Founders of Skill Box: In an Era Where Success is Perceived as Instant, We Want to Show What It is Truly Made Of

After a year and a half of intensive work, at the end of October last year, long-time friends and business partners Lida Hamar Paladin and Ivana Radovniković Marković launched the ‘skill box’, a digital platform for learning and career development called Skill Box. However, in the sea of various educational platforms that the internet is flooded with, Skill Box stands out due to its expert lecturers with rich experience in their fields, who have selflessly decided to pass on their knowledge and experience to others, making it a kind of legacy.

In this way, Lida and Ivana, the organizers, editors, and producers of this project, aim to raise awareness about the necessary skills for career development and the role of knowledge, talent, and sometimes luck in achieving success. As they both describe, the platform is conceived as the only place where all lecturers’ lectures can be found, exclusively made through videos.

– Since the accelerated transition to digitalization occurred due to the pandemic, it is not surprising that the whole world has started using online learning. Videos are the most widely accepted format, and that is why we were largely inspired by masterclass lectures and video format when this idea was born. We strive for the lectures to be 'spot on' and to truly look like learning is happening firsthand. Through concrete examples, the lessons become a kind of exclusive mentorship that is no longer reserved only for special people – says Ivana, a well-known singer.

Considering that Skill Box is a regional platform, from day one of its presentation, they started parallel campaigns in Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Montenegro.

– Right now, we are working with colleagues and partners from Serbia on a plan and strategy to position ourselves in that area. We also plan to do the same with Slovenia by the end of the year – emphasizes Lida, who also runs the PR and marketing agency Hamar Media alongside Skill Box.

Benefits for the Entire Society

Their video content covers areas from art and design, through culinary arts and gastronomy, to science, technology, and entrepreneurship, and even sports. The first wave of lecturers includes Aleksandar Stanković, Matija Vuica, Žana Goić Petričević, Ante Gelo, Vanja Vascarac, Ivan Pandžić, Denis Mahmutović, Alen Sesartić, Niko Pulić, Krešimir Macan, Miroslav Varga, and Marijan Palić. The second wave began with a lecture by Krešimir Macan. While some lessons are realized as workshops, others require practical demonstrations, making them more dynamic.

– Each lecturer has ten lessons in which they cover separate topics that pertain exclusively to them. Each topic lasts an average of up to 10 minutes, so we have about an hour of video material per lecturer – explain Ivana and Lida, who, when they realized what kind of people they were surrounded by in the region, wanted to share that with others.

As Lida explains, the experience and knowledge of all lecturers are of invaluable value, and they approach every segment of the project from preparing topics, lesson content to high-quality video and audio production. All lecturers also participate creatively in their lectures. Ultimately, they want these lectures to be different, better, and more inspiring than all those before.

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Before they became business partners, Lida Hamar Paladin and Ivana Radovniković Marković were long-time friends

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Ivana and Lida admit that launching this project was extremely demanding and that they work intensively on it every day. Money, time, and lack of experience in some steps of realization are just some of the challenges they faced, before which, as Ivana says, even the ‘stronger’ would falter.

– We encounter challenges literally every day because the two of us are doing a job that a whole small army of people should be doing, but we successfully overcome them because we learn every day – adds Lida.

Also, from the beginning, they clearly knew what they wanted to achieve with the platform.

– We knew we were doing something that would benefit the entire society if we managed to transfer the legacy of many experts whose knowledge and experience would not be available forever, certainly not in this format – says Ivana.

Another 120 New Lecturers

For now, their largest subscriber support comes from various large and small companies, but subscribers were most interested in their ‘Free Week’ offer after which they decided to stay.

What motivates them to continue and expand the story is also the large number of planned collaborations and appearances at conferences in Croatia and the region, particularly highlighting their presentation at this year’s Weekend Media Festival in Rovinj. Although Skill Box is still in its initial phase, as Lida points out, they have already arranged for the recording of Skill Box lectures with new lecturers.

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Ivana Radovniković Marković and Lida Hamar Paladin

—– Over 120 lecturers have already been arranged for the recording of Skill Box lectures, so we are facing a very intense recording period. Also, a large number of people are reaching out to us because they want to offer their knowledge to Skill Box, so we will also have some subcategories of experts on the platform who will deal with specific topics and examples – says Lida.

– We want to ‘scratch’ beneath the surface of what people think constitutes someone’s successful career, vocation, or skill. In a time when success is perceived as an instant product of attractive exterior, we want to show what that success is truly made of, and the best information always comes firsthand – concludes Ivana.