This episode of Reels Talk is different. Not because it’s less business-oriented. But because this time I’m on the other side of the table. Four events in four months, hundreds of meetings with people, pressure, expectations. On the outside, everything was working, but not on the inside. In this interview, I openly talk about burnout, people in business, and what I would do differently today. Thanks to Dominik Valka for interviewing me in the 16th episode of Reels Talk byAndré.

“I woke up in the morning and thought I just don’t give a damn about all this”

When Dominik asked me about the toughest period in my life, both personally and professionally, the answer was surprisingly clear.

In the first half of this year, I had days when I didn’t even want to get up. We did four events in four months. Constant decision-making. People. Pressure. Expectations. On the outside, nothing was noticeable. Meet&Deal is a brand closely associated with me, and I couldn’t afford for anything to show. But on the inside, it was running at full speed.

I had thoughts of going to work in Albert on the outskirts of Prague and having peace, or of flying to Bali and deleting all my social media.

In retrospect, I realized that I had burnout.

Look for people behind everything

Over the past two years, one thing has surprised me the most: people.

Not administration. Not marketing. Not sales. But people. Especially those who promise something and don’t keep it, fulfill their part of the agreement by 25%, but act like everything is fine, get offended when you try to address issues and don’t pat them on the back.

And all of this starts to add up. Especially when you communicate with hundreds of people every month. Yet there’s always someone to be found. Even if the overall percentage is small, it has a big impact on you.

Your personal brand is your most important brand

One thing I keep saying in Reels Talk and stand by:
Each of us is building a personal brand. And there’s only one.

It doesn’t matter if you’re working for this company or another today. If you don’t keep something, if you treat someone badly, if you don’t communicate, it will come back to you sooner or later. Prague is small. And the business Prague is even smaller.

Of course, a lot of things can be fixed. But the scar remains. Remember that.

What I do differently now

This period taught me a lot. About people, about work, and about myself.

Now I sit down with people more and clarify expectations right from the start, I deal more with communication and setting rules, I anchor more things contractually, even if it may sound unpleasant at first.

Not because I don’t trust people. But because experience has taught me that boundless trust is expensive. And order makes friends.

Overall, it wasn’t a cheap experience. But it was good and I value it.

I’m not Ash Ketchum. I don’t want to catch them all

I’m not here to catch them all. Whether it’s events, projects, or collaborations, I know I can’t work with everyone. And that’s okay. Just like it’s okay for some projects to need time, maturation, a break.

In the 16th episode of Reels Talk byAndré, you’ll learn more about:

– How Meet&Deal has transformed in almost 3 years and what works differently on it today than at the beginning,
– Which Meet&Deal events I consider the most successful in retrospect and why,
– What are the future plans for Meet&Deal,
– What the BezCyklení project showed me about working with a community and long-term strategy,
– How I think today about distributing energy between multiple projects.

Watch the full episode and let me know what you think.