From the very start, my life has been immersed in language and writing. Born in Sarajevo, a city known as ‘the Jerusalem of Europe’ due to its place at a crossroads between East and West, I was introduced to diversity in language early on and learned both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets by age five. Before long civil war broke out in former Yugoslavia and my family was forced to flee the city. After spending a couple of years in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, we were fortunate enough to be allowed refuge in Sweden.

Moving to a new country generally means learning a new language, but moving to Sweden for me meant learning two new languages. Though Swedish is the official language in Sweden, her citizens master the English language to a stunning degree. English is taught from the earliest years in school, and cultural influences from the USA and UK are ubiquitous, so it is easy to see why. My interest in the mechanics of languages and my desire to use them creatively soon made themselves evident.

This interest in the mechanics of things was present in areas other than language as well, why the natural sciences became my path in high school and college. Industrial Engineering and Management at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm provided just the right mix of engineering, marketing, management and computer science for the broad Master’s degree I desired, culminating in a thesis on employer branding with telecommunications giant Telia. A semester at the University of South Australia in Adelaide provided further perspectives and deepened my interest in marketing and brands. In the spring of 2012, graduation came and my life in the workplace could begin.

Attracted by the massive – and massively loved – brands they represent, I joined Mondelez that same year. My career with the global brand powerhouse, sporting such behemoths as Oreo, Toblerone, Milka and Marabou, went on for half a decade and encompassed three different roles. From team leadership in the factory, to project management, and finally brand management, my journey within Mondelez taught me a great deal about both the strategic and operational sides of brands in business as a splendid complement to the theoretical insights my college studies had equipped me with. Almost five years into this journey, however, I decided it was time to do something else.

Upon leaving the company and the comfort of a steady employment I didn’t have a clear idea of what my next step would be, but I knew that reconnecting with my passion for writing was the main objective. I started writing articles, a book and did some copywriting and creative writing for a friend’s startup. My friend was so happy with the results that he recommended me to others in need of content for their businesses and before long the idea was born to combine my passion for writing with my interest in and experience with brands, and AYZ writing started taking shape.

With great zest the next step in my career became one I constructed myself, combining the elements I cherished the most from previous experiences. Through AYZ, I strive to give brands of all kinds a voice and help entrepreneurs and businesses optimize their communication while they focus on what they do best.

Just as the start was, the rest of my life is poised to be immersed in language and writing.