Welcome to our story and bigger why!
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Hi, we are Irina and Peter
We are grateful for your curiosity to learn more about our bumpy, but rewarding journey. Driven by our personal quest to overcome the overwhelming sense of mediocrity and scarcity around us in post Communist Bulgaria, we do everything we can to help bring more quality, beauty and excellence.
It’s been a humbling journey for us and here are its stepping stones so far. We share it and hope it will inspire more ordinary people like us to do the mundane while striving for the extraordinary, which moves all of us forward! We believe this is the calling of our time.
Grab a cup of coffee, sit comfortably and enjoy the ride!
Stepping Stones In Our Journey
1
Longing for more beauty
Since early on our personal quest has been to overcome the overwhelming sense of mediocrity, scarcity and the victim mentality that nothing depends on us and nothing can be changed in Bulgaria.
It made us both long to see more beauty around us, especially as it existed in abundance for centuries in ancient Bulgaria, and more people who believe they are not victims, but the creators of their own life and they can make a difference.
These photos from the exhibition “Pictures of Sofia” by Temelko Temelkov to us reveal the mediocrity and scarcity mindset and the overall lack of vision in Bulgaria at the moment.
Quality, beauty and excellence were around in Bulgaria for centuries and this has been our inspiration. The building in the picture is the Ethnographic Museum in Plovdiv – the oldest city in Europe (inhabited without interruption since 6,000 BC) and among the six oldest cities in the world.
Photo courtesy: Dennis Jarvis, WikiCommons
2
Supporting businesses to touch people’s lives
Since the inception of our company DreamersDo in 2006 this became a conscious quest, which is at the very core of what we do – to support CEOs and business owners to touch people's lives with their products and services and change our environment for the better. In a matter of years, not decades.
In the beginning it was a very scary and truly crazy thought. But we saw it's working and kept going. It turned out a personal growth journey for us too . Along the way with our clients, we've come to believe that together we can create the reality we dream of.
Among our customers are CEOs of:
We love supporting CEOs to turn their vision into reality and sustainably grow their business
We deeply believe that business is the greatest force for good in the world. So, we consciously choose to partner with CEOs striving to turn their visions into reality and with their products and services to increase the quality of life of people and step by step improve the overall environment.
Since 2006 we have a proven track record in the largest CEO-led organizational transformation projects of over 250,000 EUR resulting in profit growth in some cases up to 6 times. We have experience with CEOs of companies - leaders in diverse industries, ranging between BGN 7 million to 400 million in revenue and from 20 to over 2,500 employees.
In the last 15 years we had relentless focus, dedication and care in partnering with CEOs in meeting their imminent challenges and building sustainable profitable growth, even in crisis - all stemming from the our deep belief that they are drivers of the economy.
Here are some visions we supported to become a reality – they are aiming to improve the following:
Change people's lives through sport, on and off the field of play, with adidas - a truly global company with a mission to be the best sports brand in the world.
Financial culture – people becoming more responsible at managing their debt with EOS, a global leader in debt management.
Next generation water sewage infrastructure throughout Bulgaria with ACO Building Elements - a global leader in drainage.
Food culture with 24 Kitchen and “Explore Bulgaria” project of Nat Geo with the then FOX International Channels.
Mobility and overall quality of life with Balkanstar - the then long time importer of brands like Mercedes Benz (now Silver Star).
Starting to believe we can have world-class in Bulgaria
In 2010 our work with EOS Matrix was acknowledged as “a benchmark on the planet”. The CEO used inside-out approach to first get clarity on the company direction and commit to it, then to engage the team and execute under the pressure of the financial crisis in 2008–2009. They used the crisis as a fuel to build organizational resilience, face challenges, meet targets and lay a solid foundation for sustainable profitable growth in the next decade.
The recognition came from the Germany based Frank Bresser Consulting, which selected best practices of 23 organizations, among which also NASA (USA), SAP (Germany), the BBC (UK), Ramada Hotel (Costa Rica), UNIQA (Serbia), Nordea Bank (Estonia), T-Mobile (Europe), etc.
Since 2010 we've been refining the principles for sustainable growth embedded in this case by adding cutting-edge organizational and human technologies.
On the 4th year of our journey for the first time we started to believe that our ideas are not that crazy and we can really deliver at world class level in Bulgaria.
Adversity is the time for greatness
From our 15 year experience of deep work in organizations, large and small, what we learned is that adversity is the most fertile soil for CEO mastery and bold business growth.
In the current health, economic and psychological crisis every CEO needs to make a choice – to hunker down or turn everyday struggles into everyday greatness, wow their clients and achieve business growth beyond expectations. And find a way to win not in spite of adversity, but because of it. These are the times to stop “business as usual” and create compelling vision to propel us all forward.
Five of our CEO clients in the Top 10
Five of our CEO clients were in the Top 10 – the finalists of the most prestigeous competition for CEOs in Bulgaria “Manager of the Year”. It is organized by Manager magazine and the consultancy Deloitte where candidates need to meet rigorous criteria. These leaders inspired us to believe even more that when CEOs have the courage to face challenges everything rises – they as leaders, their teams, clients and with that their business growth.
“Managers 2020” blueprint for the future of management
In 2010 we were the first to raise the conversation about the future of management with the article “Managers 2020” in Manager magazine. This visionary blueprint inspired a regular column for a full year, where over 21 CEOs and global thought leaders contributed their visions.
Among them Alvin Toffler and Jeanie Duck, a world-renowned change management expert and former Vice President at the Boston Consulting Group.
Bold vision for Bulgaria – hub for world-class leaders
In 2013 we shared our bold vision for Bulgaria to become a hub for world-class leaders who with their products and services make the world a better place. We were profiled in an interview “Shaping Bulgaria” for the cover of “Coaching at Work” – the leading magazine in the coaching industry, published in the UK and renowned worldwide.
This interview invitation came after we learned the hard way that big change happens when we focus with love on the small steps.
Mentors expanding our mindset
The drive to serve business owners and CEOs as best as we can is what brought us to over 10 teachers and mentors, who are some of the most brilliant business practitioners on the planet in bringing visions and strategy into steadfast execution. We learned that big dreams are impossible without mentors expanding our mindset. Here are some of them:
Judith Glaser
Judith Glaser is executive coach who worked with Angela Ahrendts, former CEO of Burberry and VP of Apple Retail, where she managed 2/3 of Apple personnel (67,000 employees, and achieved record retention of 89% (where the retail industry average is around 20%) and while she had the position Apple became with a trillion dollar market cap.
She worked also with many Fortune 500 companies. She is among top 10 consultants in Excellence Top 100 Consultants and creator of Conversational Intelligence® (C-IQ). Irina was in her “dream team” of 30 facilitators to spearhead C-IQ globally.
Peter Senge
Peter Senge is called “Strategist of the Century”. He’s the foremost authority on the “learning organization” and authored “The Fifth Discipline”, recognized by the Financial Times as one of one of five “most important” management books of all times.
We had the pleasure of studying with him and personally meeting him during a change makers summit at MIT in Boston in 2014.
Stephen Covey
Stephen Covey is globally renowned authority in leadership and management and is one of 25 Most Influential People in the US according to Time magazine.
With his blessing Irina translated in Bulgarian “The 8th Habit: from Effectiveness to Greatness”.
Otto Scharmer
We've been studying and applying in Bulgaria the transformation models of Otto Scharmer since 2007. His expertise is in disruptive innovation in business and in society. His work is to prepare change makers how to do business and societal transformation around the world.
Billionaire Sir Richard Branson has also personally studied from him.
3
Introducing coaching as an industry in a post Communist country
In a former Communist country where no one was allowed to say what they think without being reprimanded or ending up in prison, we helped establish professional coaching as an industry from scratch. Coaching is the profession supporting people to achieve their goals with their own solutions and wisdom by being asked powerful questions and listened to. It’s pretty much like walking on holy ground for us.
That’s why we took it as a calling and our vision was to lay its foundation in a way that eventually the then emerging coaching profession reaches world class level and ability to deliver true added value to business, healthcare, education, families and support the overall prosperity of the country in the next 20–30 years.
Ordinary people can recreate reality
Unintended, in 2008 we ended up co-founding the Bulgaria chapter of ICF – the International Coaching Federation is the largest body setting the “golden standard” in professional coaching worldwide.
In 2011 in Las Vegas for our pioneering work and contribution to establishing the coaching profession in Bulgaria both of us were awarded with one of the two highest recognitions in the global coaching industry – The ICF President’s Award. We were the first non-native English speakers to receive it
It sounds big and glamorous now, but for years we had to face naysayers and ridicule for being “dreamers”. We feared to walk on that tightrope a lot. We almost bankrupted our own business with 6 years of volunteering our time, effort and money in order to establish the profession in Bulgaria.
But the impact that we can have for Bulgaria was giving us strength and inspiration and it was totally worth it. Three of our initiatives turned out to be pioneering globally. And in one of them – the ICF Masterclasses, we attracted some of the biggest names in the global coaching industry to help us set the sights high.
Over 700 certified professional coaches (from only 2 in 2006) in Bulgaria today look up to the highest global standards in the profession today. Serendipitously, the Las Vegas ICF conference was called “Playing at the Edge”. It rang so true for us that we cried that day.
Our biggest learning from this journey was beautifully summarized by sir Ken Robinson who took the stage after us:
“I really loved what Peter from Bulgaria had to say about how the opportunity to transform the world, if I can paraphraze you, is within everybody.
The world is not a given. I think it is fundamentally important that we create the world, in which we live in. And we can recreate it, if we choose to.”
4
With dentists for more happy people in the saddest country in the EU
Did you know that Bulgaria is the saddest and most cynical country in all EU statistics?
We don’t look at dentists as some “teeth fixers”
We see that by creating more healthy and beautiful smiles, in fact you touch people deeply and serve as catalysts of personal transformation where they become more healthy, confident and happy in their lives. We don’t know any other profession that can do that nation wide at such personal level. And there is a crying need for this in Bulgaria – the saddest and most cynical country in the EU statistics.
First systematic hands-on courses and workshops on sustainable dental management
We launched our sustainable dental management hands-on courses and workshops in 2018 and they spread serving as a resource for all dental owners.
We are grateful that dental owners of small offices and some of the leading dental clinics from all over Bulgaria trusted us to support them to 'wow' their patients and balance that with sustainable revenue and profit growth.
Dr. Alexander, the living legend in orthodontics, recommended our sustainable dental management hands-on program
Dr. Wick Alexander – “the legend of orthodontics” and renowned globally for the long-term stability of orthodontic treatments with the Alexander Discipline, shot a video reference specifically for the launch of Irina and Peter's signature hands-on course on sustainable dental practice management.
We have been personally inspired by his strive for excellence and sustainability since 2003 and applied his way of thinking in our work in business and in our life.
„Good is the enemy of great.“
Jim Collins
Dentistry in Bulgaria at the brink of a new wave
Facing the next challenge
Due to the continuous efforts of many in dentistry in Bulgaria, including Sofia Dental Meeting and the generous sharing of experience by world renowned clinicians, the Smile of the Year competition, rapid clinical and technological advancement in dentistry an increasing number of Bulgarian dentists are striving for continuous improvement and stay hungry for the new.
A lot of dental owners have heavily invested in excellent clinical education worldwide, state-of-the-art equipment and modern dental offices and do their best to clinically serve patients at levels unimaginable in the past in Bulgaria. So, the clinical pillar is well and standing and supported the development of dental practices.
Naturally, this leads to the next developmental challenge – how to keep consistent clinical results (especially with a team) and ensure healthy profit to allow further sustainable development of dental practices. Dental owners repeatedly tell us they are completely unprepared for this. So, the sustainable management pillar is lacking.
Dental services at world-class level
That is why we started raising the conversation about the power of sustainable management of the dental practice – one that consistently combines sustainable clinical results, “wow” service at every touch point of the patient experience and healthy revenue and profit.
If the sustainable management pillar is developed by dental owners in the next 10 years, we see that dental practices in Bulgaria have the full potential to provide world-class dental services.
So Bulgaria can become famous not only with its yogurt, wine, Olympic champions and world-class IT services, but with world class dental services as well. And most importantly there will be more deeply fulfilled dentists and more healthy, confident and happy people with beautiful smiles.
This is a window of opportunity that is rare. If taken by dental owners, it can change the trajectory of dentistry in Bulgaria and elevate it to the next level and impact the lives of millions.
Raising the public conversation about sustainable dental management for the first time
We publicly raised the conversation about the power of sustainable management of the dental practice for the first time in the history of the dental industry at the following events:
At the 11th Sofia Dental Meeting in September 2018.
As part of the jury of the competition “Dental Manager of the Year – Admira” in 2018.
At the Congress of the Bulgarian Dental Union was in June 2019.
5
DreamersDo Academy for Sustainable Dental Practices
Covid was a surprising, but sobering “stress test” for the sustainability of dental practices. It revealed the lack of financial and organizational stability and team and psychological resilience. In short, it found dental owners unprepared to successfully navigate in a volatile environment.
That’s why in 2020 we created the DreamersDo Academy for sustainable dental practices in order to support dental owners with complete puzzle of solutions to ensure stability of their practices, sustainable clinical and financial results in a turbulent economy.
Our individual paths before joining forces at DreamersDo
Peter Goryalov
Peter led pioneering IT projects, introducing innovative technologies on the Bulgarian market for 8 years in a row.
He held senior management positions at IT companies like HP, Compaq and ACT Soft, one of the first distributors of Microsoft in Bulgaria.
First at ACT Soft, he built the first Microsoft OEM channel in 1998. Later at Compaq, he was responsible for the execution of the local merger with Hewlett Packard Bulgaria, which was part of the global M&A – the largest in the IT industry at the time.
As Sales manager at HP he has developed the HP Intel server market in Bulgaria and as a Channel manager at HP he was responsible for the country sales through HP partners. In 2004 he was acknowledged personally by Carly Fiorina, CEO of HP at the time, with “The Best of the Best” Excellence Award for HP sales managers worldwide for “his leadership and significant contribution to the company”.
He holds MA in Industrial Management from the Technical University-Sofia.
Irina Goryalova
Irina has rich 10 years of experience in working with political, defence and business leaders in key points of the communication process – from the in-depth, in-house preparation to delivering the message publicly.
Starting in 1999 as Diplomatic Correspondent she covered Bulgarian foreign policy in the height of Bulgaria's integration to EU and NATO. Irina interviewed numerous EU and US politicians, diplomats and dignitaries, including Sen. John McCain, former US presidential candidate, and Steve Forbes, owner of Forbes Magazine.
Since 2005 as a Country Manager of the UK communications consultancy Cook Communications, Irina established its office and led the public communications in Bulgaria on behalf of large defense companies like Rolls-Royce, Finmeccanica, Alenia Aeronautica, Saab, etc. in multimillion tenders, including the fighter jet acquisition for the Bulgarian Air Force.
She holds an MA in TV and International Affairs Journalism from the Sofia University, studied at the London School of PR and specialized journalism at Bradley University, USA.
Contact Us
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For individual inquiries how the CEO Executive solutions can best serve you as a CEO and your organization or other questions, contact directly Peter Goryalov, Executive coach for sustainable profitable growth, at:
