The beginning
It all started when I got my first mobile phone with a 1.3 megapixel camera— revolutionary for mobile phone cameras at the time. I began taking photos and recording everything around me. My life was filled with exciting hobbies that I wanted to document: ice hockey, football, cycling, and music. There was always something going on that I could record.
Lessons in school
After I finished elementary school, I had to choose what to study next for high school. Like most children my age, I didn’t have a clue about what I wanted to do. I loved so many different career paths, including photography. There was a popular law school in my hometown, so I decided to pursue studies there.
This was my first big mistake. I quickly realized that learning an endless number of constantly changing rules wasn’t for me. While studying the “necessary minimum,” I also applied for abroad language programs. In 2011, was accepted to English summer school in North Devon, England and spent several months there. In 2013, I went to Dublin, Ireland for another English summer program. These experiences helped to pass the unwanted, but necessary time I was spending in public-law school by doing things I loved: traveling, meeting new people, and learning new languages.
I knew I had to stay in this international environment. Instead of going to university in my home country, I applied for International Business and Marketing studies at the Sjælland Institute of Business and Technology in Denmark. Once I successfully met all of the graduation requirements for public-law school— which was quite the challenge, I was accepted to the university in Denmark and prepared to embark on my next adventure.
A university adventure in Denmark
During the summer between graduation and beginning my new life abroad, I couldn't find accommodations because of the huge number of students moving to Denmark from all over the world. I had one week left before university started, and I still didn’t have a place to sleep. In desperation, I posted a message to the Facebook group “Expats in Denmark” to see if anyone had an open room where I could stay.
Luckily, one girl reached out with an offer to stay in her room in a shared flat with 3 other guys. With only days left before my flight to Denmark and no other options, I accepted.
What followed was two months of sleeping on the floor in a 4m2 room with another guy who had the same accommodation troubles as I did and no hot water use (which was reserved for those who paid rent). It was uncomfortable and crowded, but I wasn’t discouraged. Eventually, I found student accommodations for myself. I loved my university, and I was determined to stay there and fight for my dreams.
Starting my own business
Growing up in a family business environment, I’ve dreamed of starting my own business since I was a kid. Even though running a small, 8-room hotel in the village where I grew up was enough work for half of my family, I knew that I wanted to be my own boss one day.
The Danish educational system is very supportive of new businesses, so I was in the right place to get started. I just needed my million dollar idea.
That spark came when I began my part-time job— in Denmark, you have to get part-time work in order to receive government support to pay rent— at a sushi restaurant in Copenhagen. One day while I was waiting for the train, I started to get a little hungry. I began thinking about a healthy snack that I could just grab on the way to work. It should be fresh, nutritious, and convenient, something that you can carry with you on the go.
Work, sushi, healthy, fruit… the dots slowly connected, and led me to the idea of fruit sushi. I reached out to my friend Jirka to hear his thoughts, and one conversation later I had my co-founder.
One month of training and countless Youtube tutorials later, we created our first perfect roll. Our fruit sushi rice was mixed with coconut milk and agave, which made the best combination of tasty and healthy. After an official product photoshoot, we were ready to show our idea to the world.
My startup suc(k)cesses
We needed feedback on our products, so we created social media profiles and started to collect opinions. One day, the phone rang. A woman who owned several vegetarian restaurants in Copenhagen was intrigued by our food concept and wanted to lend us a foodbike. This would help us test our idea on the streets with real customers.
She also helped us with establishing Frushi as a company, creating a business bank account, and acquiring the food safety permits that we needed in order to operate. Our first product demo at a local vegetarian festival was a hit. We sold out after only one hour, which was both a blessing and a curse. With nothing left to sell for the rest of the event, we felt unprepared for the crowds. On the other hand, it was amazing to receive so much interest in what we had created.
Word got around, and our teachers discovered the unique startup we were running. They pushed us to sign up for a startup competition, and we soon found ourselves headed to the national round at Børsen in the heart of Copenhagen. The final presentation involved pitching our idea in a historic hall filled with leaders, investors, politicians, and top business people from across the country. After two months of practicing and perfecting our presentation, we couldn’t wait to make an impression and advance our small business to the next level.
The pitch didn’t go as planned. While on stage, our remote stopped working and we lost control of our slide deck. We managed to get through the presentation, but it was the most awkward and disappointing experience— far from what we had imagined. Fortunately, we still caught the eye of Forbes magazine in the Czech Republic, and they reached out to us for an interview. This attention from the press gave much-needed momentum for Frushi.
Many successes followed. We started to deliver our fruit sushi to companies as a catering service, investors from India contacted us, we ran a Kickstarter campaign, social media influencers posted about our product, universities contacted us for presentations, and our menu expanded with vegetarian sushi— all while we were still students.
As Frushi continued growing and we had less time for our studies, we reached a crossroads. It was time to decide whether to complete our university education or run Frushi full-time. Around the same time, a group of Slovakians reached out and expressed interest in taking over the company. While it was a hard decision to let go of something that we had built from scratch, we decided to leave Frushi in their hands if they promised to steward the brand.
During my time solving real-world challenges as Frushi’s co-founder and marketing lead, I discovered my true passion in business: creating impressive visual content. After finishing my studies, I set out to follow this passion for all things creative.
A dream come true
Once I finished university, I decided to take a break and travel in order to figure out my next steps in photography and videography. I went to New York, where I bought my first drone and began taking shots of Manhattan. I decided to piece everything together into my first “real” video using drone footage and photos from my trip.
This project landed me my first client (a friend who wanted a wedding video), and the rest fell into place. Little by little, contact after contact, I started to create meaningful content and share my portfolio with the world. After I returned to the Czech Republic, I found a marketing job for an international beauty brand and continued to develop my skills.
Six months later, my dream of being my own boss came true. Nowadays, I’m working full-time as a freelancer with brands like Mercedes-Benz or DJI and doing what I love most: creating.
My creative philosophy
I believe in the details and have always focused on quality over quantity. This is why I also carefully choose my clients. I’m not a mass media company that churns out content without paying attention to every asset. When I dive into a new project, I aim to produce engaging and expressive content that will help you tell your brand’s unique story. My clients would tell you that I approach their creative challenges with one eye on perfection and the other on their business goals, ensuring that every photo and video aligns with their long-term vision.
