Emina Sehalic is one among thousands of Bosnians who left their country in search for a better job, better education, or a better quality of life in general. But what sets her apart from the others is that, contrary to the trend, she decided to return to her home country, where she now runs two hotels.
Sehalic does not even think about returning to the US. She has built a highly successful career in the hotel business, caring for the hundreds of tourists and business people staying in the hotels she manages.
Instead of living the American dream, she lives her own, with her son, husband, sisters and her mother who sent her to the US in the first place.
“When someone puts the kind of trust in you to send you to the US at 16,5 years of age, not failing her became the most important thing for me,” Sehalic said.
She received a sports stipend in 2001, and was supposed to spend a year in the US. This turned into 11 years. She completed high school and university there and got a job in a bank.
“When I said that I will go to a job interview for a receptionist position as someone who is about to finish university, with an ambition to complete a masters degree as well, that I will leave the sector I am educated for to work for ten US Dollars, answer phones for a living, I think that nobody could understand that move,” Sehalic said.
But she began to move up and got educated for the hotel business on the side.
In 2011, Sehalic came back to Bosnia to start anew. She was, once again, a receptionist in a hotel.
Today, she manages two hotels, educates new employees and sets world standards.
“Workforce is needed, we are now working on the Swiss Hotel, which we are opening in June,” she said.
“We need to hire 120 people which is a lot for this city and I am very happy to be part of that story,” she said.
Every detail is important in the hotel business, she said, adding that she personally checks every detail with the employees.
Those who have a “healthy” ambition learn quickly what they need to know, she said.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have an academy, no school, no high school (for the hotel business). I think that a lot more needs to be offered to this youth so that the job as a hotelier can, above all, be presented as a career,” she said.
Sehalic said Bosnia has a problem with bureaucratic procedures. However, she does not want to go back to the US and keeps rejecting job offers in other countries.
