The new pedestrian spaces and parks, a “magnet” for Cluj

“A winner is a dreamer who never gave up on his dream,” said Nelson Mandela. How many of us dreamed of going far and stuck with the dream? How many have I defeated, how many have I succeeded in life? It’s not hard to dream, it’s hard to fulfill your dream. Does Cluj have successful people who have fulfilled their dreams?

Paula Păduroiu is one of these people. She started from the bottom and reached where her childhood dream did not dare to soar.

She was born in Alba Iulia, only because her mother was there at that time. He grew up in Podeni, in Cluj, at his grandparents’ house, until he was 7 years old. “I think it’s a huge advantage for children who have the chance to grow up in the country, in a healthy environment,” says Paula.

VIDEO PHOTO. Cluj residents of SUCCESS. From Cluj to Monaco, via Paris. Paula Păduroiu: Reality surpassed my DREAM

She came to Cluj with her sister and attended high school classes at Generală 4. She attended “Mihai Eminescu” high school in the classical languages ​​section. “I did Latin, Greek, but also English and French. From Italian I passed the Baccalaureate. I have always been passionate about foreign languages”, says Paula.

After high school, he had the opportunity to leave the country, to Paris. He worked there for 6 months, at a McDonalds, on Bon Nouvelle. “It was a very interesting experience. For the first time alone, far from home, forced to manage in a foreign country”, she says.

“I started studying PR and communication”

Upon returning to Cluj, in 2005 he started college. “I was studying Political and Administrative Sciences at UBB. I started studying PR and communication,” says Paula. In the same period he worked at Banca Transilvania. After two years, he wanted to specialize in finance-banking and gave up PR. So, he started classes at “Spiru Haret”. After a year, he put the rifle down due to lack of time.

“I worked at BT for about 6 years, years in which I learned a lot. I was a corporate advisor and I gained a lot of knowledge. After I left there, I opened an events agency. I really liked the field and I thought why not? I was dealing more with corporate events and art”, confesses Paula.

The chance of a lifetime materialized in a competition for young entrepreneurs held in Brussels. “I sent a business plan for a fashion brand, because I’ve always liked fashion, Grandma taught me to sew on a machine and draw patterns. I was flipping through Paris Match or Vogue, hard to find magazines at the time, and I dreamed of working in the field. I was seeing celebrities wearing my creations… All in all, I won the competition and was offered a three-month entrepreneurial scholarship in Paris,” says Paula.

“I was hired by Victoria’s Secret”

So, in 2012, Paula took the world and returned to Paris. After the three months he decided to stay there. Her mother was among the few people who supported her. “I ticked off a dream: to live in Paris. I thought if not now, then? Soon I found a job, assistant stylist. I was working with a Turkish designer, Serkan Cura, who was doing the pieces for the Victoria’s Secret catwalk in New York. This world fascinated me. I was hired by Victoria’s Secret to be his assistant in the studio, but I was also in charge of communication and marketing,” says Paula.

After a year, the collaboration with another designer began. At the same time, he started attending a fashion school in Paris and working on his own fashion brand called Velvet. He presented his first collection in Sibiu, in a fashion show. “I had about 30 pieces… They weren’t very many because I started with my savings, I was producing in Paris at very high costs. I was proud to present my first collection in my country”, says Paula.

She was immediately contacted by some concept stores from Bucharest and Constanța who proposed to her to enter with pieces from the collection. At the same time, he entered Paris malls with pop-up stores and also did private sales. She set up a large apartment where she exhibited her creations, accessorized with jewelry and other fashion items from well-known designers. “It was a kind of cocktail, as is practiced now, to which we invited friends who in turn came with other friends.”

“That’s how I got to know people who worked for big luxury brands, Chanel, Dior, Bulgari”

After two years, she ended her collaboration with Victoria’s Secret, because her brand had taken off. “It was a challenge for me. Before selling the entire collection, I had to already have elements of what was to come in mind,” says Paula.

Inevitably, this growth came with the need to increase notoriety and this could only be done among fashion designers, as a result he created a MeetUp group, the Paris Fashion Network. “You go online and announce that you are organizing an event on that date at that location and whoever wants to, comes. At the first meeting there were 6 people, all of us working in fashion. Then more and more people gathered, so that I had to rent parts of the restaurants. That’s how I got to meet people who worked for big luxury brands, Chanel, Dior, Bulgari,” says Paula.

Slowly, he began to deal with collection launch events or boutique openings, as such he opened a communication and marketing agency. Later, following some recommendations, he was offered to present a show, Paris Fashion Week, on a new fashion television, Fashion News Lifestyle Network, a kind of Fashion TV but bigger.

At the same time, he was offered to write fashion and lifestyle articles for the magazine “Expatriates Magazine”. “After a while I was proposed to coordinate the entire fashion field, I was a kind of editor-in-chief. I was in touch with all the collaborators,” says Paula.

“Art Life TV proposes to collaborate on a show called My Bucket List”

Working in the field, he decides that it wouldn’t hurt to do journalism, so he returns to UBB. After three years, he is back in business, after putting his brand on hold, because he felt the need for a sponsor for the next step. He focuses on the agency and aims to take it to another level.

Art Life TV offers him to collaborate on a show called My Bucket List. “I was like a fish in water on this format. After a while, due to economic reasons, the station restricted its activity, so I put coals in the agency again. In 2018 I said stop… I no longer have moments with myself, free days, quiet evenings, I have to put Paris aside and reorient myself. As I am really in love with the sea, I set my sights on the south of France. I wanted Nice or, why not, Monaco. So I started looking for opportunities in the area,” says Paula.

He found a job at a PR and communication agency in Monte Carlo, a luxury agency. “We had Bentley Motors, Riva Yachts and one of the most luxurious restaurants in Monaco with a Michelin star, Rampoldi, in our portfolio. After 7 months in which I took care to make contacts in this world, I created another agency, Qhuiz, and took on the marketing and communication campaigns for companies in this luxury sector on my own,” says Paula.

“I work with teams of freelancers on events, I have no employees”

He had a PR campaign for Bentley, where the company gave Vincent Cassel’s wedding two cars, one for him and one for the bride, as the official cars of the event. Then he brought the famous tennis player Henri Leconte to the Rolex Tennis Masters, an event that culminated with a dinner at one of the top-rated restaurants in the principality, which was also attended by Prince Albert of Monaco.

“I work with teams of freelancers on events, I don’t have employees. We know each other very well and I know who fits where, because I happen to have to manage several projects at once.

During the pandemic, Paula had to reconfigure herself. As such, it refocused on clients who had a greater need for digital campaigns. From a business point of view, this was not dramatically felt in the turnover. “I had a client, Planet of Finance, a kind of social media for investors and financial advisors. The idea was to get everyone at the same table. A kind of financial Tinder”, says Paula Păduroiu.

“In 2021 he took up golf”

In 2020, a collaboration with the International University of Monaco begins. “They contacted me and proposed that I teach a PR and communication course for masters and MBAs. The experience helped me a lot, there are more practical courses because I also learned from practice, less from books. I involve them in real projects and they really appreciate that,” says Paula.

In 2021 he took up golf and in 2022 he founded the Monaco Golf Association, which functions as a private club for golfers. “We have a lot of members who participate in our events, on the golf side. Also, private companies and banks have become involved, requesting the organization of dedicated, personalized events for employees who practice this sport, I organize them from A to Z. I consider it an extraordinary opportunity to do what I like and and I make money from it,” says Paula.

The present is what shapes the future. As they say, with one eye anchored in reality and the other attentive to opportunities. “I intend to develop a project together with three associates, it is an international business and golf club located in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. I also want to organize one of the biggest golf events, also in Dubai.

A soul project I support, Rokethon, is the race to raise awareness about the abandonment of dogs and cats. It will take place for the first time this year in October in Monaco. My dog ​​is an abandoned dog from Sicily. Any project that supports such causes is very important to me.

“When I look back I am extremely proud and satisfied with what I have achieved”

I also recently did a shoot with my dog, for another project in Monaco where a book will be released soon and the profits from the sale of the book will be donated to SPA (Monaco Animal Protection Association). These would be my plans for the near future”, says Paula, smiling.

How did Paula Păduroiu imagine her life as a child? “When I look back, I am extremely proud and satisfied with what I have achieved. As a child, I had a dream. Today I realize that reality has surpassed my dream. I like challenges and Monaco sets the bar very high for that. What suits me…”, says Paula Păduroiu.

The longing for Cluj also reaches the French Riviera. You know how they say, once a cabbage in Cluj, always a cabbage in Cluj. “I miss Cluj, how can I not, here I grew up and formed as a person. I can’t wait to come and see my family, friends and the places where I have spent most of my life. I love my country and promote it whenever I have the opportunity, because unfortunately its image abroad is often distorted. My place is now in Monaco but I never forget where I left from,” confesses Paula.

“Success doesn’t happen overnight. Success happens when each day you become better at what you do than the day before. It all adds up,” said Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Do you have the courage to contradict him?

Photo: Personal archive