Tanja Džido, born in Tuzla, built a successful career in Zagreb. She launched her own portal, wrote a book and received several international awards in the field of women’s empowerment.
She started her career in Tuzla as a radio presenter and journalist in a daily newspaper. She later moved to Zagreb and focused on public relations and digital marketing.
“I have always been attracted to the field of communication and connecting with people, but also human psychology and the educational segment. My first job in Zagreb was for an educational company where I learned how to organize and sell education. Back then, I couldn’t even imagine that one day I too would be an educator,” Tanja tells us.
After graduating from college, she got a job first in a corporation, then in a digital agency. However, after two burnouts in the dynamic agency world, she decided to step into entrepreneurial waters.
“That’s when my personal and professional growth went into fifth gear,” she said.
Started the portal
She launched the Shhhefica portal, which was her place of inspiration, empowerment and self-improvement.
“As a shy working girl, it never occurred to me that I could be a “boss” one day. I was brought up to work hard and to keep my head down, not to talk about myself and not to “wave”, she emphasized.
When this led to two burnouts, at the age of 25 and 27, she realized that she had to change her approach to work. That’s how she became her own boss.
“All that was drastically outside my comfort zone, I was terrified to talk about myself, share my views and put myself in the center of attention. I realized that other people learn best by our example and I decided to show everything that I wanted to tell young women by my example. The portal was created as a place of inspiration for all young women raised like me, quiet, hardworking and in the shadows”, she pointed out.
Today, through the #Mission1000 program, she works to show as many examples of successful women as possible. This way, the new generations will see that everything is possible for them too.
“We cannot become what we do not see in our environment, that is why we need as many role models and practitioners as possible, not just theorists”, she stressed.
For the #Mission1000 project, Tanja received the Diversity Role Model of the Year award. Although there were 17 other finalists from Croatia nominated in different categories, Tanja was the only one from Croatia to win the award in Bratislava. In addition to the award, Tanja won the opportunity to continue competing on a global level with winners from other regions at the Global Startup Awards event.
Wrote a book
Tanja also wrote the book “Be the Chef of Your Life”. The book was created as a rounded collection of the most read texts on the portal. In it, all of Tanja’s areas of transformation are chronologically recorded in real time. All inner fears, hopes, obstacles and doubts, but also successful solutions. Precisely because it was written in real time, many young women recognized themselves in the descriptions, and the book is still successfully sold today.
“Until I launched the portal and published the book, I thought I was the only one who felt this way and faced the cruelty of the business world, and then I realized that many, even career-achieving women, still feel this way. Regardless of all the achievements, we are still embarrassed to stand up for ourselves, set boundaries and celebrate our successes. We run away from attention, we hide in the shadows and then we are sad because no one sees our efforts and talents. In all of this, the biggest obstacle to our progress is often ourselves. Until we change our beliefs, realize what we are really worth and ask the market for it, we will continue to remain in the shadows and miss the best opportunities in the market”, she explained.
She could never have dreamed that she would achieve so much and live all that she lives today. She was brought up quite modestly in a working-class family. She says that her unlimited curiosity and persistence are responsible for her success. She has always loved to learn, explore the world around her, experiment and test herself in new situations.
“And while I was in Tuzla, I went to all possible workshops, I was active in numerous youth associations and numerous extracurricular groups. That took me very early to new cities, countries, but also numerous challenging business and life situations. Persistence helped me endure some impossible conditions, especially while living and working in London where I learned the biggest life lessons, became stronger, more resourceful and more resilient. I went through a lot, both good and bad, but it was all worth it. The biggest job in all of this was to dare and endure difficulties, to understand them as part of the learning process, and not as the final judgment of our worth and destiny,” she said.
When we are comfortable then we stagnate
Tanja always tries to keep in mind that nothing big and important for us ever happens in the comfort zone. Whenever we are comfortable, comfortable, we get a little lazy and sway and actually stagnate.
“We need to continuously expand our comfort zone, little by little explore some new possibilities, test ourselves in new situations, learn new skills and grow. Especially today, when the world is changing at a tremendous speed thanks to technology and artificial intelligence. Everything we learn today may no longer be valid tomorrow. That’s why the most successful will be those who are the fastest in learning and adapting, who are not afraid of changes but willingly and curiously meet them”, she emphasized.
He believes that life is an experiential process, not a fight for the throne.
“There is no finale anymore, when we get a diploma or recognition, it is already outdated, so the future belongs to the most adaptable ones who are not tied to external successes but to internal transformative processes and constant improvement”, she explained.
Learned the value of free time
Over the years, she learned the value of free time and self-care. Today, he works a maximum of 6 hours a day, and the rest he invests in his health, studies and quality relationships. He says he likes travel, excursions and walks in nature. He uses every free moment to explore some new unknown route, city or country.
“In addition to all that, I like to feed my mind with podcasts and educations, explore new topics and areas, and I often rest and get inspired through people and their inspiring stories, knowledge and sparkle in their eyes. I like conferences, educations and places where big ideas are discussed, not gossip about other people. I avoid negative topics, I don’t watch television or read sensational media. The world is the way our view of it is, and that’s why I make sure that my view does not become blurred or narrowed”, she stressed.
What to do when we are stuck?
At the end of our conversation, we asked Tanja to give us advice for our readers who are at the beginning of their careers and those who are stuck somewhere in their current job.
“Both situations are life’s call to work on yourself, which starts first from honesty with yourself, a deep dive and realization of where our greatest talents and areas for development are, but also our internal brakes. Only then does a brave leap follow, or at least the smallest step in the direction of our biggest dreams. “Nothing is impossible, if we make a good plan for it and pave it with daily steps in the right direction and with great faith in ourselves and willingness to learn,” she said.
He points out that no matter how important inspiration and motivation are, they mean nothing if we are not ready to consistently take steps, even the smallest ones.
“Inspiration + action brings the greatest results, and good mentors can help us in all of this, and they can greatly shorten the path through their knowledge and experience.” We should not be afraid of periods of stagnation, if we are wise enough, these can be good areas to prepare for a launch to a much greater level than we could ever imagine” , said Shhhefica.
EO
Source: akta.ba
