🇬🇧 Beauty and the brain

…is how one Hong Kong newspaper described a certain young girl from Poland when she won the Miss World title in 1989. And that young girl did indeed make full use of both her mind and beauty, methodically creating an image that went far beyond the stereotype of a beautiful lady. Today, Aneta Kręglicka owns one of the most powerful brands on the Polish market and, comfortable in her own skin, she remains open to new challenges.

Text: Beata Brzeska
Photos: Weronika Kosińska

You are one of a group of women to have come through and taken advantage of a period of great systemic change in Poland. You made your way and succeeded. How did you do it?
My career choice even surprised my parents. They weren’t entrepreneurs – my dad was an engineer, my mum was an economist, and they were always part of a hierarchy. As a 12-year-old girl, I already knew that I wanted to work for myself and I said so. I think it stems from my nature and character. I am naturally independent and I’ve never worked for anyone. I am my own boss.

You found your moment, translating the economic freedoms of those days into your own.
Yes. When I was 24, I set up my own company, without any experience. When I was still studying economics, I was thinking about opening a travel agency and I never anticipated the way things turned out. At that time, I wasn’t thinking about beauty pageants at all, or dreaming about taking part in them. It simply wasn’t my goal. In fact, I started competing by accident. I like being a manager, however I definitely prefer to be on the other side of the camera. I don’t like exposing myself. Obviously, I was persuaded somehow and I entered a competition.

And you became Miss World. Did that victory have any impact on your choice of career?
As a direct result of taking part in the pageant, the idea of setting up a travel agency faded into the background. It was around then that the Polish advertising industry was born. Throughout the year, I traveled for work a lot, taking part in various events, shows and campaigns, through which I got a taste for PR and Western advertising. In addition, I met a business partner with experience in the industry and international experience, and so my own advertising company came into being. It was really one of the first advertising agencies in Poland.

The beginning of the 90s was a new world and a new reality, in which everything had to be learnt from scratch. Who taught you the most about business?
At the beginning, the clients were curious about me. They wanted to see me and meet me, but they didn’t always trust me to get the job done. When it came to hiring me, they weren’t convinced of my credentials as an advertising specialist. However, I was determined to fight and learn. I inspired confidence with my reliability, ideas, tough character, and my certainty in being able to handle the projects I was entrusted with. I learned from experience, one project after another. At the beginning, I relied on my intuition as I gained experience. And because I’m meticulous by nature and don’t like critique, I used my skills to the maximum. In the end I managed to learn what I needed. Honestly, I don’t remember any clients who were unhappy with my work. Even the first one was pleased. It was also important that from the very beginning I felt that this was my calling; that I was fulfilling and proving myself as I performed these creative, organizational and production duties.

From the very beginning, you consciously and consistently created your own image.
I was a girl with a backbone. I come from a nice family home and I think that these values, which I assimilated and absorbed like a sponge during my childhood, also developed me as a woman and a person. My father was a great role model for me. He was very professional, reliable and honest. In retrospect, when I think about my parents, I can see that I have adopted the values and principles that were my foundation at home.
I grew up in the People’s Republic of Poland, at a time when people were always up to something. I was never like that. I’m not a player. I don’t want to be in someone else’s pocket and I like everything to be above board. That’s who I am and I’ve always been like that.

The customers vary. Is there room for compromise?
I am good at execution. And I always start from my own perspective. I must be satisfied with what I propose to the client, because I subscribe to it as Aneta Kręglicka. When I started out, I was one of the most popular people in Poland. Today there are a lot of stars in various fields, but in those days I stood out quite a bit and I was very conscious of only signing my name under what I considered acceptable by my standards. For me, my judgment is the most important, because I am very demanding of myself. I can then lend my name to the product I’m delivering and the client can be sure it’s of the highest quality.

Miss World and a businesswoman – they don’t typically go hand in hand, do they? How did you deal with the stereope associated with beauty?
Back then, this title had a different value. There was Kołobrzeg, Opole, Sopot, Miss Polonia and nothing else. The Miss World pageant had not even been broadcast on local television before and it changed everyone’s perception of me. Everyone was hungry for any kind of success. Personally, I was very shy. People accosted me at every turn. A whole bunch of stars and celebrities, whom I’d known and loved from TV, performed in front of me at various events. Sometimes, sitting on stage in front of them, I thought that everyone must have gone crazy. I never overestimated my success, nor did I appreciate it enough. I was very reserved.

Didn’t you have problems in your business dealings as a result of that?
I maintained a certain distance and gave a clear signal that my work had nothing to do with my popularity. After a few minutes during business meetings, it became very clear that I was very single-minded. My goal was to gain clients for the agency. If anyone just wanted to look at me while they had coffee, they must have been disappointed. I paid special attention to that. At one point, Prime Minister Jan Krzysztof Bielecki offered me a managerial position in an institution that was just being established to bring together Polish and American businesses. The Prime Minister often participated in activities related to health and the healthy lifestyle, such as various walks and runs, equestrian competitions, tennis tournaments, etc., which I also organized in those days. Having seen my commitment, he offered me that position.

That wasn’t the only such offer you received. You’ve also been approached to take up political positions, haven’t you?
Yes, but I wasn’t interested.

Why? I know you were the head of the class, so you must have the temperament of a social activist, surely?
Yet again, it comes down to my character. I didn’t want to do it. It wasn’t what I was striving for. I moved with my parents from Szczecin to Gdańsk, when I was in the sixth or seventh grade. After I joined the class, my peers said they wanted me to be the head girl, even though they didn’t know me. From that point on I often stood up for them. I’m a fighter, but I don’t think of myself as insolent, and I don’t push people around. I always get what I care about but by good means. I prepare diligently and, more often than not, I get what I want.

How do you decide on which projects to work on?
Today I am at a stage where I can choose. I don’t want to do everything anymore. I choose projects that I find interesting and will develop me. And this applies to both business projects and those related to show business. Even if I am involved in the campaign in terms of image, as in the case of the Yoskine brand, I also participate in the creative and production aspects. The projects I like the most are those which allow me to combine my image with my professional experience and skills. I don’t like being just a face, although it happens. I worked with the GPD agency from Poznań on the campaign for Apart.
It was very well received and earned the company recognition, as well as exceeding its marketing goals. It was my first image campaign and I wanted to be real in it. Thanks to the wonderful team working on it, that was possible to achieve. We felt that we were creating something unique. Therefore, it not only had a strictly commercial dimension, but there was also some poetry and magic that conveyed the message. And it worked.
The most important thing for me is to get involved in real things. I hate pretending and glossing over reality.
If I design shoes or clothing, I actually design them. I’m not a brand or a name to put on something that someone else has done. I have to be part of the creative team and take responsibility for everything. I also love doing things I don’t know much about [laughs]. When I design, I have a specific aesthetic, but I might not know, for example, the production technique. Then I approach it with great curiosity and commitment, and usually I manage to get on top of it. I am open to various projects, because I really like learning new things. Once I got a proposal to run a hotel and I would have loved to do that, but unfortunately the investor sold the investment. These are the real challenges for me. I don’t believe that there is anything that cannot be learned, and if you are very determined, you can quickly learn whatever you need.

A few years ago, you participated in the Women’s Congress, which was then fighting for parity in public life. Has anything changed?
These goals have not been fully achieved and we are still at the stage of transformation. Women are marginalized and still not treated equally alongside men, either professionally or in any other respect. That said, I am thrilled to see how we as women are defending our rights today and I am incredibly proud. There’s no doubt we are a force to be reckoned with.

Nevertheless, being a working woman today is not the same as it was a decade ago.
Definitely, there is no comparison. First of all, women want to get out of the house and be independent. I was also at home for a while, for a short time. I’d just had a baby and my family was very important to me. I respect the choice of those women who decided to stay at home and take care of their families, but I am glad that there are women who found an alternative path for themselves and realised that, apart from motherhood, there is also a great space in which they can educate and develop. It’s not about showing men that we’re as strong as them, or indeed stronger. I think of my relationship as a partnership and I cannot imagine such a rivalry between us. So I agree that women have taken a leap forward in the last thirty years.

In your case, did it require a lot of effort?
I didn’t have to change anything. However, yet again, it’s a question of my character. I always knew what I wanted in life. I was the same person then as I am now. My approach to my relationship, to partnership, has not changed at all. I understand that for many women that’s still evolving, and therefore they haven’t arrived at a moment of total happiness as yet.

What’s missing?
I think the ability to set limits, which takes strength and determination. Personally, I articulate my needs very emphatically and I don’t mince words when speaking about them. It think my maturity stems from that. However, there are women who are unable to be firm or enforce their will. Of course, it depends on a person’s character and not everyone is cut out for that. It is important to have equal rights, because men still have the upper hand. There is still an unwritten law that entitles them to lucrative and responsible positions. Competence should determine a person’s employment above all, but this is not always the case.

You’ve never faced that issue, have you?
I have always been independent. I’ve never worked for anyone. I was the employer. Everything I have achieved I owe to myself. Nobody has ever given me anything: neither the state, nor a sponsor, client, or man. Today I have peace of mind. I have earned my independence. I work mainly as a consultant and sometimes I lend my image through product endorsements. I also manage the asset portfolio that I have built up over the years. I’ve always understood that money is about security, first and foremost, and not about gold trimmings. Earning money is about achieving a sense of security for my family and me. That’s how I feel today. I undertake projects that I believe in, with people I want to work with. And of course, I choose projects that will develop me as a person.

Doesn’t it annoy you that, despite your many achievements in business and philanthropy, the first thing that people think of when they hear the name Kręglicka is your Miss World title?
It it did at first, but not anymore. I’d already turned 40 by the time I did my first commercial. Prior to that, I’d been reluctant to work on projects that sought to exploit my appearance. The commercial for Apart was the first one. Today, my name has positive connotations and I have attained a certain status – everyone can see that I am a mature woman and that I have developed a highly valued brand. When clients ask me to be part of an image campaign, they’ve usually done their market research and after 30 years I’m still on top [laughs]. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. These days, I mainly try to satisfy my own needs. This is my time.

You don’t seem very enthusiastic about show business and contemporary pop culture. However, you can’t really get away from it, can you?
Well, this is my career. I have always been associated with my image and I can’t escape that. Of course, I would prefer to work on projects, which didn’t just involve being photographed and giving interviews. Those aren’t things that particularly matter to me. However, I am a professional and I know that photoshoots and standing in front of the camera is part of the job when I’m the face of a project, and I do it as best I can. On the other hand, professionally, business is more my thing than show business. That’s why developing strategies around branding, marketing and communications is what I’m most interested in and I try to get involved in those aspects as much as possible, even when I’m working on an image campaign. I want to leave my professional mark on the projects I participate in and be able to use my creative potential. Those are the kinds of projects I am very open to.

Looking at the projects you’ve worked on, it’s fair to say you are multidisciplinary and you’ll take on any challenge. That said, you seem to prefer projects related to pop culture instead of, for example, crude oil.
There was an oil project! [laughs] I worked with EuRoPol Gudzowaty for five years, marketing the A4 motorway. I’ve been professionally involved with a very broad range of industries from cosmetics to heavy industry. I had to constantly learn something new. You cannot prepare a communication strategy without understanding the specifics of the client.

I think you just like studying in general. Didn’t you almost get a PhD in international relations at the age of 40?
In the end, I didn’t complete my doctorate. I finished my three-year doctoral studies. I hadn’t studied for such a long time and I just had this need to do it. The dean persuaded me to get a doctorate, but I’d actually gone there for a change of scene, to learn something, and to develop. I didn’t actually need a title and I hadn’t gone there with a particular area of study in mind. Maybe if I’d met a mentor, or an authority figure to guide me, I would have made it to the finals. However, there was no such imperative and I take academic titles very seriously.

Does a perfect marriage in your private life, translate into a professional marriage as well? Do you have plans to combine business and the arts, i.e. your own professional activity with the directorial work of your husband, Maciej Żak?
I’ve already produced Maciek’s film Supermarket. We have a joint production company [St. Lazare], which my husband mainly looks after. Of course, I support him by helping put together presentations for international projects, as well as reading scripts. Now I’m the co-producer of Maciek’s latest project, for which he is both director and screenwriter. We’ll have to wait and see how this production goes. Times are tough and we have to tighten the budget. We are still looking for business partners and we hope to start shooting in the spring. It may not be my core activity, but I am very involved.

Do you enjoy watching the same kind of films?
Films and music. We love Jim Jarmusch’s work and enjoyed watching old movies during the lockdown. We did it as much for ourselves as for our son, because we’d like him to get acquainted with the classics. Alek attends business school in Paris, but in our opinion he’s a humanist. He draws beautifully and plays the piano. He’s not developing these talents, because he wants to be a successful entrepreneur, but he does watch a lot of films. I wish the same could be said for his reading. He studied at a British school and is therefore reluctant to return to Polish literature. Maciek tries to throw important titles his way with varying degrees of success. At least we succeeded with the film classics during spring.

You also have artistic leanings don’t you? Aren’t you writing a book?
Creativity is the part of my job that I like the most. When the Znak publishing house approached me with a completely different project, I made it known that I was working on a partially fictionalised autobiography. It was going well. At that stage, the only person who had read it was Maciek, and he told me to keep writing. The publishers read the first thirty pages, liked it, and said they would publish it. And then … nothing. I lost my nerve. Yet again, I’ve reached the conclusion that I cannot work under pressure. When it found its way to the bottom drawer, it came easily enough. And now? If I write it, so be it.

I remember you once said that a good relationship is autonomy within the limits of shared values. That’s stayed with me ever since. What values ​​did you build your relationship on?
For me, honesty and partnership are the most important values. I have a strong character, because in my private and professional life I say what I think. I hate pretence. I’m painfully honest. I think that’s what Maciek appreciates in me the most. We have a kind of Italian marriage. We’re loud and explosive, but it’s all over as quickly as it started. We’re never offensive and we never harm each other. We have respect and admiration for one another. Maciek is intelligent, well-read, brilliant and incredibly witty. He’s the only guy who can still make me laugh until I cry. In a relationship, both people must feel good when they are together and apart. We allow ourselves space and autonomy, and we are instilling the same values ​​in our son. Honestly, I don’t like talking about my private life, and I think I’ve said too much already.

Honesty is not always the best policy.
But it’s the only way to be. These days I can lay down the rules. However, on more than one occasion, a client accepted my creative proposal, only to later try and force me to make changes for budgetary reasons – changes which compromised the quality of my original proposal. I turned on my heel and abandoned the project. I have often heard people say that I can be difficult to work with. Good but difficult. And I don’t always get the projects I’m going after. More often than not, demanding people are described as difficult. I can be difficult and I may even like it. I have clients who come back to me time and time again, while others haven’t worked with me for years. However they always phone me at Christmas. That tells you something.

You’ve already given me the recipe for a successful relationship. Now I’m going to ask you to give me the recipe for beauty.
I embrace nature one hundred per cent. I am a mature woman and I’m completely okay with that. I’m not fighting back the years at all costs. My temperament and a life on the go are what keep me young. That said, my daily routine is very important and I stick to it steadfastly. I used to do gymnastics and still exercise a lot. Sport is a natural part of my daily routine. Physical exercise ensures I stay mentally fit as well. I don’t avoid aesthetic medicine treatments either, however that’s it, apart from daily care and exercise. The Yoskine line of cosmetics for mature skin is great. It is a company that often introduces new lines and innovative formulas and I have a few favourites that suit my thin and demanding skin. I like their masks and they have excellent serums and body creams for use before and after training. I am very pleased with them, as are my friends who also use them. I only recommend what I have tried myself and I know works.

Do you have any professional goals?
I like a challenge and I like learning. If someone would offer me an interesting project, such as managing a hotel, which I mentioned earlier, or creating a brand from scratch, I would happily take it. I love anything that requires me to learn and acquire new skills, but also use my existing competencies. That’s how I approached designing clothing and shoes. I learned everything from scratch. As I said before, I feel that this is my time and I want life to surprise me. I’m ready! |