“The company’s activity primarily concentrates around publishing activities, i.e. preparation of material for print and publishing.  My offer covers comprehensive services at all stages of the publishing process, from the moment of provision of the manuscript, through proofreading and correction, copy-editing, typesetting, to printing and binding the ready product. Obviously, I also accept ‘smaller’ commissions, for instance proofreading and editing of various types of texts , such as scientific and academic articles, promotional material, etc. I specialize in copyrighting and ghost-writing too.

The second field of Progres Centre’s business focused on training courses in the scope of personal development and improvement of the so-called soft skills.  Workshops and training sessions are run based on original programmes that support personal development through use of techniques and methods based on literary and para-theatrical traditions. Thus, in an innovative fashion, they combine the advantages of training services with publishing-related topics. The training courses offered cover, inter alia: creativity development, discovery and exploration of your creative potential, revision of Polish vocabulary, spelling and grammar rules or preparing non-literary texts.

Offering this specific range of services to clients is the result of the owner’s personal interests and passions.  “I have always been very keen on literature,” – she explains. „However, this interest is not limited to reading literature – I am passionate about writing, creating something of my own.   I have been writing a lot, in the past I took part in many literary contests, published my work on fantasy portals, as fantasy is my favourite literary genre.   My writing was well-received and recognized. This is how I became the chief editor of Polter.pl web portal.  I did not make any money out of it , but I discovered that had instincts and talent to edit material prepared by other people, I was able to hone different pieces of writing to perfection in cooperation with various authors and national publishing houses.”      

Simultaneously, Karolina Bujnowska-Brzezińska graduated from the faculty of sociology, at the University of Szczecin.  In the course of her studies and afterwards – apart from her work for the web portal – she cooperated with many publishing houses as a proof-reader and text editing specialist. She has published several books, including fantasy novels, such as „Kłamliwi Bogowie”, „Karabiny Tanith”, „Rycerze Graala”, czy „Baronia przeklętych” which are popular among the lovers of the genre.  She also spent two years working in the promotion and marketing department of the opera house – Opera na Zamku in Szczecin and was employed as a linguistic editor by PoNaD publishing house.  

During that time she took interest in social psychology of groups and personal development of individuals.   Relying on the knowledge gained during university and then post-graduate studies she created a system of training courses, workshops and personal development training sessions based on literary and para-theatrical foundations.   She ran her original training programme in many towns, but her dream was to build her own company where she would be able to combine all her interests and passions and where she could freely pursue them.  

“Finally, I realized what kind of business I wanted to establish.  My husband supported and greatly encouraged me, but the announcement of the competition in which one could win a subsidy for starting up a new firm proved to be the major stimulus.  This is when I put aside all other tasks and duties and started on my business plan.”

This was something completely new for her and – as she admits – rather difficult. Yet, the hard work paid off. The idea she came up with was accepted by the jury and she received the subsidy. She bought the necessary office equipment, a computer, printer and specialist software with the money.  Luckily, she managed to avoid the costs of renting an office, because as a rule, she works from her home. In the end, Progres Centre began its operations in mid-January. Karolina Bujnowska-Brzezińska now primarily devotes her time to company organization and marketing activities.

“My company is new, but I have been active in the field for over eight years, I know many people and people know me,” – she explains. “In addition, the nature of my work is such that I can fulfil orders from all over Poland.  I am familiar with the specifics of the sector and market conditions , so I am not concerned about business going slow. At present I want to concentrate on promoting my www site, I want to be visible in social networks and professional portals.  I am especially eager to promote my original workshops, because I am aware that no one else offers services of this kind in Szczecin.

This enterprising young woman has many aspirations and ideas for the future as regards the publishing activates.  She is hoping that it will expand and that in some time she will also be able to engage in distribution of books and promotion of new talents, for instance from amongst fantasy writers. Needless to say, she finds working on her own very satisfactory.

“I like challenges, I enjoy overcoming barriers on the way to attaining my goal.  It is always associated with a stimulating, positive drive.  Running your own service-providing company requires constant improvement of your offer, searching for alternative and innovative solutions.  This kind of work is an ideal fit for me. My head has always been full of ideas, but I always keep both feet on the ground,”- says Karolina Bujnowska-Brzezińska.

ŁP