The story began in Moravia in 2013, when I met the co-owners of eMan in Brno. By then, I had been working at Honeywell for a couple of years and, as a Strategy Leader for EMEA, I was introduced to eMan’s services. I really liked what they were doing. Two years later, when I was leading the Industrial Safety Engineering team, I had the opportunity to recommend eMan as a vendor for one of our first software projects. Thankfully, the cooperation came to fruition. A few years and projects later, when I was already living in the USA and had left Honeywell, I approached the owners of eMan to see if they were interested in penetrating the US market. And thus, eMan Solutions LLC was born in Houston, Texas.

The first couple of months of our North American existence was about setting up the company and getting ready to start our business development efforts. The greatest thing about the people at eMan is that they are very passionate about what they do, keep themselves up-to-date, and are enthusiastic about their work. I like to work with people who enjoy what they do, and are ready to go the extra mile when needed. All of this really helped the initial steps I took with eMan in the US.

When it comes to maintaining a business over many long pandemic months, I consider eMan lucky. When COVID-19 hit, the projects awarded and the contracts already established by that time were not impacted at all. The only thing that posed a bit of a challenge was the “new normal” in terms of networking.

Back when I lived in Brno, I spent my spare time going “na pivo” with my Czech friends and riding my motorbike around Moravia and Bohemia. I even took up paragliding for a couple of summers. I love trying new things, meeting people, exploring different cultures, and learning new languages. All that has changed in the past couple of years, since I have two beautiful daughters at home, so there hasn’t been much room for spare-time adrenaline. I get enough from the construction going on at the new house I recently bought and all the work-related travel I have to do.

I still like to find some time to unwind though – be it in art galleries or by watching movies. One of my all-time favorites is “The Mission”, with an impeccable soundtrack by Ennio Morricone – an absolute must-watch! If you are going to watch it for the first time, I envy you.