Welcome back to our interview series with the ELIA Board of Directors! In this series, we’ll get to know the personal and professional journeys of our board members, explore their roles within their companies, and learn more about how they contribute to their ELIA committees.
Our next feature is Nenad Andricsek, CEO at Envelor Communications Ltd. In this feature, Nenad shares his unique journey from museum guard to CEO, and how an unexpected high-school job sparked his passion for curiosity and business ownership.
What was the most unexpected job or role you’ve had before joining the language services industry, and how did it shape your career?
While still in high-school I had this funny job, being a guard at a museum – Ben Stiller style (ok it was during the day, but it’s my story, so I’ll go with Night at the Museum) – sitting in one place, watching people looking at, for me at a time, weird pictures. That was the early 90’s, there were no phones, and the level of “this is bloody boring” was through the roof. On top of that, it was in the basement of the Hotel Hilton in Buda Castle. My goal then, I remember, was to get at least to the ground floor.
When there was nobody looking at weird pictures, I was translating some mathematics practice-books for the minority school in Hungary – helping out my mom do her job faster. That was the time when the “parallel work concept” dawned on me, and when I probably realized, I needed to be some kind of a business owner, if I wanted to use my love of curiosity, and also enjoy the benefits of running many different things at the same time.
And then a couple of years later, when I landed a job as a Junior PM in IBM translation center, I found that calling, found the meaning. It never felt like a job. It felt like I’m surrounded by this great bunch of really smart, amazing, international people, doing very interesting tasks, learning a ton of new things, and getting paid for it. Today, it still feels the same.
In the end, it really is like they say: “once you get into localization, you never get out”.
If your company were a person, what kind of personality would it have and why?
It’s a barista in a boutique coffee shop. One of those people who just by looking at you understands how you feel, and knows what kind of coffee you need! If you are a regular, they know you, your preferences and likes, but if you are up for a new experience they can also recommend something new, something great. Not pushy, rather quiet. More of a listener. A “coffee machine whisperer” who uses their super-power to make your choices exactly to your liking, right on time.
It’s a person with the right kind of attitude, reliability and punctuality, and they always love to hear your story.
How does your ELIA initiative enhance the member experience? What value and benefits do members gain from this?
Having an initiative to modernize, automate, and streamline internal processes is paramount to any organization that wants to keep pace with the world. ELIA is no different.
Our members should be able to enjoy every step of the way in interacting with ELIA, be it membership, administration, attending conferences, learning with us through the webinars, or benefiting from any other value that ELIA offers.
From the outside it might not seem as much, but under the hood there are bigger and smaller tweaks that can be made, that are made, to make this experience better, smoother.
We are working on using new, modern technology to help declutter the ELIA team, help them automate processes, save time in repetitive tasks, and empower them to focus their energy on one of the most important values that this organization stands for: helping members through human interaction and networking.
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Name: Nenad Andricsek
Company: Envelor Communications
Company LinkedIn
