Viktorija Čeplikė is the owner of the Lithuanian luxury fashion company “VIKE”. Her family heritage is renowned in the fashion world, and from this heritage, Viktorija created a new company. However the company was founded during economic difficulties, which made this a big challenge. Despite this adversity, VIKE became a very successful and well known brand. VIKE JSC operates in Kaunas.
Viktorija had to work harder than ever to make VIKE a success, and now it is paying off. VIKE’s dressmaking skills are becoming famous, as she has many international clients. The use of great quality materials are very attractive to her customers. The company has many functions; it designs, tailors and even finds fabrics. Viktorija says the hardest business decision she had to make was how much time to spend away from family.
The company has 30 employees, and when asked what makes a good leader and how she motivates her employees, she said “The main reason why employees are happy to be a part of VIKE team is respect for people from the owner’s side.
Fashion is something that Viktorija has always had a passion for, and that combined with good business sense is the perfect recipe for success. She now has a large factory in Kaunas, and would like to expand even more.
VIKE is Viktorija’s first business venture, and she must have had a big talent and work ethic to have performed so well in its early years. The fashion industry is notoriously difficult to have success in, and therefore it is a huge achievement to have made the VIKE brand so strong.
This story shows that it is absolutely necessary to have a passion for the business you are in, but also have the key skills that make a good businessperson. The personal characteristics that have made Viktorija a perfect business woman are optimism, persistence, curiosity, sociability.
It truly is an inspirational story, and will hopefully encourage others in the future.