How is it to be the daughter of the President of Slovakia? (1st out of 2 parts)
This question became a casual part of every conversation for me since 2014. This era is soon coming to an end. So how has it really been to be the daughter of the Slovak President?
Honestly: quite fun! Imagine your dad is liked by more than 40% of the population of your country for what he is doing, imagine he is doing it without bribery or any illegal work, and imagine his job is changing the country you love and imagine you get to watch it from the first row. Yes, that is the feeling I have 90% of the time. Feeling of pride, happiness and love.
Since the new elections of the president (congratulations Zuzana Čaputová for a stellar win) and the announcement of my dad’s new political party, I have been trying to understand where certain statements are coming from: Čaputová will finally bring the change we all have been waiting for, Kiska should not continue in politics alone but join other parties or retire, Čaputová will actually deliver on what was promised, Kiska is breaking apart the opposition with his party, Kiska should know better, Kiska was a president who only worked 3 days a week so how does he want to run a party…To be honest, it made me angry.
About 6 years ago, when my dad decided to go into politics, everyone and I mean EVERYONE asked him if he is crazy. Me included. Why leave the comfort of business life and the comfort of privacy? The life where you work with highly intelligent people who want to work with you and challenge you in a good way. The life where your family and you can travel, see each other more than 3 times a week and no one judges the outfits of 14-year-old. Where no one cares how you spend your money and distributing your income to the poor is appreciated rather than overlooked. Oh, and why risk everything you have done, if your chances of winning are below 1%?
My dad and I then had a conversation that went a bit like this: “I want Slovakia to be a better country for its people. I will sacrifice my happiness for the greater good.” “Ok, but can’t you do it from the private sector? Can’t you build the hospital you wanted to or find a social for profit that will help the ones in need?” He said no, you have to change it from the inside. Because only then will it have the long-lasting impact and actually change Slovakia. I have to say at that point it sounded a bit bogus.
So let’s fast forward to today: he stood up to Fico (first by winning against him in elections, second by not allowing threats to scare him off), he changed how people view politics because he showed them that yes, change can be done (many businessmen are now going into politics: Truban, Štefunko, Čaputová and others because they now know it’s possible to win as a no name) and he stood up for his morals. Yes, there is the flip side to everything and my dad did change. This blog post is however not about who he is in my eyes so maybe we can open this topic some other time.
After all, he did it. He changed how people view politics. He changed how involved people are in it, if from the private or public sector. They know it IS possible. The win of Zuzana Čaputová just proves it. And this, among many other things, is why I am proud of my dad and happy to be the daughter of the president.
Now that I had my little rant about current politics let’s talk about how my life has changed. The 90% of the time that is happy. Cool. Exciting. I got to go as my dad’s +1 to Summer and Winter Olympics (he paid for my flights and we shared a room - for all those wondering out there). I met over 20 presidents, prime ministers and other powerful people (some of them are kinda boring, just an fyi). Not only did I meet the ‘celebrities’, I also got to meet some of my close friends I have to this day thanks to his job (you know who you are :)). I got and to this day get invited to social events, conferences, meetups where I would have not been invited otherwise (yes I am not naive, I know that often why I get invited to public things is because of who my dad is).
Let me pause here for a second: why do I go to events even if I know I am invited mostly as a daughter rather than for my personal accomplishments? (One note: I learned to go to the events where I know I will be also seen for who I am- for example I decided not to got to Opera Ball, Ples v Opere, until I get invited as myself and not as the daughter or I go every time I can to Via Bona, Slovenka Roka because I know it’s not just about status but it celebrates careers/goals/life accomplishments).
Because I learned to become an opportunist. In US one of the main things that students get taught in University is, that network is the most crucial thing you can have for your career. We get few opportunities in our life to create a global network: I got one, in NYC when I met Samer who invited me to be a speaker at his conference in Lebanon which contributed to my network globally, and then I had one with my dad becoming a president where I established my network more locally. Overall, I am proud of what I have done and to be frank I feel I could have done much more, become much more open earlier in my life on social media, talked more about my life, become a public person with all its perks and negatives. I chose not to do that (the offers were there), as I didn’t feel mature enough to take on ‘fame’ without changing my root values and beliefs. Today I feel grounded, I know who I am and hence I feel more open to share and less afraid of what effect fame or publicity might have on me. I created my career, my persona and my life the way I can be proud of it and my parents hopefully too.
What other perks are there that I have experienced? I remember the first time I got to borrow a dress from Jana Pištejová for my brother’s wedding and I felt like a princess. Or when she invited me to model at her Fashion show in Poprad. The little princess in me was in heaven. (Btw, huge respect to all you model girls out there, this one-time experience was enough for me.) Or that I got to meet IMT Smile, my favorite band, and to this day I am in contact with Ivan and Anicka. Or that I went to Poland for a business trip and got invited by his excellency president Andrzej Duda to his presidential palace just to hang out. Or that we skipped all the lines to wherever I went with dad. I cannot forget to mention, all the bottles of wine I got for free or to taste or to just drink in a restaurant. My favorite part? That my dad’s job brought him to Bratislava. Since I was in Bratislava for the past 2 years as well, we got to hang out at least twice a month, having a drink or just going shopping or having dinner together. Even though he missed being at home, the time with him for me was always precious. We got closer than we have ever been. This is what I cherish about his job the most, the time we got to spend together.
It might be that I look at it like people do with birth, that the pain was huge but looking back you just remember the outcome, the baby, which in this case would be all the fun experiences above. But I have to say the good stuff is quite great! Don’t you think so?
Next week I will continue with part 2 of this blog post, where I will open up about the other 10%, the 10% of public life, jealousy, guilt, shame and uncertainty that my dad’s job brought to my life. The 10% that shaped my past, my present and my future. Stay tuned!
