We were lucky to catch up with Magda Fuskova recently and have shared our conversation below.

Magda, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I was basically always self employed and I am happy that I chose this path…. you are free to organise your schedule according to what works for your business and also for you. I was never good at listening and doing something that didn’t make sense to me just to follow the standard rules ( that are set in the standard employee x employer relationship ).

The plus of being your own boss is the freedom and no limits of what you can achieve and how you can grow. Many people are afraid of the fact that there is no fix income. Its only up to you what you are able to create and get done – that is what you receive. Also, its not really possible ( at least for me ) to check out and just have a vacation without doing at least some work every day.

The benefit of having a regular job is that once you are done with your regular hours, you can forget about work and enjoy whatever you like to do. There is some sort of stability and security of income, but on the other hand you never know when somebody decides to fire you….

Every person is different. Not everybody is made to have their own business… Everybody has the freedom to choose their path.

For me, of course when there are times I am tired, but have to keep on pushing when others are enjoying life and I am working, sometime I think if it wouldn’t be just easier to have a normal job. But, that would not be me :)

Magda, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

It was a long path of testing many areas of business. Started with the financial sector, fitness and nutrition and then my path brought me into the world of entertainment – first modelling then music industry and finally the film industry.

Today I have an international talent management company GAT management ( international actor representation ) and GAT studios ( production services, video and photo services of any kind ).

I was raised in a family where it was normal to be active and to try to achieve bigger goals. From a young age I was in sports that gave me discipline, patience, sense of what it takes to achieve something bigger than the average.

I am proud that I didn’t give up the fight to get back to the US, get a visa after a very long time and now have a business in Los Angeles. But still a long way to go….always.

I think you have to think ahead of time to keep moving and have a plan, once you get overwhelmed by one success it can create stagnation. Every time something is going well, I am not super excited because I know that things can change instantly.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I think when I got trapped in Europe during COVID and needed to figure out a way how to get back ( at that time I still didn’t have a proper visa, therefore couldnt fly to the US )

The only way is to set up a official company in LA, invest money in the company and then hope my visa will be approved at the embassy in Prague, Czech Republic where I am from.

Starting up the entire LA branch without actually being present was one of the biggest tasks in my life, when I look back at that time, I still don’t know how I did it.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

When I had the idea of starting talent management I knew that I will need some funds because in this business you dont generate profit right away. The entertainment industry is very hard, based on connections and relationships and also luck. But if you want to operate succesfully, you need to start investing in the tools that are essential.

I had a lot of meetings with investors, really put a lot of time into it without much luck because most investors were  from the IT sector and  those didn’t understand that you can’t create an automated system in managing actors….. it involves a personal connection and communication.

Then one night when I was on a trip in Poland to look at a car for one very important person to me, I got a message from a friend who I met in LA that he would like to invest and partner up. He said he believes in me and my businessplan. This happened after a month when I talked to him on the phone and just briefly described what I am trying to accomplish. When I saw the message, I thought its just a dream..

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gatmanagement.com , www.gatstudios.com
• Instagram: @gatmanagement , @gat_studios
• Youtube: gatstudios

Image Credits
Oscar Zagal