We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ema Alagić a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ema, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

If I could go back in time, I sometimes think I would have started my spa business sooner — but only if I had the awareness and confidence I have today.

Before entering the wellness industry, I spent more than 15 years in marketing and communication science. I led my own agency, worked on strategic campaigns, collaborated with international organizations, and gained extensive experience in political PR, brand positioning, and sales communication training. Professionally, I was deeply rooted in the corporate and strategic world.

At the same time, my personal path was evolving in a completely different — yet deeply connected — direction. I discovered yoga at the age of twelve and was initiated into Reiki in my early teenage years. That early exposure shaped my inner world and guided me toward mindfulness, spirituality, and a holistic understanding of well-being.

For many years, I experienced these interests as two separate identities: the structured business strategist and the spiritual seeker. What I know now is that they were never in conflict — they were preparing me.

When I founded Sultan Spa and later Amman Spa in the heart of Sarajevo, everything finally came together. My background in branding and communication helped position the spas as recognizable wellness destinations, while my personal dedication to mindfulness and holistic health shaped their soul. The authentic hammam rituals, the atmosphere, the philosophy of regeneration and balance — all of it reflects my own journey.

If I had started earlier, I might have avoided some of the pressure and stress of the corporate world. I sometimes wish I had been brave enough to believe sooner that being interested in business, spirituality, communication, and wellness was not contradictory — it was complementary. Perhaps I would have stepped into entrepreneurship earlier and spared myself some of the “dry” corporate stress.

But at the same time, I truly believe the timing was right. Without those 15 years of strategic experience, resilience, and business discipline, I could not have built my spas with such clarity and sustainability. Today, when I enter my working space, I genuinely feel an immediate shift — almost like an instant drop in cortisol levels. That feeling tells me I created something aligned with my values.

So do I wish I had started sooner? Emotionally, perhaps yes. Strategically and spiritually, I started exactly when I was ready to integrate all parts of myself into one coherent vision.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

After experiencing a major burnout in 2021, I made a life-changing decision. Despite having a successful career in corporate communications and marketing, I realized I was deeply exhausted and disconnected from the kind of work that truly fulfilled me. That was the moment I finally said out loud that I wanted to create a spa in Sarajevo — but one that would be different from anything our city had seen before.

My vision was to build a holistic sanctuary: a space grounded in mindfulness, using organic and clean oils and products, and celebrating the hammam tradition as one of the most powerful detox and regeneration rituals passed down from our ancestors. I didn’t want to create just another wellness center — I wanted to create an experience that genuinely restores people on a physical, emotional, and energetic level.

When I shared this idea, my husband Iftikhar immediately encouraged me to leave the corporate world and pursue what truly brought me joy and inner peace. His support gave me the courage to make the leap, and I am deeply grateful for that. From that moment on, I immersed myself completely. I researched day and night, studied spa therapy intensively, and carefully recruited professionals with strong expertise in massage and bodywork. I became a 24/7 student — and I still am.

Nothing in my life has ever kept me so happily awake as building and growing in the world of spa therapy. I believe our clients feel that passion. Today, we welcome guests from all over the world — sometimes it feels as if there is hardly a country whose visitors we haven’t hosted. Seeing them leave our spa relaxed, lighter, and genuinely happy is the greatest satisfaction I could ask for.

What sets us apart is authenticity. We don’t just provide treatments — we offer a nervous system reset in a space created with intention, integrity, and respect for tradition. My background in communication and business gives the structure; my lifelong dedication to mindfulness gives the soul.

I am most proud of having the courage to realign my career with my values — and of creating a space where both our clients and our team can truly feel well.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

I do have a story about a near-collapse moment in my business — one that is inspiring today, but wasn’t easy to live through.

I founded my marketing agency in 2015. It started well, and then in 2016 I gave birth to my daughter, Amman. Shortly after, my marriage ended, and I suddenly found myself a single mother with a small child and a business fully on my shoulders.

During my daughter’s first year, I couldn’t work much. When I returned, reality hit hard. Bills and taxes had piled up. The numbers were overwhelming, and I was facing them alone. At the time, I had only one employee besides myself, and despite everything, we still had to show up every day — creative, sharp, convincing — pitching campaigns to potential clients while privately worrying about survival.

That period revealed something important about me: I function exceptionally well in crisis. When pressure is high, my survival instinct activates, and with it comes an unusual level of creativity and boldness.

I decided we needed one big breakthrough.

Through personal connections, I managed to secure a meeting with the CEO of a large company known for substantial marketing budgets. Their headquarters were about an hour outside our city. The opportunity was huge — but so was the risk. We needed to look credible, established, powerful.

The reality? My car was old and embarrassing. I had just lost pregnancy weight and didn’t feel confident in my clothes. My hair needed attention. Even my makeup was expired. But I knew one thing: perception matters in business.

So I made a bold decision. I called a friend and asked him to help me rent a brand-new Jaguar SUV for one day — and to act as my driver and assistant for the meeting. Another friend joined us so we would appear as a larger professional team. I spent my last money on that car, a white suit, a proper blow-dry, and new makeup — I still remember choosing a bold orange lipstick.

I hadn’t slept for days preparing the pitch. Every slide, every number, every creative concept was perfected.

When we arrived, the CEO was on the phone with me. He looked through the window and saw the entire scene unfold: the SUV pulling in, my “driver” stepping out, opening the door, carrying my documents. Both men wore black suits and sunglasses. My actual employee and I followed behind them into the building like a structured executive team.

We delivered the presentation with complete confidence. Our ideas were strong — but the image reinforced the message. The CEO took us seriously from the first second.

We won the contract.

That single deal solved the financial pressure that had been suffocating my company. It allowed us to stabilize, recover, and grow. That moment changed everything.

Looking back, I am proud not because I created a performance — but because I refused to collapse. I used creativity not only for a campaign, but for survival. That experience taught me resilience, strategic thinking under pressure, and the power of belief.

Sometimes entrepreneurship is not about having resources. It’s about having courage — and being willing to bet on yourself when no one else sees the full picture yet.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

One of my most intense marketing stories happened in 2020, during the COVID lockdown.
At the time, I was a single mother at home with my young daughter, Amman. Almost overnight, most of our clients froze their marketing activities. No one knew how long the lockdown would last. Budgets were paused. Campaigns were cancelled. The uncertainty was overwhelming.
Within days, our income dropped dramatically — but salaries for my team were still my responsibility.
For nearly two months, we were inside a small apartment. The world outside was silent. Inside, it was me, my toddler, and a growing pressure I could physically feel in my chest.
One night, during curfew hours, I went to my office, packed up our computers, and carried them back to my dining room. That table became our headquarters. Surrounded by toys, laundry, and the beautiful chaos of motherhood, wearing pajamas and working between bedtime stories and cartoons, I built a call center from scratch.
I knew one thing: in every crisis, there is a new need. At that moment, the world needed protective equipment — masks, disinfectants, protective suits. I researched companies that were importing these products quickly and approached them with a proposal: we would promote and distribute for commission.
We had something incredibly valuable — a large, carefully built database from our previous PR and communication work, including hospitals, pharmacies, medical institutions, and companies. We activated it immediately.
We began sending structured offers and coordinating supply chains. Within days, the phone would not stop ringing. The demand was overwhelming. I remember moments of emotional breakdown because the volume of calls, urgency, and responsibility were intense. Hospitals needed immediate deliveries. Pharmacies were desperate. Everyone was anxious.
But that improvised “pajama call center” saved us.
That bold pivot allowed us to generate revenue, pay salaries, and carry the company through yet another crisis. It was not glamorous marketing. It was survival marketing. It was fast, strategic, responsive, and deeply human.
What I felt at that time was a mixture of fear and adrenaline — but also clarity. Crisis strips everything down to essentials. It forces creativity without perfectionism. It demands speed over comfort.
That experience reinforced something I have learned about myself: I am at my strongest when the odds are stacked against me. I don’t freeze — I build.
And sometimes, the most powerful business decisions are made in pajamas, at a messy dining table, during a global lockdown.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.spasarajevo.ba
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emaalagic/

Image Credits

Almin Tabak – photographer