Interview with Zeljana Jurkovic
Owner and co-founder of Zanart design studio, Novi Sad

 In this blog I want to talk about some inspirational people I have met. I am especially interested in entrepreneurial or adventure minded people, who choose to work for themselves and do things their own way rather than work for someone else. This is not to say that working for someone else is bad, the world wouldn't function without the many roles that each person plays, we can't all do the same thing, and that is part of what makes each persons story beautiful and moving.

However I am curious, what is it exactly in a personality that makes someone strive completely towards their own vision and goals? What brought them to that path and why do they stay on it? Is is hard for them to work in any other way? Did they always have this in mind? or was it by chance or luck that they landed upon fulfilling their own personal dreams in a very active way.

SO back to the interview. I first met Zeljana, she had just opened her own shop Zanart with her partner Marco. It is a beautiful little creative space. She is a designer of many of her own innovative products and Marco is an architect, who designs many creative ideas for furniture and interiors. Inside Zanart they feature their own products and also the designs of many other artists from all over Serbia. There is always something creative and inspiring to see in there. The two of them are also incredibly lovely and active people, who are always up to something new.
 Novi Sad is a tough market for new shops and especially for designers (I know this myself) This is because people here do not have much money to spend on things that are personally designed but perhaps a little more expensive. Its understandable but at the same time, it can be a daunting prospect to bring a new idea to the frontier of the market and to wait with patience to see success or growth in any way.
Me and Zeljana often chat about the different businesses we run, we face so many similar set back's and mentalities. I am so happy to call her my dear friend and person whom I respect greatly. Below is the interview that she gave us

Why entrepreneur?

What made you want to start your own company, Why not just work for another design shop?

The main reason is because I wanted place of my own, first gallery exhibition space in which I can promote my work and later on other designers and creatives join in.

Would you ever work for someone else company?

If there an interesting opportunity, why not, you should always learn from different experiences and different people.

If you didn't set up your own business what would you have done?

Certainly it would be my creative work no matter of form.

What changes did having your own business bring to your life?

Little bit of stress, a lot of experience and a lot of interesting people.

How did your friendships, family and other relationships react?

People often do not understand this kind of work if they themselves are not doing it,  they should be given time to realise the benefits and beauty of working on your own project.

What about your business is unique and gets the attention of the market
how much money did it take and did you have support from other sources of financing?

We started with very little money, we tried to get through the first few months without minuses, later the situation got better, and we had learnt how to better dispose of money and adapt to the market.

We did not have financiers.

Where do you see it going?

I would love to make Zanart as a multifunctional space, where the creative and cultural energy permeate.