When you have a passion and ambition, it ends up in something good, Twisto CEO Nemika Menevse says

She may have worked in the Turkish banking sector as well as in diplomacy. But thanks to her courageous attitude in life, Nemika Menevse is currently leading a domestic fin-tech enterprise. „I never thought of being a CEO of a Czech company. But life brings you lots of interesting things,“ says Twisto CEO in the Global Minds podcast, which features prominent expats speaking about business in the Czech Republic.

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You can also listen to the full interview at THIS link.

„Whatever I do, I do it with love and I'm trying to do it right.“ This initial answer by Nemika Menevse to the question of which of her roles she feels best in is a very good life credo, and given the way her career is going, she is succeeding in fulfilling it. After years in banking spent in the Turkish divisions of multinational houses, she moved to London to work for fin-tech company Param. And after Param took over Czech Twisto, Prague became a partial home for Menevse.

Within Twisto's management, Menevse has responsibility for the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania. In addition, she continues to be involved in the direction of the parent company Param UK, which is part of Param Holding International based in the Netherlands.

Menevse is an international relations graduate, but she did not initially aspire to such a cosmopolitan career. She was already tempted by banking during her studies. „At the university, I had the chance to have an internship in a bank for three or four months and I really liked the dynamism in the banking. Especialy I loved the corporate banking part, because they were working with big companies, discussing about economy, business itself. It looked very challenging and inspirational, so I decided to be a banker,“ Menevse recaps, adding that the decision was accompanied by her move from Ankara to Istanbul.

Dream come true

Although in most Muslim countries women can forget about building a career in management positions, Turkey is not one of them. According to Meneves, this is a credit to the country's size and diversity. „Mainly in big cities you come across with lots of women going to universities and then making good careers. Especially banking is one of the industries, where over 50 per cent of the employees are women. At the top management level, the ratio drops to 25-30 per cent,“ she adds a surprising bit of information.

Menevse has thus built her professional reputation for a long time mainly in Turkey. However, the possibility of working abroad has always been an open door in her mind. „When I was 43, I had the chance to move to UK and then it turned into be a dream come true indeed,“ she confess.

She sees London as an ideal destination for a career in finance. „There are lots of financial events, lots of companies, financial innovation and know-how accumulated for years,“ she says and adds that she also wanted her growing son to get a foreign education and an international outlook.

It is not without interest that this „chance to move to the UK“ was not linked to any job offer. „It was a bold move, because I started totally from the scratch. But I said to myself ´Ok, I will try it and if I cannot do, I will come back´,“ she says, adding that even those around her questioned her decision. „They said ´You have a driver here, Are you ready to start using the subway in London?´ For me it was another reason to go to try it.“

A CEO instead of a bridge

So she landed on the islands without a specific commission, but with another credo in mind. „When you have a passion and ambition, it ends up in something good.“ She hadn't even thought about the specific form the outcome would take. „To be very frank, I never thought of being a CEO of a Czech company. But life brings you lots of interesting things,“ a manager says.

And it's interesting not only that Menevse became the head of Twisto, but also how it happened. She was already working for Param when the company made its acquisition of Twisto. „At the beginning I was involved in the due diligence process, but then I was like the bridge between the local management and the shareholder and the investors. I started coming to Prague and I thought that I'm going to accomplish my tasks and then life will continue and I will go back to London. But then at some point, we decided to part away with the previous management. In parallel, I was talking with the headhunters to find a CEO for Twisto and I meant to be the supporting power. But we had big plans. We have started a transformation process for Twisto and both the founder and the investors said ´Well, Nemika you are already involved in Twisto for a couple of months, the team knows you, you know the products, you know the company. It may be difficult to find a CEO and onboard that person. So why don't you do it until we accomplish our missions?´ It´s true, if we hired a local CEO, it would be on my shoulders to onboard that person and I would again be very much involved. So I agreed, I can do it. And it may speed up the process,“ describes Nemika Menevse.

How different was a professional start in Prague compared to London? What is the most important thing to gain mutual trust with a new team abroad and is there a need to change a management style based on location? And what are the biggest challenges currently facing Nemika Menevse at the helm of Twisto? Find out in the Global Minds podcast.

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Nemika Menevse

The Turkish native is a cosmopolitan manager. Formerly a corporate banker with stints at QNB, ABN and ING, she lives partly in London, partly in Prague and, as she is also responsible for Twisto's Polish and Romanian operations, she frequently visits these destinations. She joined Twisto two years ago after the company was acquired by Param.

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