Courteous, forward-thinking, scholarly, well-traveled. You who know Peter well, would you say this describes our man in Marketing?
Peter speaks perfect English and perfect Polish. Of course, since he comes from Poland! From Katowice, to be precise, a city in southwestern Poland and the center of the Silesian Metropolis. Katowice is not too far from the Czech Republic and Slovakia , approximately 1-1½ hours by road.
Peter, would you like to give us a tour of your city?
It is my pleasure!
Katowice used to be a center for heavy industry located both in the city itself and in the surrounding area, mostly related to coal and steel. Katowice also regained its reputation as the scientific and cultural center and became a university town too. Great housing estates and a few elegant buildings were constructed.
Nowadays, Katowice is a regional and national investment leader. It entered the 21st century with huge capital assets and signs of the deep transformation can be perceived at every turn. Since self-government reconstituted itself in 1990 the city has no longer been associated with industry, and it has created a new identity.
Katowice is a perfect place for those who are interested in visiting industry related monuments and factories converted to museums. You can visit a coal mine, a zinc factory, inspect steam-powered machines and at the same time explore the culture area that developed including the famous Spodek -a multipurpose arena complex built in 1971. Spodek is one of the first buildings in the world with steel, unsupported tensegrity roof structure.
Next to it is NOSPR Concert hall, home of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice- one of the best regarded acoustic concert halls in the world.
Adjacent are the Congress Center and Silesian Museum. The Cultural District was built on the site of a previous coal mine. You can still get the industrial feeling as some architectural details, buildings, and even a coal mine shaft are preserved to commemorate our history.
And what would you like to share with us about your family?
I’m married to a fabulous woman, no kids, but we enjoy ourselves a lot. If I would pick the single best thing that happened to me it would be Kinga! I have one sister. My parents are living in the same city, and we all stay very close to each other. I’m very like my father, who is also my best friend and over the years we have developed a strong bond.
I’m an action fan! Whenever possible I try to go outdoors; I’m very much into inline skating, biking, swimming, snorkeling and I just started wakeboarding, (riding a wakeboard over the water, a combination of water skiing, snowboarding, and surfing techniques) and I love it!
I’m a management and marketing specialist and was lucky enough to work my entire professional career in my field of expertise.
How did you join the company?
This is a material for a separate story.. but to keep it short … I read about my friend joining a remote company, and it was a whole new way of working for me which I had never considered before. Sounds simple? Imagine a Polish guy reading the Washington Post while at leisure on the coast of Goa in India and learning about his Polish friend working for Automattic. This fact inspired me so much, that I started to look around. While I was searching links for WordPress Developer and Support Jobs I was directed to onthegosystems.com. As a WPML user for a year or so already, my attention was caught by a link at the bottom of the page. A couple weeks later I took the first step and applied for an open position at OTGS. I was interviewed by Laura and Agnes and then finally by Amir and here I am!
You have taken on 13 roles – very impressive. What are they and how do you manage it all?
I’m working in the marketing team. I’m responsible for communication, branding, analyses and optimize processes. I’m lucky enough to work on different aspects of our company thus collaborating closely with many colleagues and not forgetting the management.
OTGS is a big, dynamic company. To be competitive, we need to stay on the edge in many areas. It means constant learning, and I like to challenge myself. It’s great to see ideas brought to life by our team and myself.
I get up at 6:30 and every other day start the day with a short 30 minutes run. It’s when I plan the day ahead and tackle ideas. I’m at my desk by 9 with my beloved coffee. I review emails and projects once again to make sure I’m on top of everything, and then I dive into the colorful world of marketing. I genuinely enjoy every single day of my work.
What about future ambitions?
I had mostly set my life goals by the age of 20. I wanted to make sure that, whether I “succeed” in life or not, my set of life goals will remain the same and will not increase as my life progresses and, instead of reaching them, I would see them stretch further and further away.
Right now, I live the way I want to and do what I like to do – I feel free. A big chunk of it is working for OTGS – I was looking for this last piece of the puzzle to complete my life plan for a long time.
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