and USA 
His innovative ideas drive the business forward
Tsvetelina Markova is one of our in-house accountants who was recently promoted to Administrative Manager. She is passionate about Phycology and self-development. Iveta Kirilova is the other accountant on the team. She puts her heart and soul into precise sciences. She also loves meditative practices such as coloring and hiking. Let’s get to know them better.
Tell me the story behind what drove you to Accounting. Is that something you have always wanted to do?
Tsvetelina (Ts.): I was in 7th grade when I wanted to apply to study Accounting at the National Trade and Banking High School. I almost made it but the admission scores were very high. I decided to focus on studying languages, especially English. After graduating high school, I made the decision to study Accounting at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE).
During my second year at university, I started entering different internship programs and I became even more passionate about Accounting. After a while, I realized it is not quite my thing. It is a very stiff job. Way too many legislations to follow and documents to take care of. There is no dynamic at all. And then I turned to Human resources (HR). I was way more interested in it at the university. Perhaps, it is because it is connected to communicating with people and with Psychology. My hobby is digging into Psychology. I think that has pushed me to shift my trajectory. I like Accounting and I am good at it. But I also discovered it is not all I want from a profession.
Iveta (Iv.): My experience was similar. I have always been good at math and precise sciences. I was in 4th grade when I wanted to apply for the Sofia Mathematics High School. I later decided differently because I thought it is too early for me. I was later admitted to study Business Management at 31 Secondary School with Foreign Languages and Management “Ivan Vazov”. When I was in 12th grade when I started learning Accounting as a discipline. That is when I decided that is a possible career path for me. I was admitted to study accounting at UNWE. I have to admit it is quite difficult but I still like it and like to learn more about it.
And how did you learn about the company and decided to become part of it?
Ts.: I had a job interview with Miroslav Mirchev from the accounting firm that Kingly works with. He was a bit overwhelmed with the fact that I was still studying and that I will be absent from time to time. So he suggested I apply at Kingly because it is a more dynamic company and the work is way less than what I would have to deal with in the accounting firm. That is how I ended up here.
Iv.: I came to work at Kingly because of Tsveti. We studied together – first Accounting and then Human resources. Last year, Tsveti told me they need another person to handle bookkeeping. The fact is that it is quite a different environment here. I was not sure whether I should come to work for the company, mainly because English is mandatory. I have never been that good at learning it. But I decided to challenge myself and – with Tsveti’s help – give it a chance.
What is your impression in terms of management, financials, and business growth? Are we going in the right direction?
Ts.: I like that Rob has a lot of ideas and he is driving all processes forward. Now that I am adopting a new role, I also like that I can analyze the psychological state of the people in the company. For our position, the work is very diverse and every day we have an issue to resolve and we always learn something new.
Iv.: I agree. I like Rob’s ideas to expand the business. He always finds a way to accomplish them. I think that is one of the most important things that drives success. And to be adaptive. You can learn many new things here. I can compare it to my previous job – I felt like a robot there. I was an accountant for several hotels but they were very far away. I had no real connection with the staff. And the fact that I can communicate with other team members was a game changer for me. I feel that I am updating my knowledge every single day.
Ts.: I can add that Rob is very good at connecting the dots and seeing the big picture. He finds distributors of new sock knitting machines and he knows so much about yarns. On top of that, he has wild ideas. So wild that some people don’t believe in them. One example is expanding to apparel production, as it was something new to the company. However, we are already getting a lot of exposure. We all need to work on this project to make it work.
What kind of qualities and skills do you think you possess to help the company grow?
Ts.: I am the type of person who makes conflicts vanish. We are all put under a lot of stress. I feel that especially when Iveta is away and I have to work by myself. There is a lot of tension in Production as well. And sometimes it can spread throughout the team.
Iv.: I like order. And I like very specific and clear tasks, so I can execute them the way they were intended. I don’t like making decisions that are not aligned with the company’s growth strategy. I think that sometimes translates into pulling the breaks. And that is not always to my benefit.
Ts.: The funny thing is that most of the time, she is right.
Another good skill that works well in this company is being adaptive. When I started working here, I had a rough patch. I had to adapt very quickly to the workflow and I had to figure a lot on my own. Despite the difficulties, I decided to stay. And I think that will help me in the future.
What are the pressures of the job? What are the challenges you have to overcome on a daily basis?
Ts: It is most challenging when we have to explain to customers that they have to pay VAT. In most cases, they decide that they don’t need to pay it. However, it is expected by law. It is quite difficult to convince them to do it, especially when it comes to UK customers because of Brexit. And a lot of our clients still have trouble understanding how to proceed. It is quite hard when we have VAT inspections. We help the head accountant when there is some document missing, we have to adapt quickly and find it.
Iv.: We feel most rewarded when we can actually find a way to make them understand. When we overcome the obstacle. English is quite challenging for me. I intend to improve it. And Accounting itself feels quite rewarding to me.
What kind of good practices do you think should stay in the company? And what can be improved?
Iv.: We need to improve communication. In order to improve processes, we need clear rules that need to be followed. We lack control. For every department, there should be someone to be held accountable if the rules are not being followed. And that is how a lot of the issues occur. Not just when it comes to the tension between people, but also when it comes to finance and accounting. If the company is growing you will have a stable job.
Ts.: We need to work with every individual in every department in order to form a team. Everyone needs to know the goals of the company and to know what is the point behind everything. We are not enemies but colleagues who need to work together in order to make the company work better.
What do you think can bring people together?
Ts.: I think we need to dive into other people’s work because that will increase communication and productivity. At first, I was not taken seriously and even if I wanted to explain something to the people who were in charge of making offers to clients, they didn’t listen to me. I don’t know how I managed to make them listen. Communication is better.
Teambuilding can help us see each other in a different light. We need to gather outside of the company much more and communicate with each other. We need to get to know each other as people. This is very important. When you know someone, you start having different feelings about them. That is how we should build the team.
Iv.: I agree we need to spend more time with each other and get involved with doing something fun.
Let me a little bit about what you like to do for fun, in your spare time.
Ts.: I like going for walks. I like nature. I like bowling or similar games. I like to read books linked to Psychology and self-development. I like enrolling in various courses and using what I learn in my daily work.
Ive: I like hiking. I like different types of games – bowling, billiard. I like coloring – I find it relaxing, watching TV and surfing the internet.
Who can you rely on in this company?
Iv.: I can rely on Tsveti when it comes to Accounting. If there is an issue that has occurred, I rely on Rob. I can rely on Safeer for anything related to IT. Valery, our Warehouse manager, is the go-get guy in the company when we need something delivered.
Ts.: Iveta, Rob and Valery. These are the 3 people in the company who have always been there for me when I needed their support or help.
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Meet our IT Manager Safeer Ahmed who thinks 2023 will be a very important year for Kingly, as well as our sock knitting family – Miroslava and Kaloyan, and our embroidery expert Nelya Moroz who escaped bombed Kyiv to come work for Kingly.
Learn more company updates in the Blog section of our website. Don’t hesitate to contact our team via this form.
