Angela GLADEI: Business and human skills cannot exist separately
Interview by InfoMarket Agency
This spring, Angela Gladei was elected Executive Director of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs in Moldova (AFAM) for a second term. After working in the banking sector for several years, she headed an international financial organization and also founded the consulting company Business Development Capital and BDC Creative in Moldova and Romania. AFAM recently celebrated its eighth birthday, and this is a great opportunity to talk about women in business united in an association.
InfoMarket: Does the managing position in AFAM prevent you from developing your own business?
Angela GLADEI: Rather, it helps and even inspires. Everyone can find an excuse for not doing something or not daring to take certain actions. Two years ago, I myself was looking for such an excuse, having rejected three times the offer to head AFAM. Subsequently, I started looking for the real reason and I found common ground between the private business' leadership and the Association's leadership. The new vision expanded my consciousness, the perception of my own boundaries, and also brought many good people into my life.
InfoMarket: And what is this common ground?
Angela GLADEI: I decided to do the best of me within the Association. I identified like-minded people who became members of the AFAM Board, set the time and thought out the amount of funding in order to participate in the development of the Association. I assessed the team, its knowledge / abilities, current projects, and also decided how to combine these resources in order to keep up with everything. But in the end, the people’s support and their involvement turned out to be the main thing, for which I am very grateful to each of them!
InfoMarket: How does your activity as AFAM Executive Director for the third year in a row affect the development of your own business, does it slow it down?
Angela GLADEI: In my business, as in many others, a lot has changed over the past year. For example, we have significantly expanded the use of digital technology. But most importantly, I realized that I had to trust people, although after many years of work in the financial sector it was not easy. It sounds trite, but there are a lot of good people and I manage to encourage them to join my team, inspire and convince them that they can do more than me, for example. Today, each person in our team manages a separate, own project and is its co-owner, including its profits. This is a new management style, which is not often found in Moldova: I am ready to share profits so that the company moves forward and people feel comfortable. I am guided by both human and business principles. They must be combined, and they cannot exist separately.
InfoMarket: Has the number of AFAM members decreased over the last difficult year?
Angela GLADEI: Today we have 50 members. Their number has decreased over the year, but the quality has improved. During the pandemic, we came to the conclusion that it is necessary to create, offer and provide solutions and services not only for the current members of the Association, but also for the future ones. And we managed to attract to the Management Board a team of women entrepreneurs who were not previously members of the Association. We have become more open. Last year, we held 15 open events. Each of these events was attended by more than 40 people. Even without much advertising, new people continued to join us, probably because we raised topical issues.
InfoMarket: Can you give an example of such an event?
Angela GLADEI: In partnership with a similar Association from Romania (CONAF - Confederația Națională pentru Antreprenoriat Feminin) and the EBRD office in Romania and Moldova, we have organized the first Moldovan-Romanian online forum. We have also signed similar agreements with Hungarian and Latvian Women Entrepreneurs’ Associations. In general, the creation of an international strategic partnership is one of the objectives of our organization’s activity; we strive to expand cross-border cooperation for AFAM members.
InfoMarket: Are the invited speakers an expensive pleasure?
Angela GLADEI: Our speakers do not receive money for their services, and this is the great merit of AFAM. We use the internal assets of our members. Personally, I am pleased to provide our listeners with access to their own contacts, as someone once gave me the same opportunity. Now the "exploitation" of ties, in a good sense of the word, is more important than ever before (in conventionally good times), we are ready to help each other, even remotely. In the past year, we especially clearly felt the need to share experience, work in an accelerated mode, adapt and help others adapt to new conditions. Some of our team members have radically changed their business.
InfoMarket: International forums are great, but if a member of your Association owns a small pastry shop, for example, what is the practical use of such events, besides communication?
Angela GLADEI: Such events provide a lot of opportunities. First, they help identifying the problems faced by entrepreneurs, especially by small businesses. Secondly, they help exchanging experience between the members of the Association and identifying possible solutions. Indeed, among our members there are large companies that have rich experience, resources and ready-made solutions, which they willingly share. Third, such events offer opportunities for local or international partnerships and development. It's one thing when you learn on your own, it's another thing when there is an opportunity to spy on someone else's experience, learn from another, change something and correct the strategy. This is our role, and the last year was the most opportune moment to discuss the problems of small business, to help it, if not directly, then indirectly, which is sometimes more important.
InfoMarket: Who has been financing AFAM for eight years now?
Angela GLADEI: The Association exists at the expense of membership fees: 5000 lei per year from Chisinau entrepreneurs, 3000 lei per year from the Moldovan regions’ entrepreneurs. In 2019, we’ve launched a regional expansion program, which is another strategic direction of our Association. Moldova’s regions need AFAM more than Chisinau does, since in Moldova's capital there are already quite a few organizations representing the interests of small, medium and large businesses. AFAM conducted a program to share experiences and identify needs in the regions, organized meetings there with women entrepreneurs and provided them with training and mentoring. Today we cooperate with Orhei, Ungheni and Tiraspol.
InfoMarket: Why small companies from Moldova’s regions need AFAM membership, what does it grant?
Angela GLADEI: First of all, the value of AFAM lies in the partnership between entrepreneurs and partner organizations from Moldova, Romania, Hungary and Latvia. We identify areas of innovation, knowledge and experience that we share. This is a spending of time, money and human resources, which is often unaffordable for small regional enterprises. That’s why membership costs of 3000 lei are minimum expenditure for the whole amount of knowledge and contacts that AFAM provides. And after all, this is inspiration! We inspire women to believe in their leadership skills. Many of them simply lack enough support such as: “Yes, you can do it!” By inspiring others we ourselves get inspired. In Tiraspol, for example, I was impressed by a woman who has set up an innovative business that can be an example for many.
InfoMarket: The principles of equality are actively promoted in Moldova, including at the legislative level. But if someone created a Men Entrepreneurs’ Club, criticism in respect of them would flood the press and social networks. Don't you think that the Association of Women Entrepreneurs in itself discredits men entrepreneurs?
Angela GLADEI: At one of our events, there was a Secretary of State (we’ll omit the name) who asked if he could join AFAM. We were ready for this question, our answer was: “Yes, you can join, us but not personally: if there is a woman or women next to you who influence the result of your work, you can always direct them to us.” We are definitely not feminists, but we really want to draw attention to women entrepreneurs, since so many of them are not confident in themselves. We just want to make ourselves heard and that the socio-economic difficulties associated with women's entrepreneurship are overcome. No one will know what you want until your speak up. Therefore, we have created a platform for women, and not at all in order to discriminate men.
InfoMarket: In recent years, Moldova has been implementing a lot of projects for the media and NGOs to promote women entrepreneurs. Are such projects financed? Are they provided with grants?
Angela GLADEI: AFAM was created before this trend began. We are involved in various projects that contribute to the implementation of our strategy. There are partners who are ready to assist in the implementation of the digitalization process of the Association, its geographical expansion, by including the Diaspora we are happy to participate in such projects and contribute to their implementation, since through them we contribute to the development of the business environment as a whole.
InfoMarket: What new directions in AFAM activities are planned for the near future?
Angela GLADEI: We are expanding the use and application of digital technologies. We want to establish a "knowledge management" system. Let me explain: over the course of eight years, AFAM has created many business initiatives. Some have already been implemented, some have been postponed. They should be “digitized” and all AFAM members should be granted access to these initiatives. This year we intend to strengthen cooperation with our Diaspora abroad, to encourage women to open their own business in Moldova. We will continue to develop the leadership training program and expand regional and international cooperation.
We keep on teaching; we bring examples of successful projects to our organization. For example, one of the AFAM members, who set up an international business, last year, at her own expense, brought seven ambulances from Italy to our country! Not for show, but simply because she considered it necessary and was able to do it. Such examples inspire women. Many believe that this is impossible in Moldova, but it turns out to be possible, and it can be successfully achieved if the starting point is desire.
InfoMarket: Your new mandate as AFAM head will end in two years. How do you see AFAM at its 10th anniversary?
Angela GLADEI: This is a strong Association, which has established partnerships with at least seven countries, and which actively participates in international conferences - at least five. AFAM will definitely have a “knowledge management” system, and everyone will be able to use it. We will be joined by new members willing to share knowledge and experience with young people in order to foster the “new AFAM generation” that will bring a corresponding return in due time. // 10.06.2021 - InfoMarket.
