Ana Tomić

Ana Tomić, Marketing Director at 24sata, shares her personal insights on professional growth, leadership, and learning in a constantly changing world. Through her experiences, she reflects on how to remain authentic while adapting to change.

Creativity as the Foundation of Professional Identity

My personal development has always been shaped by creativity. From an early age, I dreamed of attending two art schools, but in the end, I chose only one because it was important to have a “safe option” as well. Even though I gave up on attending a secondary school focused on applied arts, aesthetics have always remained important to me. That’s why marketing felt like the natural choice – it is never repetitive; the creative process constantly starts anew. And today, the role of a marketing professional is far more complex, combining analytics, creativity, technology, and an understanding of people.

From Operational Thinking to Strategic Leadership

After completing the COTRUGLI program, my professional goals became more layered. Seeing the bigger picture, thinking strategically, and focusing on sustainability through financial indicators were all aspects I had worked on before, but at COTRUGLI, they became tangible. Working closely in teams made up of completely different individuals from diverse industries and professional backgrounds forces you to consider multiple perspectives — and sometimes challenge them against one another. In essence, we are all leaders. The positions we hold require us to be. But each of us also brings a unique specialization. In a corporate setting, there is usually a clear protocol: you align on strategy, present it to management, build it around a clear vision, and then translate it into an operational plan for your team. Challenges are solved by asking questions and collaborating with other departments, such as finance or controlling, while continuously trying to scale the business in a way that delivers maximum value to the company.

In a COTRUGLI team, especially during the final project, you don’t just ask questions – you are constantly receiving perspectives from everyone involved. This fundamentally changes the work dynamic, as ideas are continuously refined and aligned from all angles; there’s no waiting for a meeting or the next management board. Working in a COTRUGLI team feels more like a live event than a protocol with defined steps (though, of course, there are clearly defined milestones to achieve). I believe this is the greatest value, alongside the constant development of entrepreneurial thinking, which becomes impossible to ignore as you gain more experience, especially in leadership roles.

Leadership, Authenticity, and Personal Evolution

Leadership is constantly evolving. It changes through social and global shifts, personal life changes, and ultimately through our own evolving interests. Personally, balance between professional, family, and personal life has become extremely important to me today, whether that involves entrepreneurial ambitions or hobbies. In short, my life is constantly changing, and the circumstances beyond my control are changing even faster. Role models matter a great deal in that journey. It may be a colleague whose path you admire, a business coach, or someone from your family; all of them shape your leadership journey in some way. I have learned many times over that nothing happens without a reason, and every experience leads toward something that may only become clear years, or even decades later.

As children, we observed the same surroundings, and those surroundings shaped us. There are pivotal moments that push us in certain directions. For some, it was working in an orchard with a grandfather, which later inspired a career in food technology. For others, it may be a fascination with vivid colors because their mother wore a bright yellow T-shirt. Sometimes the reasons behind the aesthetics and identities of brands are surprisingly simple, almost banal.

Leadership style itself, however, is not something that can be radically changed. It is tied to our personal beliefs, integrity, and the goals that drive us. With experience, we become more mature and react differently, but fundamentally, we remain who we are. Authenticity, perhaps an overused word today, is still what people value the most. And honestly, I believe authenticity only truly unfolds with experience: through understanding who we are and giving ourselves permission to be that person, rather than who we are expected to be. Over time, authenticity becomes “louder”, while in youth it is often mistaken for rebellion. Although even that is changing, as younger generations view leadership very differently from what we might call the “old school.”

Balancing Ambition, Learning, and Everyday Life

COTRUGLI was an opportunity that opened up for me within my company, 24sata. Everything happened very quickly, and at the time I did not overthink the end goal. The first question my manager asked me was: “Will your husband approve?” In other words: will you truly be able to manage it all, and will the person you share your life and responsibilities with genugtinely support that decision? At first, my only focus was finding a way to balance everything and make it work. Even my husband did not fully understand what the MBA would entail, so he simply agreed.

Learning Through Diverse Perspectives

It was difficult and demanding, but also incredibly motivating to work alongside such a diverse group of outstanding professionals. One of the biggest learning opportunities for me came through the advanced finance module. The school made sure that every team included someone with a strong financial background — or at least an engineer from FER (Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing) who could guide the rest of us through the unknowns.

The professors were inspiring and acted as navigators, but the real work happened within the teams: learning together, exchanging perspectives, and being fascinated by how people from completely different industries approached the same challenge. Those with engineering backgrounds particularly stood out to me — their way of thinking was unique, and they consistently brought forward solutions that were not obvious at first glance.

Beyond the Classroom: The Strength of the Alumni Network

The entire COTRUGLI community extends far beyond the individual generation attending the program. There is a strong alumni network where the exchange of knowledge and experience continues naturally, there is always someone you can ask for advice or turn to for a different perspective.

The people running the program were deeply dedicated and proactive, so the connection with the COTRUGLI community does not end with graduation. It continues through various forms of involvement, from mentoring and sharing experiences to seeking support and advice ourselves.

At the moment, I am involved in the WRL initiative as a mentor, and I truly look forward to the opportunity to potentially help and inspire someone else.

Perhaps what I value most is that the people I worked with on my final project became genuine friends. We are still in touch today, and every reunion easily brings back that student spirit and all our internal jokes that probably make little sense outside that context. To me, that is one of the most beautiful aspects of such an experience,  the circle of people you remain connected with long after everything officially ends, and with whom it still feels natural to share both serious and completely unserious moments.

Redefining Career Growth and Business Perspective

The most valuable outcome of the MBA is that it changed the way I see business. In the meantime, my professional position changed as well, but in the bigger picture, that feels less important. We all strive for progress and change, but as cliché as it may sound, the real transformation happens within us. It does not come from changing positions or industries, but from changing the way we perceive things, regardless of where we are.

People as the Core of Every Strategy

It is important to understand how complex change has become in today’s world, regardless of the role we hold. For me, people are the most important resource in achieving the ultimate goal of any business. Strategies and ambitious plans remain just words on paper without the people who bring them to life. Every member of a team plays a crucial role in executing any strategy, and it is important that they know and feel that. Without their alignment and willingness to contribute, a leader becomes nothing more than a manager with a plan that cannot be transformed into results.

Leadership in an Era of Constant Transformation

During the MBA, we go through sixteen modules covering every aspect of business because there is a high probability that each of them will eventually be impacted by change, and they will be. Business today is becoming increasingly complex.

It is no longer enough simply to understand different areas of business. What matters is understanding how rapidly they evolve, how to connect them more effectively, and how to recognize trends, including what is within our control and what is not.

Technology and society are changing so quickly that the MBA program I completed only a year ago already looks different today, upgraded with entirely new modules. As a society, we need to be ready to evolve while still maintaining common sense throughout that process. Constantly learning while remaining calm and grounded; preparing for the unknown; all of that can sound intimidating.

What I am certain of is that the business environment we know today will be completely transformed within the next two years. Leadership and deep expertise, especially the kind needed to drive automation in specialized fields, will become even more important. Younger generations bring entirely different beliefs and competencies, while the labor market is increasingly imbalanced and there is a growing need for parts of society to return to practical, hands-on skills and craftsmanship.

The Future Belongs to Human and Creative Skills

I believe it will become extremely important to develop tactile and creative competencies alongside technological ones,  skills that are difficult to replicate and inherently unique. Alongside specialization and expertise, we also need to acknowledge the importance of mental resilience and practical empowerment in today’s rapidly changing world.

I also believe that, as parents today, we no longer live by the old principle: “Go to university, find a good job, and make life easier for yourself.” That mindset has changed dramatically.

Why an MBA Changes More Than a Career Path

If you are even slightly considering an MBA, I would absolutely encourage you to pursue it. Not because the title itself matters for a CV or because it might help your career, although it certainly can, and may even completely change your career path, but because an MBA changes the way you think and approach business.

How do you get the most out of any experience? In my experience, only by being fully present and fully immersed in what you are doing. We can all complete tasks in life with different levels of engagement, but real learning and meaningful experiences only happen when you genuinely commit yourself.

If you contribute your knowledge and skills wholeheartedly, nurture relationships, truly listen to others, learn from their practices, and try to apply those lessons in your own work, then you can gain the maximum from every experience, both professionally and personally.