This issue’s special guest on TRI-POD, The Moodie Davitt Report’s video podcast series in association with The SEVA Group, is Fjolla Holzleithner, Founder of renowned Austrian staffing and promotions agency Brand Embassy and also the creator of a new company – and a new concept – called Dayholi.
Dayholi was named winner of The Trinity Challenge 2022 held at The Trinity Forum in Singapore earlier this month, a competition hosted by Mondelez International Travel Retail and The Moodie Davitt Report to recognise and reward innovation in the travel retail world.
Fjolla talks to co-hosts Roger Jackson (Dubai-based Managing Director of The SEVA Group-owned Organico Solutions) and Martin Moodie about early life in Pristina, Kosovo before moving at the age of eight with her family to Austria. How did she cope at school with no knowledge of the German language? Pretty well, it turns out, and the boys at her school learned very quickly not to mess with the young Fjolla.
That spirit of resilience has served her very well throughout a stellar entrepreneurial career. She has stared crisis in the face twice, most notably with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and its disastrous impact on all travel sector stakeholders but surely none more than an airport staffing and promotion agency such as Brand Embassy.
Refusing to be cowered by the crisis, Fjolla recalled a virtual reality concept she had hatched years earlier but had set aside due to the success of the Brand Embassy business. With the pandemic raging, she believed that the notion of people being able to travel without travelling, i.e. virtually, might just strike a chord with consumers. Dayholi was born.
Island-bound with creature comforts
As always with TRI-POD, it’s not just about talking shop. Once again we fly Fjolla on our (very) low cost carrier TRI-POD Airlines to our resident desert island (with offshore duty free status). What music would she choose as her island anthem? And who would be her three chosen dinner guest companions? Expect some intriguing choices, ones that reflect her core life and business philosophy of ‘sharing happiness’.
Note: Would you like to appear with Roger and Martin on TRI-POD? Drop Martin Moodie a line at Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com and we will be in touch.
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