My story
My name is Liviu Prodan, and
this is my blog.
Welcome to my business improvement story! Here, I aim to document my journey to becoming a business developer and share my year’s experience on how you can do the same. This blog will be filled with stories of my trials, tribulations, successes, failures, and all that comes with running a business. I’ll talk about marketing strategies, competitive intelligence, strategies for continuous improvement, customer service, and more. I hope you’ll join me on this journey and learn something new each step of the way!
The idea for this blog was born in September 2021 and became a reality in July 2022. In 2013, I first read about digital marketing, competitive and strategic intelligence, and all other good trends. That moment was like a spark that ignites a piece of paper and goes out almost immediately. It took a few years of that spark being reignited several times to create a flame and the real need to build this blog.
So here’s my story – I hope it gives you an idea of who I really am. I was born on April 14, 1975, in the city of Pitesti, a town near Romania’s capital, Bucharest. My first memory dates back to the age of 4 or 5 when I was asked by my grandmother: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, and I answered: “Sailor.” 😊
The years went by, and, at the age of 13, I reached the point where I was preparing my application for the entrance exam to the Marine High School. “Life is what happens to us when we make other plans.” John Lennon. And so, 4 years later, I graduated from the Electrical Engineering High School in Pitesti, and not the Navy High School. That was in 1994. Six years later, in 2000, I graduated from the University of Pitesti, Faculty of Engineering, electronics section. I always liked the idea of building new things, and this got me involved in many projects over the years, both professionally and personally. Some of them I completed and they became small personal victories; from others, I learned valuable lessons for later.
Here are some photos from different moments in my life, to which I have
added a short story.
1978
I was 3 years old when my family and I went to the photographer for a small family album.
1980
Two years later, in kindergarten, for reasons unknown, I decided I didn’t like the way my face looked in the photo and painted it green, hiding it under the table so my mother wouldn’t see me do it. 😊
1981
At the age of 6, I was with my grandparents, who raised me and for whom I am extremely grateful. These were the years of my life when my grandparents built me and shaped me into the man I am today. Happy memories!!!
1993
Truth be told, I wasn’t too excited about going to school. I had to memorize a lot of things, which at the time I considered useless.
However, I have always enjoyed discovering and learning new things and being able to do things that others couldn’t. “Luke, every time I’ll show you how you can do what seems impossible.” Yoda, Star Wars, my favorite line, and my strongest belief. I must have seen this movie over 50 times in the theater and on videotape (the CD hadn’t come out yet).
1998
The year 1998 revealed a new passion for me: martial arts. In 1999, I started practicing the traditional martial arts, Aiki Jutsu Takeda Ryu. Unfortunately, many years later, after my 2nd dan black belt exam, I had an accident. I continued to learn and teach for a few more years. Pictured with Sensei Ahmed Hank, 8th Dan in Aiki Jutsu.
years later
20 Years later, together with Yuko Hayashi Okuma, a Shodo expert, and Sensei Cristian Laiber, my instructor, 6th dan Aiki Jutsu, I attended a calligraphy course organized in Bucharest, Romania.
Liviu today
During the years, I used my techy abilities to re-engineer all complex business models and advanced tools so they could be learned and used easily by anybody who wanted to join the lifelong learning experience in business and real life. I realized that this whole journey could be more valuable if all the knowledge I gained were shared with others. As in martial arts, the more you share your experience, the more you can grow. So, in 2021, I decided to build an online blog on the topic of business improvement. I hesitate a bit; I guess a bit more… Maybe because I “suffered” from the “Who am I to make this blog?” syndrome.😊 Still, I started building this blog in July 2022 so that I could share with my readers what I had learned over the years about business development, continuous improvement, and best practices in “Corpo-life.”
