Masterclass "From Education to Entrepreneurship"

The Porta Aperta CEO, Ivana Zec-Barašin, delivered a masterclass to the students of the Mediterranean University at the invitation of its English Department on 4th November 2022. The theme of the masterclass was "From Education to Entrepreneurship". As a woman entrepreneur, who has been successfully leading private business for more than 20 years, Ivana spoke about the path to success in the world of business, which is bumpy and full of challenges and which requires great discipline and commitment. Ivana talked about her own personal life experience, about the entrepreneurial spirit she gained within the family, while as a young girl she watched and helped her hardworking parents who owned a restaurant, which eventually grew into a hotel and expanded with owning several boats for tourist lake cruises. Nonetheless, Ivana followed the path of her heart, which took her to Italy, where the idea for a private business was born. Porta Aperta, or open door, is the name of the company, which subsequently founded its own language school, which symbolizes connecting people of different cultures through business cooperation and learning. Guided by a strong vision for business development, Ivana, with her Porta Aperta in 2007, becomes the holder of the national franchise for the renowned method of learning English, Helen Doron English, which operates in 35 countries around the world, and successfully develops a network of sub-centers throughout Montenegro.

In her masterclass, Ivana especially reflected on the most important skills, but also personal qualities and virtues, which a young individual needs to possess in order to be successful in business and to persevere and grow in it. These qualities are discipline, continuous self-development, diligence, ethics and courage to take risks. And finally, you need to have vision for what you want to do and to have faith in yourself.