We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Djenita Svinjar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Djenita, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from.
I get my work ethic from my mom. I grew up an only child in a single mother household. My dad was killed as a soldier in the Bosnian War when I was three, and from that day on, it was just my mom and I. I witnessed her cross the world to give her child a better life, work multiple jobs at a time to put food on the table, overcome horrors and obstacles that so many will never face in their lives, and persevere in spite of it all. At five years old, I remember watching her work numerous jobs in a day and attend English classes at night and then repeat it all the next day. This kind of perseverance inspired me and motivated me to accomplish anything I put my mind to. In fact, it still factors into who I am today, the work that I do, and the person that I am.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you.
I’m an attorney and my law firm represents general contractors in the construction industry. I predominantly focus on the transactional aspects of the work but help out with litigation as well. I love my job! I get to work with incredible people, both within and outside of my firm, help fantastic clients on a daily basis, and learn so much each and every day on the job. The best part about the work that we do is not only knowing that you help a business with commercial or legal strategies, but it’s also getting the ability to witness the end product a few years down the road and knowing that your efforts helped make the end product a reality. This really gives me pride in the work that I do and the industry that we are in.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Three qualities that I think were most impactful on my journey, and those that I think will benefit others are as follows:
1. Compassion- Regardless of your profession or your role, having empathy for others is one of the most important traits one can have to succeed. Without these, the inability to connect with, and to care for others, will certainly be a hinderance in one’s future success, both personally and professionally.
2. Accountability- Not only should you be accountable to others for your actions, but you have to hold yourself accountable as well. Stay focused on the goals and dreams that you have and those that you wish to achieve. Be persistent and consistent in how your actions allow your dreams to come to fruition.
3. Humility- While I support applauding yourself and celebrating your achievements, I think it’s just as important to recognize that we are only human, and because of that, we have to ask for help in certain circumstances and understand that we can’t be superhuman and do it all. This is a hard pill for some to swallow and takes years to truly comprehend. Being modest and asking for help should never be looked down upon, rather, it’s something that I believe sets truly great leaders and entrepreneurs apart from the rest.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
Interestingly, my greatest area of growth over the last year remains one of the areas I feel still needs a good amount of work within it. This is my struggle with time management. Being an attorney and having a billable hour requirement is admittedly tough, and having to adhere to deadlines and client requests remains at the top of my priorities. However, to be completely transparent, I pride myself on so much more than just being an attorney. While my job is incredibly important to me, I am also an avid traveler, writer, wife, daughter, friend, niece, advocate, volunteer, entrepreneur, and I take all of these roles just as seriously as I do my job. It is very tough to balance your personal life with your professional life and everything that comes in between, however, while it remains a struggle that I am constantly working on, it is something that has tremendously improved for me the past year too. How? Calendaring everything as soon as I become aware of it, setting email and cell phone reminders for events, writing everything down so that I don’t forget about it, and, admittedly, planning a month ahead at all times. Now that I’ve gotten into this habit, I can’t break it nor would I want to. I know that this will set me up for success in the long run.
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Image Credits
Headshot- Aria Pickett 40 under 40 image- Denver Business Journal (Remainder of images belong to Djenita Svinjar)
