The winner of the Turība University “Honorary Award” in the nomination “Honorary Graduate” Kaspars Rožkalns remembers his studies with a smile. When he learned that he had received the title “Honorary Graduate”, he was filled only with positive emotions. In turn, when talking about his current professional career, he says that regardless of personality, anyone can fulfill their dream of becoming an entrepreneur. Kaspars Rožkalns – Chairman of the Board of “UPB Nams”.

How did you choose to study at Turība?

After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences at the University of Latvia, I started working, and naturally my work was more related to management sciences than to the field of communication. It was clear that I could acquire professional knowledge in the work environment, but often there was also a need for academic knowledge in order to successfully cope with practical work. Consequently, the desire to continue my education and study management sciences only intensified. When working in business, you have to acquire knowledge in business, so studying at the Turība University seemed like a logical choice.

Is there any faculty member who is particularly memorable?

Ieva Kalve once taught the study course “Change Management”, where I learned about the Blue Ocean Strategy, which has subsequently been very useful to me both in my professional life and in my studies. My master’s thesis was based on it. The lecturer encouraged us to think outside the box, which was an added value to acquiring knowledge – to improve ourselves as a person and a future leader.

What skills and qualities do you think are the most important for a successful leader in the state and business sector?

Currently, as the head of the Latvian Export Association, we are working on a strategy to promote exports and increase Latvia’s financial stability. We are an organization of 60-70 companies with a turnover of several billion. The association unites various entrepreneurs who are successful, but have a diverse set of qualities. It’s not that everyone is very purposeful, extroverted and strives for perfection. It depends a lot on the specifics of the company. Although there are entrepreneurs among exporters who are not afraid of the world market. Our common trait is that we don’t whine much. But it’s not that everyone is equally extroverted. Of course, in some start-up companies you can feel the extroverted side, then in very specific high forms of engineering, an engineer has learned to be an entrepreneur. It’s more important to understand where you are good and where you are not good. There are some nuances that can be improved, but mostly you can’t. Therefore, you need to learn to turn these shortcomings into cooperation and buy them. You don’t have to be afraid of not being super good in all areas – finance, marketing, sales, logistics, production management. You can’t be excellent in everything, and that’s normal.

Tell us about your career development. How did you get to your current position?

My career path began during the summer break between 11th and 12th grade, when my dad arranged an internship for me at the IT company “Datorikas institūts II”, where I continued to work in parallel with my high school studies. As a result, my whole life has been connected to the IT field. Although I have no formal IT education, I am up to date with current affairs and am able to negotiate with professionals equally well. I have also worked on projects of various lengths in both advertising and logistics, but a significant turning point was working at the valuation office “Aplēse” at a time when everyone in Latvia was interested in doing something related to real estate, including me. The company grew very rapidly, where they hired additional employees day by day, rented additional floors. Demand grew very rapidly, and everything became more expensive. Then, at the age of 23, I became a department manager with zero management experience. That was a turning point when I realized – I don’t understand anything from this, but I like it. In 2008, the company went bankrupt, but the feeling that I was attracted to the management level and liked it remained.

The next significant event was when I started working as a marketing manager at the translation agency “Linearis”, eventually moving to “Bussines Development” and also joining Turība. I realized that I now had to manage the company’s development in three countries, so I felt the need to also acquire theory so that I would understand if someone started talking in unfamiliar acronyms to me at the time, such as SWOT, SVOD, and so that I wouldn’t have to search the Internet. We had opened a branch in China, and then there was this crazy period when I was managing the branch in Latvia in the first half of the day, and then the branch in China. The holidays didn’t coincide, and I spent practically more than 12 hours a day managing the branches in both countries. I was offered the position of managing the Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIAA) in Beijing. It was already clear then that it would be easier – at least within one time zone. We initially went for a year, but ended up staying for four. What my family and I experienced there is basically this – if you have lived in China, stress no longer causes difficulties and nothing can surprise you anymore. China was the most tempting business partner at that time, and I also got to know various entrepreneurs. Then I was transferred to Germany, and then I won a competition to head the Latvian Investment and Development Agency in Latvia. It is possible that I came with big goals, towards which it is difficult to move the bureaucratic apparatus and introduce business into the state administration. principles of operation – quite difficult.

Overall, things are getting better, and the state administration is no longer so detached from business, but distrust of initiatives and resistance to change created a turning point when I realized – I would not be able to stay in the state administration for long.

After working in the state administration, I have been working for “UPB” – one of the TOP 50 companies in Latvia – for a year and a half now. Both the management of “UPB” and I initially had doubts whether everything would work out, considering that my greatest experience has been in the state administration, but we have worked very well with the owners so far. That is probably why it is the case – if you have that management experience and you have the ability to think more broadly, then you can work in both the public and private sectors.

How do you see the business environment in Latvia in 10 years? What are the possible directions of development?

Looking back 10 years ago, there is not much difference between the situation in 2015 and now. Of course, there are processes that have rapidly affected the development of business, for example, digitalization. I am cautious about the 10-year forecast, because primarily we, as a society, should agree on what our common goal is and strive for the European average level of wealth and well-being. We must understand that in order to achieve a higher level of well-being, we must make concessions and accept something. If we want to live better, we must try to accept both the construction of new factories and the production of various types of renewable energy. Risks exist, and they must be assessed, we must try to prevent them in advance, but by doing nothing, we will not be able to increase our well-being. We will have to give up something if we want something.

What inspires and motivates you to achieve your goals?

I am mainly inspired and motivated by my family, while in the work environment I get motivation and inspiration from our own book club established within the Export Association. We try to read at least one book a month related to business and self-development. We get together and discuss what we have read. At that moment, you can get inspiration for new ideas and think about various topics.

Do you have any advice for young and aspiring entrepreneurs who are still dreaming of starting their own business?

My advice when looking for business ideas is to observe your daily life and record the problems, trying to find solutions to them. I do not guarantee that you will be able to create another Facebook in your garage, which may or may not happen.

I recommend working a little and gaining experience by seeing how others run businesses, evaluate that and be inspired.