialist chemicals, premium consumer brands, commercial/industrial goods and marketing agencies. I am a trustee of Global Angels Foundation, a charity transforming disadvantaged communities around the world, and an occasional guest lecturer at Oxford Brookes University.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
LinkedIn and Clubhouse as it’s more for business and networking.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
From executive burnout to helping a world breathe, sleep and reset better, anywhere at any time. I am a former 'burnout workaholic' who successfully reset my life to follow an entrepreneurial dream to change people's lives for the better. The result of that dream is the upcoming launch of the radical smart hangAIR incliner that, in just 15 minutes, gently lulls as it rocks a user into disconnecting from the stresses and strains of twenty-first-century life.
My whole purpose is to help people and society live healthier and happier lives. I am a huge fan of deploying technologies for the improvement of health and wellbeing. This includes smart, game-changing furniture, bio-sensors, AI, VR, community marketing and much more.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
Change people's lives for the better-using elements from nature, merging them with technology and making a profit with purpose.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
My Dad says - If you don't try, you will never know if it's going to work or not!
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
Love for people, loves for nature, love for everything alive. I am a curious and optimistic person by nature, with an element of stubbornness to keep going when it's about something that I am very passionate about.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
My invention, hangAIR smart incliner, my network in different areas of life, my family, my to-date experience, my swimming challenge, my travel experiences to date.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
Both in-person and on Zoom.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Assertiveness, agility, curiosity, openness, listening and asking questions.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
That it won't be easy, but that's ok :). Things happen when they should happen, so patience is gold. Surround yourself with a diverse team and people who think differently than you.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
Sara Blakely for her fearlessness, determination, taking no as a motivation to move forward.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
My health and wellness are very important. I am a passionate swimmer, and the butterfly is my main style; I love contemporary art, interior design and travel to far away and unexplored (if there is anything left) places.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
Yes, of course. Mentally it was tough to go through, so I found my job to be very helpful in managing that stress of being in lockdown. As a result, it worked out really well as we achieved a lot in the past year and secured some substantial contracts.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
I do have several, and I mentor as well.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
If you truly love it and feel that that's you and nothing else can excite you more, then go for it and go in fully.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Financial constraints, big life changes, the amount of stress and anxiety that go with an entrepreneurial job, and not enough stubbornness or passion for seeing it through.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
"If you can't control the wind, you can adjust the sails."
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
Peloton, Octopus Energy, and Apple.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
There are different forms of success, and they are all individual. Achieving and accomplishing a goal, whatever that is, is a success. Influencing people's lives for good, and making them feel better as a result of our actions, passion and work, is a success. A financial reward is a form of success, but what I see as success is way beyond that.
It's that sweat and small achievements that lead towards bigger ones that count. Enjoy the ride, and every small success is one step closer to a bigger one. But above all, feeling great in our own skin without a need for seeking external approval is the greatest success for me.