Salon at Karolina's

Who is Karolina / Who am I?

I was born and raised in the north of Slovakia and studied law at Charles University in Prague, where I lived for almost twenty years until the end of 2024. I started my professional career at the age of eighteen as an office and project manager in an international cultural centre. Later—after finishing my studies—I dedicated myself to practising law, and eventually entered the corporate world, working in banking at a middle management level, where I remain today. If you’re interested in my professional journey, you can easily check my LinkedIn profile, don’t you? But perhaps you’d like to know more about me as a person?

I am also a certified carpenter. I love woodworking and the smell of wood.
One year in high school, I spent the entire summer studying English because I was jealous of my sister—she spoke it better than I did.
I have run several half marathons.
I love nature and need to spend time outdoors regularly to recharge my batteries.
I’m a plan B person: if plan A doesn’t work, you can count on me to come up with an alternative immediately (an excellent skill for crisis management, don't you think?).
I attended a debate programme in high school. I hope it made me a better listener, but I can’t deny it also made me a challenging person to argue with.

Why my own salon, and why now?

My motivation emerged when I became acutely aware—especially during the pandemic—that, although we are literally flooded with tons of information and can connect to anyone, anywhere, and at any time, we are missing real connection. Our conversations lack depth, and there is barely any sense of genuine sharing.

During lockdowns, and later as working from home became the norm, I found myself on six to ten scheduled video calls each day (plus a few impromptu ones), sitting in front of a computer from 8 am to 6 pm. Afterward, I would take a short walk (at least to get some fresh air), watch TV, and go to sleep—only to repeat the same routine the next day. Five days a week. Despite seeing dozens of faces and having countless conversations with colleagues, I felt drained—emotionally and intellectually empty. I missed food for thought. You might think that social media could help, but in fact, the opposite was true. Scrolling through various platforms in hopes of seeing the world from a different angle or finding inspiration in others’ achievements only heightened my anxiety. Almost everything I saw seemed designed to impress rather than to connect, to feel, or to think.

So, I decided to invite a few friends over for dinner and conversation—about whatever came to mind. I shared my feelings and my wish to organise such meetings more often, with the aim of fostering deeper conversations. They responded: “You need a salon!”

Since then, I have organised several dinners and salons. At first, we gathered without a specific topic, but later I began suggesting two or three possible areas for discussion in advance. Eventually, we settled on choosing just one main theme, along with a loose script to guide the flow of conversation. The purpose of the script is not to limit the discussion, but to ensure we address key points with proper depth, rather than letting the dialogue meander endlessly. In the beginning, only my friends attended, but the intention has always been—and remains—to meet new people and be enlightened by their perspectives. So I tried to invite friends of friends, or simply anyone who might be interested.