Boyana Sharlopova: “The world is beautiful and without rose-colored glasses”

She is the head of the first private hotel chain in Bulgaria, established 25 years ago. In addition to active participation in the hotel business, for several years he has successfully developed an independent psychotherapeutic practice. Mother of 4 children, lover of travel, good books, shared moments with the closest people and friends.

Boyana Sharlopova's interview is part of the special edition “Women. Natural Intelligence”, dedicated to ladies with a vision of the future of the world against the backdrop of the technological boom. The magazine, which “24 horas” and Mila.bg publish once a year, gathered for the fourth time in a row some of the most influential personalities in business and public life to tell the stories of their success and to seek together with them the answers to the questions that tomorrow poses to all of us.

“Women. Natural Intelligence” has been on the market since November 2024 and is not just a magazine - between its covers is collected our dream of a future in which technology will be a powerful tool for a better life, driven by the only force that will remain invincible for them - human intelligence.

- How would you draw, depict “natural intelligence” and why?

- Like a tree with branching roots and branches. The tree is a symbol of the natural growth and development of the human mind. Roots are everything that has to do with our subconscious, our emotions, intuition and instincts that we have developed over generations. The branches and leaves symbolize everything we learn and acquire as knowledge, experience and creativity on our way of development.

- Do you have a vision of how the entry of artificial intelligence (AI) will affect your business specifically?

- As a psychotherapist, I do not think that AI could qualitatively replace the role of the psychologist, because personal contact and connection will always be of paramount importance. AI would not be able to understand or convey all the nuances of the emotional connection between a client and a psychotherapist.

While in the hotel business, AI could facilitate communication and customer service, automate routine tasks with which to optimize the resources we have needed so far, support in-depth analysis and faster data processing. Of course, all this is associated with a certain amount of concern about the reduced role and the necessary amount of human resources, since in certain areas AI could replace entire positions of personnel.

My expectations and attitude are rather positive, of course, with an element of caution.

- At what pace and in what direction is your business developing and what are the bright decisions in it that led to success?

- Our business is developing at a constant and stable pace, and our priorities remain focused on sustainability, innovation and high quality of services. In recent years, we have witnessed significant changes in the tourism and hotel industry, which require adaptation to the new requirements and needs of the market.
Globally, tourists are increasingly turning to sustainable tourism. In this direction, our group also invests in ecological solutions — from reducing energy costs and the use of plastics to sustainable resource management in our hotels.

Investments in enhanced digital presence, in online booking platforms, mobile applications and hotel service management systems are also one of our priorities, as they increase the convenience and speed of service.
We continue to believe that personal attitude and personalized customer care remain the key to our success.

We continue to invest in staff training and creating a service culture that puts the customer first. We strive to develop various tourism products - cultural and historical tours, wellness and spa packages, organization of special occasions and corporate events, opportunities for complete relaxation and rest, family vacations, etc.

- What are the events in your journey so far that created you as the person you are today? Do you like today's version?

- Everything that has happened to me, all the people I have met on my way - parents, husband, friends, partners, teachers - all this teaches and changes me, each one has left his mark on me, which has formed the personality that I am today.

Psychotherapy, on the other hand, gave me the opportunity to see myself without masks, to accept that behind the good Boyana there is a bad Boyana, and this is not something scary.

We live in a dual world and we ourselves are dual, and therefore it is not appropriate to put such labels on ourselves. And yes, I like myself, I accept myself as I am. For a long time I have not been a slave to the thought “modesty beautifies a person” and I think that if a person does not value himself, then there is no way for others to appreciate him.

- Do you criticize yourself as a mother and what are the biggest challenges of parenting right now?

- Yes, of course I criticize myself! Especially since I'm not always sure about my decisions and the choices I make. As I am my biggest supporter, I am also my biggest critic. When I was a single parent some time ago, the hardest thing for me was making decisions for children, not so much for business. After 7 years from that moment, I learned to treat my children with the thought that they have the right to an opinion and their own choice about their life, which, of course, we discuss together and are always in dialogue about their future.

For better or worse, our children grow up in an increasingly technological and digital world, and social networks take away much of the relationship between parent and child. I try to balance between business and personal life, striving to spend not so much quantitative as quality time with my children.

I have learned to reflect the emotions I rely on in my children to make them sensitive to the sensations they experience, because they cannot always recognize and name them.
I believe that parents should value and respect the opinions of their children and, at the same time, set healthy boundaries about what is allowed and what is not in their behavior.

- Your late husband used to say that children and dreams are not bought. If you could buy a dream, what would it be? Easier or harder to dream today?

-I have never stopped dreaming because it makes me feel alive. I am happy that I have realized many of my dreams, and I am moving on to the next ones. If I could buy a dream, it would be to see people more consciously living and accepting. It is a dream that is difficult to achieve, but I am optimistic because more and more people are looking for themselves through different methods — meditation, faith, positive thinking, psychotherapy.

Today, I certainly dream more consciously. My younger version probably dreamed with more naivety, looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. I took off my glasses a long time ago to see that the world is beautiful anyway, the question is which side you choose to look at it from.

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Source:https://www.24chasa.bg/biznes/article/19346144

Photo: Georgi Kurpanov-Genk