Long before Aleksander was leading hospitality ventures in Cyprus, he was a kid selling lemonade on the corner, unknowingly sharpening the instincts that would guide him through a lifetime of entrepreneurship. That early drive to build, to take risks, to back his own ideas, never really left him. It simply matured.
By the time he stepped into his role as Market Director at Joe & The Juice in his early twenties, Aleksander was already familiar with risk. What the experience taught him, though, was the nuance of leadership: that not everyone thinks the way you do, and that real leadership is about trust.
“I’ve always tried to be open and honest with people”, he reflects. “It has burned me sometimes, sure. But it has also built the best relationships”.
At 23, leading teams came with lessons that can’t be learned from any textbook, like understanding what drives people, and how the right motivation can help make things happen. It’s a philosophy that stuck. When choosing who to work with today, Aleksander doesn’t look for the flashiest resumes or the loudest voices.
He looks for drive, determination, and discipline. The simple habits, like good sleep and staying active signal someone ready to handle the unpredictable demands of building something from scratch.
That same no-nonsense mindset shapes how Aleksander evaluates the startups and ventures he gets involved with. For him, it's not just about market size or margins. It has more to do with fit. “I have to feel good about the product. It has to enrich people’s lives,” he says simply.
Lately, that focus has zeroed in on Cyprus, where he’s helping to shape a new kind of hospitality through projects like Tutto Passa and The Agora Hotel. Authenticity, for Aleksander, is at the core of what he builds. He knows not every concept will appeal to everyone, and he’s fine with that. “Not everybody has to like it”, he says. “I’d rather create something true to what we believe in rather than something watered down for mass approval”.
