This is one of my biggest projects which helped me to decide what exactly I want to aim for in my life. I made the decision two and half years ago in Prague where I had been working for Hewlett Packard only for 3 months. So let’s read how it happened.
Table of Contents
No experience, just my mouth couldn’t stop talking
Many people when they go somewhere, they collect information. I didn’t do it that time. I had decided to go abroad without any information, only with my best friend, little cash and my car Hyundai Accent. I didn’t have many expectations either because I wanted to have fun and have an adventure. Everything that I had wished for magically happened.
Little party never killed nobody
I am sure that you remember a great movie called “Great Gatsby.” The part of the movie when they enter his Party house and the song starts playing. That’s how I felt when I came to Malta. I had been parting for nearly 14 days before I found my first job. It was amazing, wearing as little as possible and having a good time. It was a first and last moment when I felt as an independent kid before I had to work.
That’s how I imagine my future house :)!
You know that many people complain that they will be lonely abroad and at the end, they don’t even leave their country? It’s sad, but it’s true. I had a solution. I had been throwing many parties because I knew that if I socialized, my life would be much easier with many helpful contacts. Anyway, it was only one thing that I had learned during my University studies.
If you learn how to party, life becomes easier (I am not talking about drinking :))
Everything good that’s ever happened to me came out of helping others
How I found my first job in Malta? Pretty interesting story. It started with my friend who had been looking for a job opportunity while I was still enjoying the party life in Malta. But I knew that I was running out of cash so I had to start slowly looking as well. I thought that I knew enough English that I didn’t have to take a job in Gastronomy. I was stuck-up that time but we will get back to this topic when I was broke and hungry.
One day my friend and I went out to print his CVs and then delivered them to restaurants. We stopped in the small shop where I hit on a beautiful woman as I regularly do who had changed my career life. She introduced me to her husband who had a small “Italian start-up company.” The day after I was hired as a Costumer Agent who spoke multiple languages via Google translator. The day after my friend was hired by the husband as well.
I don’t believe in coincidence, I believe that coincidence is logical.
Just a bit of information about Igaming (Internet gambling gaming); Here people try to get a job in Igaming for years but they do not even get it (not even locals) if they are not from Scandinavia, German or England. It’s a small tax haven island that’s why there are these kinds of companies situated. People want jobs in Igaming companies because of high salaries compared to local companies and gastronomy area. Someone can say; Wow, that’s how their amazing life started. But it isn’t true, we were cheap labour from the Czech Republic who had been hired for €800 gross with rent €325 a month.
A Customer Vampire Agent who spoke multiple languages
I would have never imagined myself as a person who was hired like a sexy woman for an online casino chat to respond to hungry men and women from different countries to satisfy their gambling issues and needs. Why issues? These fellows were so addicted that they could have been writing you for hours and hours to just get a couple of euros to play some slot machines. They were so demanding and you had to answer, NO! There was a woman who sneaked out to her husband’s wallet to take his credit card while he was sleeping to play slot machines.
You should gamble in your life, not on slot machines
From the beginning, my friend and I worked 40 hours a week and then we asked for another 20 hours more. In total, we worked 60 hours divided by day shifts and night shifts weekly. It was horrible but rewarding to appreciate every penny and free time we had. For example, we worked two days in a row during the night and then we had one day off and then we had two-night shifts in a row. We were completely exhausted. Imagine many jet lags almost every day. We had been going home totally tired while others were partying on a narrow party street in Paceville. You can compare it to the street called Red district in Amsterdam. It is not complaining but describing what “a happy life” it was after a such forced school. That time I knew that it was necessary to go through this in order to fulfill my dreams.
Being fired turned out to be the best time of my life period
That employment was a huge experience for me even though it took only 6 months. That time I didn’t have a lot of money so I needed to earn some extra cash (I was totally broke and hungry as hell) because the first salary was far away. So I decided to become a black taxi driver. I started driving to the airport to pick up some tourists. I was surprised that it had been working even with the car which was few times damaged all around and with opposite steering wheel on the left side. Tourists were ready to ride with me. I had just arrived in Malta without knowing the area but I was still confident to interact with Maltese taxi drivers and tourists in order to get by. You know hunger does a lot.
That time I had few problems with other drivers :))
I saw the opportunity and lack of Maltese transport. A couple of months ago, a few guys set up a subsidiary company called Taxify. But it wasn’t the only opportunity that I had seen. The Italian company which I’ve been working for showed me a huge business with many opportunities to travel the world remotely.
Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise
Maybe you’re asking why I spent only 6 months in that company? The answer is easy, they fired me because I didn’t fit into their collective. I was too hungry to learn and help. What I remember my father used to tell me that the harder you try the further you’ll get, but not this time. I was a newbie and worried about to not having enough cash because there were days when we weren’t a salary in time. We had too many issues inside the company that nobody had ever cared about. My friend was, but I was only one who spoke up. In the end, coworkers stood up against me and I had to leave the company. My friend stayed and after two years he became general manager. Once he told me that they had been getting salaries in big bags full of cash in the Internet business.
Advice; Don’t ever apply for a job in an Italian company abroad in Gambling industry unless you want to have a little adventure and maybe a little trouble.
The hardest time in my life
I was without a job so money was getting short. That time I was running two projects which were time and money consuming. I didn’t tell you from the beginning that I am very hyperactive and that I love creating things and events for other people. Since I came to Malta I have been working on five different projects.
Don’t you think that we have a plenty of time?
When they fired me I had two months to get by. I strongly believed in that point that I could have succeeded with my projects and no full-time job was needed to cover my living costs. I was still driving to the airport occasionally but it wasn’t enough. It was too risky and I was getting desperate. When you are desperate, you usually make mistakes. I had many accidents during that time and funny thing is, that none of them was my fault (not many people believed me but it was true). Once a Hungarian driver skipped me from the left side instead of the right side or 18-year old girl with a fresh driving license who didn’t stop at the stop sign hit me and so on. I couldn’t continue driving and my hopeful projects?
I didn’t have many experiences with launching successful websites and running headhunting company either. So I was totally physically on the bottom. Nobody believed in my success. I reached the point where I almost didn’t have money to pay the rent and my best friend didn’t want to lend me money in purpose. He wanted to give me a lesson so he did. He had been telling me to find a job but I didn’t listen. Not only him, my family and other friends but I was determined and dedicated to success. So I failed. I clearly remember that time when I was comparing my friend with me that he had been slowly growing. That guy who came with me at the island. I was stacked at one place called “failure”. It wasn’t only him who I’d compared with. People around me were so calm and stable. I had a feeling that I had been going to the wall.
Success is not a good teacher, failure makes you humble
Back to learning the cocktails
Do you remember how I said from the beginning that I didn’t want to work in Gastronomy? So here I am, I started working as a bartender and it was because of a new flatmate who had just arrived in Malta with big earning dreams. He took me to the hotel and it was a small American bar where I worked for four months. It wasn’t so bad for me, it was fun, I did almost everything. I was a waiter and bartender, but I knew that there was something more out there than serving other people. I didn’t mind the job I loved it and costumers loved me as well. I had few problems with the staff but it’s normal in Gastronomy. I surprisingly earned more than in previous Italian company, but again I knew it was only for a short time period. I recommend you to go through or send your children to work there. You learn how to behave in a restaurant and staff will appreciate your company while they serve you.
I cannot forget one more thing. We didn’t have much money to buy food. So we were eating food after customers. We counted each penny every night to get by. It was really funny.
I think you need to go through some stuff to really appreciate life and understand what it means to persevere, overcome and have faith. I think those tough times make you a stronger person.
While I was working as a waiter, I looked for something else. I continued working on my internet project but I knew that I needed more information and experience. As I mentioned It was difficult for me to find a job in Igaming. Someone can say that I
already had experience but It was useless. I was fired so it meant a bad reputation for a new employer as well. The island is small so everyone knows each other especially owner’s of Igaming companies. I can even say that I didn’t learn much from a tricky Italian company, I had learned but it wasn’t seen on my CV. So I had to figure out how to deal with an unpleasant career life otherwise the time of 8 months being on Malta would have forced me to leave the island.
Let’s say I could have stayed a bit longer than other young people from Czechia who come to Malta only for a summer job and than leave. I remember when I was leaving Hewlett Packard and my beautiful boss, by the way, it was a lady who told me that I was going to work in Gastronomy that Malta is Party island. She was partly right, but I already knew it wasn’t my destiny.
Helping others keeps you alive
That time I was struggling because I couldn’t get a job in Igaming. So I was willing to take any job apart from Gastronomy. One of the other jobs which I always had wanted to do was an entertainer. It wasn’t so difficult especially in Malta where many teenage kids come to learn English and when you have many kids somewhere, you need to find someone who would take care of them. So here I am, a social guru who would have looked after small kids by the pool while their rich parents are enjoying their holiday or honeymoon. It luckily never happened.
One day my friend got sick and he needed someone to take him to Hospital. Of course, I offered him my service and took him there. This moment turned over my life in Malta. I surprisingly met there a woman who showed up later on as my future ex-colleague. She was there with her kid. She was tall and she had a tattoo. She was simply sexy. I don’t know why but I’m always drawn to mature woman. What a perfect place to meet a woman isn’t it? Back to the topic. She took my contact and told me that her boss would contact me. I was happy but you know that these kind of promises from strangers you have to take it with a pitch of salt. That time I was going to take my dream job as an entertainer in the hotel in one month period. It was a summer job and I was happy to change the current job as a waiter to anything else. Do you know how I got this job? I had sent many CVs with my cover letter to every hotel in Malta offering my entertaining skills. There were no ads. I approached them directly and it worked.
a different approach will make you successful
So I had one job as an entertainer ahead and one job in a process. It was an igaming company which I really wanted to take. That time I was also sending CVs where I had written that I wanted to be hired as an intern. I was really determined to get any job in this industry. I’d also wanted to show what I am capable of and learn something new. So It was a few days before my first day in the hotel, but you know what happened? I got an email with an appointment for the content writer as an intern. I got shocked because it was one month after when I met that beautiful lady who had promised me that her boss would contact me. I knew that it was an amazing situation but another challenge ahead because if you had ever asked my teacher of Czech language in primary or secondary school how was my written skills, she wouldn’t ever tell that I would have become a content writer who makes a living out of writing.
It is not luck, it is your destiny
So I went for the interview. I was so excited and on another hand nervous. I didn’t have to be nervous for long because of the person who’d opened the door and later on had the interview with me. He was a guy who my friends and I’d played floorball with. I remembered him very well and he remembered me as well. Three guys from the Czech Republic who had played ice hockey all their childhood brought to Floorball club a big support because that time they had lack of players and he loved Floorball. He even gave me his business card while we played together. “So there I was again”. I was sitting in front of him without any English neither Czech writing experience and I was kind of financially desperate. By the way, “the office” which I entered was a quite big apartment with a huge living room where there was a big sofa and a plasma TV with PlayStation. There was also a beautiful kitchen and pingpong table. You could have imagined my reaction when I saw it. I had in my mind; “What are they doing? Do they even work?”
Do not ever be selfish – It’s all about people!
Back to the interview. It wasn’t really a normal interview, it was a friendly talk where he explained to me that I could start working as full-time if I passed the test after 14 days working as an intern. Wow, I was again surprised. I thought that I would have worked as the intern for two months or even more. I was ready to go through but I only had to work 14 days and pass “The test.” From his mouth, it didn’t sound so difficult, but from my ears, it sounded like another challenge for me. There was no way to improve anything about my writing skills and I was supposed to start publicly writing in the Czech language about online casino games and I could not have learned the Czech language in two weeks.
Think about something that is impossible for you and you want to do it. Did you get it? Start doing it and become good at it!
Everything that you do for others, it has the right reason behind
I have mentioned that I’d been doing two projects at the same time. One of them was being a headhunter who would provide a job for people and restaurants who were specifically looking for them. It wasn’t a fascinating idea but I again saw an opportunity and had a good strategy to get a piece of the pie in the Maltese labour market. I had even printed my business cards and I started offering my business around Malta. By the way, it had happened before I started working as a bartender and I was still employed as customer support agent. The headhunting project had been quite successful until two problems occurred; Money was running out and my co-worker and also my flatmate later on who turned out to be a totally irresponsible guy who had been lying to me all the time. He didn’t turn out to be a good colleague to work starts. By the way, that guy had amazing social skills which were one of the reasons I had started working with him. You are always drawn to someone who has something similar to you. That time he was struggling with an accommodation and of course, it wouldn’t be Lubo not to help him.
Many things happened to him inside the apartment. He stole money from the drawer, he almost set the apartment on fire, he didn’t clean after himself his falling skin from the ground and he couldn’t even pay the rent. Even his rich parents had to come to Malta and pay his debts. My flatmates were pissed off at me and they isolated themselves in their rooms. So I was responsible for his actions and I needed to fix it as soon as possible otherwise I would have gotten more unpleasant surprises. It was obviously a not good place to live in. I remember that I had wanted to take his stuff and put it in front of the door. I didn’t do it, he luckily moved away and a new flatmate who found me a job as a bartender just replaced him.
By the way, the guy wasn’t cruel. He had just some problems which affect people around him and it would have taken a lot of time to fix it.
A lesson for me? I learned to respect people who live with me. I learned also to take an action on my irresponsible behavior because I’d done many things without even asking my flatmates. You might also say that I’d built a mistrust from other people. But it’s not the truth. If I hadn’t trusted other people, I wouldn’t have gone so far in my life. For this case, it’s better to search for more information before you offer someone accommodation. As you can see that generosity gives lessons as well. Don’t start a project without savings and stable income. You can get quickly broke and you don’t know even how.
The challenge became my engine
And the second project which turned out to be a most helpful thing I could have ever done in Malta for other people and me. It was “Calisthenics” or you can call it as “workout with your own body”. I’d chosen this sport because not many people can handle it. They can, but they quit after a few training sessions. Calisthenics requires a lot of discipline to achieve something in a long time period and people want everything fast with the shortest period as possible. I am not saying that I don’t, but I had to find something where I could learn the discipline from.
I like being challenged. That’s the only way you grow.
From the beginning of the story, I mention that many people don’t travel because they might feel afraid of being alone abroad. From my case, it was partly the reason why I had started the project. Let’s name it “a group”. I tried to encourage more people to train with me to show them a different perspective of the sport. “Sport does not have to always be painful and abstaining.” I was looking for partners or friends with whom I could learn from some tricks and have fun while progressing. You don’t usually find quality people in Party places (That time I’d met the guy who was “working” with me on Headhunting project exactly at a party) and what is the training of calisthenics about? You can compare to alchemy. It requires lots of knowledge and I didn’t have time to study it because I was working almost 60 hours a week and had the headhunting project.
Viki Santoro – A guy with a cap in the middle who became of the best calisthenics guru in whole Europe. If I hadn’t started this group I would have never met this guy and learned from him
You take a kid’s toy away and he starts shouting!
Everything was turning out how I’d planned. I had many friends who I could train with. But (there always has to be “The but”)
We didn’t have a proper place to train on. So we decided to convince the Sliema counsel to build a playground for everyone who loves the sport. By the way, you cannot just walk into a councilor of Sliema’s (The City of Malta) office and tell the guy; hey dude, my training friends and I want to have a playground! I didn’t do it like that. First of all, it wasn’t a dude but he was the mayor of the city and he promised me that he would do it for us.
Let me tell you surprisingly what was the reason behind that. Didn’t Lubomir see a lack of playgrounds in Malta where you can train and have a good time? Yes, Lubomir did it. We’d even made for him a 3D plan to make it easier and faster. We wouldn’t have expected that the mayor would imagine exactly what we exactly wanted. The 3D plan covered such cool and safe equipment which was suitable for everyone. After months of approaching him with the question “when will it finally be done?”. The result wasn’t what we had expected for and prepared for at all. He’d even sent an architect to check how we train, but it didn’t somehow help because it didn’t have anything related to Calisthenics and it wasn’t even safe. Just a quick imagination for you what we wanted exactly; a few bars where you can do pull-ups, push-ups and have a soft floor for safety reasons.
Everyone had been telling me that it was impossible to get something from Maltese government but I didn’t listen. I was determined to get what I wanted. The result wasn’t 100% what I had expected but there was some. Anyway, we were pissed off. By the way, “we were three pissed off leaders” who were running the group.
A lesson for me? The next time the outcome has to be 100% better. But I already know where I failed. I didn’t put lots effort because I had different problems and goals. It was just something extra for my training hobby. I don’t know about you, but I always want things to be done perfectly.
People are the key for the success
People were coming to train with us every day and we motivated them enough that we built a good friendship. It didn’t cost them anything. People had been asking me why you didn’t charge these people. I didn’t want it. It wasn’t a project to earn money, it was the project to earn friends and learn how to train and it worked again.
I have a motto “Share what you know and help how much you can without any expectation and you will earn what you deserve”
One day a Czech guy came to train with us. It turned out that the guy was a friend of my interviewer in igaming company and he was going to correct my writing test. Wasn’t Such coincidence it? I surprisingly passed the test and become officially a full-time content writer for almost two happy years.
Since then I have a great time. I had time to develop my side projects and help the company which I have been working for to get an income from my employment. It’s always important before any job interviews ask yourself if you are capable to bring something for them. Many people go for a job interview to get certain income without thinking about the company site. So I have been in Malta for almost three years. I arrived in Malta on 23 of July 2015 and I am leaving the island the end of May 2018 to Vietnam. During this period I was broke, I have been to Las Vegas as company trip and I moved to Vila with swimming pool. That’s how I have enjoyed time in Malta! Mela!
It was a great time where we had everything, but it wasn’t enough (for me) 🙂
First time in a big America, where all the gambling business has begun (not for me, I had €200 in my bank account) 🙂
A few projects ahead and I will soon update you from Vietnam how it goes.
