DUKA DENT ORTO CENTER

1. How and at what point did you come up with the idea to start your own business?
I came up with the idea as a 5-year-old child. I used to say that I wanted to be a dentist and make prosthetics, and at the age of 12, I used to daydream about opening my own dental practice and had a vision of how it would look.

2. Have you always wanted to be involved in your current business?
Yes.

3. What are you proud of in your business?
I'm proud that I did the right thing and that I have an amazing team, and I can truly see that they are happy.

4. What is the secret of your success? (List three qualities, behaviors, beliefs, or abilities)
Imagination, and then finding a way to achieve what you want.

5. How understanding has your environment been, and who has been your biggest support?
Throughout this journey, my biggest moral support has been my brother, mother, and late father, my late sister Isidora Bjelica, sister Vesna Bjelica Ćurčić, as well as my friend Vojin Vučićević, who helped me financially the most.

6. What is your guiding motto?
Knowledge is power; I've learned everything.

7. Do you have role models who have motivated or continue to motivate you in your work?
God, I respect His rules.

8. What did you have to give up?
I haven't given up anything; it's all about good organization.

9. What has driven you forward and how have you motivated yourself when bad times come?
Duka Dent is a monument to my late father, that's why I live, and I want that monument to live on through my children and grandchildren.

10. Why is it better for a woman to be an entrepreneur than to be employed in a company?
You organize and choose your team of people as you want, not as someone else imposes on you.

11. What advice would you give to new female entrepreneurs or a younger version of yourself?
To do what they love, no matter what. To stand out from the crowd.

12. On a scale of 1-10, how challenging is it to be a female entrepreneur in Serbia?
10.

13. When you're a woman in the business world, how common are inappropriate offers?
I've had various situations as a young woman, but it's all about how you handle them.

14. Where do you see yourself exactly in 5 years?
I see myself in an even bigger dental practice with my daughter.