The Full Story
About
At Thrive Through HR, we believe every career and workplace has the potential to thrive with the right guidance and care. Built on years of global experience, our mission is to empower people and businesses to grow, connect, and create lasting success together.
Mission
To empower individuals, businesses, and schools by providing personalized, people-first HR solutions that build meaningful careers, foster thriving workplace cultures, and support growth at every stage of the journey.
Vision
To create a world where every individual feels valued, every workplace thrives on a strong culture of trust and growth, and every career begins with confidence and purpose.
A Journey of Experience Growth & Passion
2008
The First Steps in Slovenia
2014
Becoming a Store Manager
The Early Career Years
A Crash Course in HR
2016 – 2019
Building the HR Foundation
2024
Moving to Dubai
The Other Side of the Global Perspective
2024
The Birth of Thrive Through HR
Future
It all began in 2008 when I started working as a student in Slovenia. The country’s unique “student job” system allowed me to work while studying, and I often juggled two or three jobs at a time.
Through these early experiences, I noticed something troubling: HR in Slovenia didn’t seem to work in favor of employees. I saw contracts mishandled, promotions ignored, and workplace bullying tolerated. There was no support for employee growth, no training, no learning, no development. At just 16 years old, I began to question how something as essential as HR could feel so absent. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this experience planted the seeds for my future passion.
By 2014, I became the manager of a small but wonderful store a role that required me to balance full-time work with part-time studies. As a 20-year-old, stepping into a management role was exciting but daunting.
For the first time, I was responsible for hiring. I had no training or guidance, yet I had to recruit for multiple roles and manage the people I hired. It was challenging, but it gave me my first taste of HR responsibilities, even if I didn’t fully realize it at the time. This experience deepened my curiosity about how workplaces could be better structured to support both employees and business success.
Over the next few years, I worked in various jobs, from banks to telemarketing companies. Each role gave me new exposure to hiring processes, often from the inside. I found myself sitting in on interviews and learning how decisions were made. It wasn’t formal HR training, but it was invaluable experience.
At the same time, I was studying international business, and one topic completely captivated me: emotional intelligence. I wrote my thesis on it and realized that HR, when done right, could change lives.
Between 2016 and 2019, I worked with multiple companies, gaining both basic and advanced HR knowledge. I focused heavily on operational HR tasks, such as recruitment, employee relations, and workplace compliance.
These years were all about building the technical foundation of HR. I saw how systems and processes could shape a workplace for better or worse. This hands-on experience allowed me to understand the importance of doing HR right, not just ticking boxes but truly creating environments where people felt supported and motivated.
Moving to Germany was a turning point in my career, introducing me to the concept of People & Culture as more than just HR, it became a tool to create meaningful workplace environments. I had the incredible opportunity to work with people from across the globe, including the US, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Russia, Ukraine, and many European countries. This diversity taught me how culture shapes communication and teamwork, and how embracing these differences fosters innovation.
One of my proudest achievements during this time was implementing a 4-day work week. This wasn’t just about fewer days; it was about redefining productivity through workshops, better communication practices, and clear strategies. The results spoke for themselves: increased employee satisfaction, improved productivity, and higher company revenue.
I also focused on health-related initiatives, like mental health workshops, stress management, and creating spaces for open dialogue. We rebuilt onboarding and offboarding programs to ensure employees felt valued at every stage of their journey and tackled global challenges like tailoring benefits for diverse countries. Through learning and development programs, we empowered employees to grow their skills, which benefited both the business and their personal growth.
Germany was where I truly learned how to balance the operational side of HR with creating a people-first culture, showing me how HR can drive both happiness and success.
In 2024, I took another significant step in my career by moving to Dubai. This marked a whole new chapter, bringing both incredible opportunities and unique challenges. Dubai offered an entirely new level of diversity and intensity, further broadening my global HR experience. Here, I worked closely with individuals from the UAE, Tunisia, Egypt, South Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, India, the Philippines, and beyond, an incredible mix of Middle Eastern and East Asian cultures.
This new environment was unlike anything I had experienced before. While I had already worked with diverse teams in Germany, Dubai brought an entirely different dimension of cultural complexity. Communication styles, work ethics, and expectations varied greatly, and I quickly learned that the HR strategies we used in Europe or the US couldn’t simply be replicated here. The cultural differences weren’t just challenges, they were opportunities to grow, adapt, and rethink the way HR could make an impact.
One of the most fulfilling aspects of this experience was understanding how these cultural nuances shaped the workplace. For example, in the Middle East, there’s often a deep emphasis on building personal relationships and trust before diving into business, whereas European workplaces may prioritize efficiency and structure. Learning to navigate and respect these differences taught me to approach HR not as a one-size-fits-all solution but as a dynamic, evolving field that requires adaptability and cultural sensitivity.
The work itself was incredibly demanding. I regularly worked up to 16 hours a day, including weekends and holidays, and in my first 90 days, I only had three days off. While it was an intense schedule, the lessons I gained were invaluable. I saw firsthand how even in high-pressure environments, HR has the potential to create meaningful change. It became clear to me that great HR isn’t about quick fixes or surface-level solutions - it’s about building long-lasting, meaningful systems that empower both businesses and employees.
After nearly two decades of gathering knowledge, certifications, and hands-on experiences from around the world, I knew it was time to start something of my own. Thrive Through HR was born from a deep desire to share everything I’ve learned, to help individuals, companies, and students build meaningful careers and create positive, thriving workplaces.
From Slovenia to Germany, Dubai, and beyond, this journey has been about more than just work, it’s been about understanding people, driving change, and empowering others to thrive. Thrive Through HR isn’t just a business; it’s the culmination of a lifelong passion to transform HR into a force for growth, connection, and meaningful impact.
This is the path of Thrive Through HR, a journey built on nearly two decades of learning, growth, and a deep commitment to making a difference. And now, it’s about the future: helping more people, more companies and more students create careers and workplaces that inspire, empower, and thrive.