Jakie wyzwania czekają nowego członka zarządu? - rozmowa z Marcinem Piechockim, wiceprezesem LPP.

Hi, good day.

Thank you so much. Yes, that's the formal name for my position, but please — let's not change the way we treat each other. We'll remain as we are. I'm Marcin, just like before, and it'll stay that way. And that's great at our company, that we can talk to each other this way.

A funny story actually. I'll take you back a bit in my memory. I look today at my two-year-old son and I think, before I was a teenager, when I was still a little boy, like probably quite a few little boys, I wanted to be a garbage collector. Today I look nostalgically at the garbage truck passing by outside the window and how it reverses — my son is fascinated by it. Just like I was when I was small, it always appealed to me. Then later I was a teenager, and I was fascinated by hip-hop, skateboarding. I wanted to become a professional skateboarder with my brother. Tony Hawk was a very popular American skater at the time — he's over 50 today. Our passion developed quite vigorously. So back then I probably wanted to be a professional skateboarder, maybe a bit of a hip-hop person too. Today I think I'd rather want to be a good husband, a good father for my children. It's changed quite a bit.

Definitely, children revalue life. They teach you so much. Looking at my son, my heart simply swells with pride seeing how well he's developing. Of course there are tougher moments, but the better ones truly make your heart grow.

It's hard to tell, he's still very young. But honestly, he'd probably want the same thing I wanted — to develop, to do what he loves. Looking at how fascinated he is with every steering wheel and every little wheel he sees in his toy cars — how often you have to buy new ones because he loves opening the doors and the hood to look inside — I think it's truly fantastic how devoted he can be to such simple things for hours. My role as a parent is to give him the opportunities to do what he loves.

Yes, exactly. I was even involved in developing the concept for the Cropp brand — not just giving opinions. Together with colleagues, we'd review collections, saying 'this is cool, this isn't cool.' We as teenagers explained to the guys — I mean, they were already 46 — what young people were into. It was a bit like talking to someone disconnected from reality, because it wasn't their environment. But later, when we worked with designers who were a bit closer to that culture, it was better. Besides, we also went to concept stores — the architectural concepts of how a store looks, whether it feels sufficiently, let's say, 'underground.' Of course today all of that is different, but I remember it fondly, and it's stayed in my heart.

Oh, what. I moved to Warsaw to study at Warsaw University of Technology. My parents are both civil engineers. I personally am an electronics engineer, so polytechnic studies are deeply in our blood. We were always stronger in math and physics. Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology — so computers always fascinated me and what happens inside them. That's why I decided that if I had the opportunity to study in Warsaw, I'd try. Big thanks to my parents who made it possible for me. Honestly, it wasn't easy. The first years — new city, new surroundings, completely different approach than in high school. Many people get in but then unfortunately lose motivation. My sister also graduated from the same university.

Yes, but I think somewhere there we also have a humanistic element, because we operate in a somewhat different business. When you were in Warsaw, did you miss Gdańsk?

What can I say — Warsaw is a great city. I remember it very fondly, I spent about a decade there, so I got to know it. In the beginning, as a student, those years are a bit tougher naturally — you don't live in great conditions, you don't eat at fashionable places. But yes, I missed it very much. That's why I decided to come back a bit. Looking at it today with the benefit of time, I think Gdańsk is a superb place for raising children. The Tricity Landscape Park, cycling, the Vistula Spit, beautiful weather. The only place that could compete would be Barcelona. Maybe someday, you never know. But I'm incredibly impressed in general with how much Poland has developed. We're in a completely different place than we were before. These two agglomerations have moved forward in so many areas.

I remember that period incredibly fondly. I was a broadcast assistant at Polish Radio Trzecia, Program Trzeci — the third program. I had a chance to meet radio stars and see them live. Program Trzeci was very popular at the time. It was always playing at home and in the car. It was fantastic to see all the broadcasters — Piotr Baron, Piotr Stelmach, Wojciech Mann — and to be able to work with them. Of course, I wasn't the one playing the leading role, but observing that work was always incredibly cool. One interesting thing — this job, these internships taught me how to organize my life in 90 seconds. That's typically the longest break you get, at most one song, about 90 seconds. I was impressed how the woman who led these internships could organize her entire life in those 90 seconds — make tea, go to the bathroom, all of it. Everything was live, so the pressure was intense — you had to be available at a set time. Of course, dead air is the worst thing that can happen. But it was a great experience, so I highly recommend it.

I found my first serious job at a bank. I went to a large Warsaw financial institution. And I'll tell you — when I joined, I didn't expect it to be so dynamic. I thought a bank would be a more stable institution, a more stable business, so to speak. Great security, responsibility, juggling money. You have to be aware of the consequences of your moves. But I didn't expect life at a bank to be that dynamic. An incredibly large organization — around 250,000 people employed worldwide, full-time employees only, not counting contractors. Huge in terms of procedures, in terms of the number of steps needed to make a change. It was really something. Of course, all of it is connected to security, to history — the bank had been operating for over 100 years in many markets, in many cultures. For example, in Japanese culture, unavailability of credit cards and various services is unacceptable. That was a big challenge — working in a production environment with huge pressure and very high availability. We're talking about currency markets, stock markets, generating reports that must be online in seconds, or you could lose millions of dollars. We managed, together with a team of about 50 people, credit cards. Imagine there were moments when someone couldn't pay for medication somewhere in America. The pressure was significant.

As for me, the responsibility was great. I was in central Warsaw, and the consequences of mistakes could be quite severe. The pressure was quite something. But one gets used to it.

Yes, at that time the company wasn't in the best condition. Dad thought for a long time about what direction the company should go. Meanwhile, I was living a fairly comfortable life, well past the student years. My fiancée and I had made Warsaw our home — it had become a safe and fashionable city with plenty of opportunities, both professionally and personally. But then you ask yourself: would I want to spend the rest of my life in this place? I answered that question negatively and decided that while banking is nice, I'd rather try my strength in a completely different industry. And then Dad came and asked if I'd like to try fashion. I said I don't know anything about this industry. He said, well, you'll have to learn. And so I started learning from the most basic positions — assistant buyer, buyer. I traveled to Asia, to Europe, to suppliers, saw the product, negotiated, selected it with the team, observed the results, and here I am today. There were store roles in between too, so it's been a long story.

My first day — I still have a photo in my phone that I took on January 1st. I said this will be my keepsake — the first entry, the first weeks, the first months in any new job are always somewhat stressful for a young person. Was I scared? Of course. Everyone's scared of the unknown, of doing things you don't know how to do yet. But then at the end you ask yourself: what do you have to lose? Even if my hair gets a bit pulled out, I'll be wiser, I'll have more experience. I went in with that assumption, and I think it worked out. So I highly recommend it to anyone — if our future candidates or current candidates are listening now, it's absolutely worth it. You have to take action. Life is about trying — even with trembling knees, but moving forward. Small steps, maybe small leaps, but step by step.

It's hard to expect that you'll spend hours on individual models, and then at the end the buyer and supplier spend 24 hours at it. Of course negotiations can last — the bigger the project, the larger the scale, the larger the order, the longer they take simply because the consequences are more serious. We have a lot of experienced people in technology and in negotiating the quality of our products. We're aware of things we can't influence — low raw material prices, rising freight costs, rising currency costs, and so on. But there are also many things we do have influence over. Designers are most aware of this — adding many decorative elements can enhance a product, but then the question is whether the customer is willing to pay for those additional elements. Finding that golden mean is the key. Different brands, different teams have different goals — sometimes the goal is very high quality, like in our premium collections from Reserved, where customers expect excellent quality. But there are also other products where prints on t-shirts are very important, for example. It's about balance between customer expectations and the final product.

It wasn't easy, definitely. We opened gradually, with some hiccups — Gdańsk's Forum gallery opened a bit later than planned. But eventually we opened, just before the sales season. The stocking period was difficult. LPP already has significant experience but also high expectations for the speed of the opening process — stocking the store, coordinating everything from the management level. Then the sale itself wasn't easy either. Although honestly, looking back at how our store specialists handled it, I'm still impressed. Today, work in stores looks completely different, partly thanks to smartphones. The world just keeps changing. When I think about how our salespeople today have the ability to work with Freja — it's a different job than before. Back then there was a lot of hard work, but thanks to large teams we managed, sometimes stocking and opening a store in just five days, which was quite a success.

That's a difficult question. Well, what can I say — you'll know by the fruits. How I'm managing it will be shown by the results. So far it seems we're heading in a pretty good direction. Mohito and Sinsay are the two youngest brands in LPP's portfolio. Mohito was created around 2008, with its headquarters in Kraków, so it has a great history and certainly a long future ahead. Sinsay was created around 2013 here in the Pomeranian region. These are completely different brands targeting completely different customers, so it's an incredible experience working with such different expectations. Mohito is a boutique store, a bit luxurious if I were to say, with a very personal touch. Sinsay, in the face of a changing and dynamic world, opens up to larger spaces, to entire families — not just two girls but also mom, sister, younger brother. We have children's clothing, men's clothing. It's really evolving. There's also the Home collection. The world is very dynamic, and on top of that there's communication to manage — all those different things. It's quite difficult, but as I say, you'll know by the fruits. We look at results daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and draw conclusions. The key is to stay afloat but not underwater. We're doing well. Our customers seem to really like both Mohito and Sinsay.

If someone asked me what my day looks like, I always laugh and say I come to work, open my computer... No, it's not like that. I recommend the company bicycles — between the buildings in the Dolne Miasto area, it's fantastic. You can take a short bike ride from one building to another. No need to get the car out — it takes longer to park, find a spot, get out of the garage. On a bike you just zip over. I move between our different locations for various reasons. This morning I had the chance to see a collection in Sinsay — the so-called INT A5, the fall-winter preview. There are many different meetings every day, many decisions to be made. Of course, we don't make all decisions alone — we have teams that help us. But setting the direction, inspiring the teams in which way we should go — how we communicate not only as LPP but also as brands, how our marketing should work, how to manage inventory, the website, and store development — these are all the meetings I attend. There's a lot of analysis, a lot of conversations with people across different areas.

But honestly, in recent months we've seen a huge acceleration in e-commerce. For me and Karolina, from our generation, it's natural that it's the foundation — without it, stores essentially don't exist. Physical stores in malls are a relic. Who would want to develop brick-and-mortar? But we're lucky to have those stores. I see it this way: a customer can come, see, touch, physically turn the garment inside out, feel whether it's thick or thin, whether it drapes easily, whether it irons well, wrinkles easily or not. Whether the colors shown online are actually like that in reality — that's a huge advantage. And I see it this way: customers love visiting our stores. That's why we have omnichannel — online and physical retail intermingle. There's something for everyone. Just like with books — e-books are said to be the future, but I personally like reading paper books at home, turning pages. But when you go on vacation, you can't take your whole bookshelf. An e-book reader allows you to carry a whole library. And if you're driving, you can listen to audiobooks. Having these options today is truly wonderful.

I'll say this — I'm not a time management specialist. But I was motivated some time ago to structure my work life better in terms of my calendar. To know where you want to go, you need to know where you are. And to know where you are, you need to know what you're spending your time on — so that time doesn't just slip through your fingers. I believe time management, managing your own calendar, is important. And you don't have to be a specialist. Many calendars have color coding, and you can mark different things with colors. For about three years now, I've been marking different things with different colors. At the end of the week, I spend 10-15 minutes looking at how much time I spent in different areas, and asking myself: do I want to spend this much time on this? Should I? If there are doubts, my superiors can help clarify priorities. So that's a simple life hack — colors in the calendar.

There are also things I try not to do — I try not to touch my smartphone about an hour before going to bed. I try to wake up early every morning and cycle to work, because that way my workout is done — about 15 kilometers each way. That's a decent workout. And during the season, I don't lose time in traffic jams. I get to breathe the fresh northern air. I try to do it unless it's raining, like today.

There's something to that. But seriously, it's important to move, to do something for your body. I treat my body as a tool, and you have to take care of your tools, like mechanics do.

I think so. It's a great way to deal with stress — spending time outdoors, whether it's cycling, walking, trekking in the mountains, in the forest, by the sea. Pushing a stroller, skiing in winter, going to the Vistula Spit or Kashubia by car with the kids. It's fantastic family time, and you definitely stress less. Your mind is elsewhere, though the company's condition is always on your heart — it's hard to completely disconnect. My father once went to Cuba, and there's supposedly no internet there. He was truly cut off from results, reports. He came back with interesting reflections, but his mind was still here with LPP to some degree.

As I always say, the viewpoint depends on where you're sitting. As I told you, I came from a bank — a quarter-million-person organization. LPP isn't a small garage firm anymore, but to say we're a big corporation — I don't quite feel that. The way of working, the atmosphere, the work culture between the bank and here is completely different. Every time I turn around in my swivel chair and look at these beautiful products, the designs, the graphics, everything around us, I'm always impressed. Even though Sinsay sits in a less-than-ideal space — though we'll be moving soon — every time I look around, whether at the new building on Naukowa or the renovated one, my heart grows seeing all the fantastic things happening at our company. When I ride my bicycle to our architecture office, where our architects come up with incredible solutions for store design, I think working in this industry is truly unique. I highly recommend it. For anyone who hasn't visited us yet, come see — internships, apprenticeships, at least come and see how it is here. This isn't an ordinary company. It smells of creativity.

My whole life, I've always loved beautiful things — not just clothing but architecture, photography. It's always been something I could truly put my heart into. Fashion is art, and art is emotions. Emotions are very hard to qualify — they depend on the moment, on feelings, on atmosphere. I've always loved going to museums. I believe fashion allows us to express ourselves — who we are and who we'd like to be. It's wonderful that we can give our customers that opportunity to show their emotions. I may not be the world's best stylist, and I'm far from giving advice to others, but I love looking at beautiful things and taking beautiful photographs — from travels, interiors, architecture. And the beautiful thing is that the last year and a half has taught me you don't need to travel far at all. You don't need to fly to London or Paris. Sometimes you can just turn a corner without leaving Gdańsk — even to Kashubia. In autumn or spring, you can see truly beautiful places. When I ride my bicycle in the morning on Ołowianka island before there are too many people, it's incredibly beautiful. Gdańsk's Old Town has been beautifully restored. It depends on the season, on the weather. Not far from here we have Sobieszewska Island.

A bit nostalgic, I know. I'm personally a huge fan. I've already been twice, and I'm going for the third time next year when they come to Gdańsk. Beata also comes with Nergal, so there'll be an opportunity to see them.

What can I say — it's certainly very demanding. But honestly, I also find it incredibly inspiring. He demands a lot, also from others. Thinking about what he taught me — it's the same thing I'd want to teach my children: passion. I mentioned earlier those toy cars that my son loves — building different vehicles and elements from those toy sets. I think that's just the beginning of his engineering passion. What he'll actually do in the future — I don't know. What I'd want for him is the same thing my father gave me: the freedom to simply do what he loves. That's a great privilege, a luxury that we can afford. I'd want my children to do what they love, to devote themselves to what they love. If they fall in love with music and want to be an artist, let them be an artist. If they love painting, let them paint. My father always told me: when you devote yourself to what you love, you give it your heart, and if you give it your heart, you'll be the best at it. That devotion, I think, is important. That's what I'd wish for my children at the end of the day.

Of course, it's easier said than done. Reality hits, and honestly, I won't pretend — I don't know what I want either. But you have to keep trying. If one thing doesn't work, try another. If not that, try the next one. If you think everything's been discovered, believe that it hasn't — you can be a real master in many very niche areas. Passion and devotion are what I'd want to teach my children, what I'd want my son to cultivate.

Despite my almost retirement age — well, I still believe I'll stay with the company for a long time. As I've said before, like the candidates in last year's Democratic Party primaries — Bloomberg, Bernie Sanders, and the current U.S. President Joe Biden — they're all gentlemen approaching 80 who are only now taking office. That term will last several years, possibly another term. It seems times are changing, and you can hold the highest office in the world's greatest superpower at a truly advanced age. The fact is, if your mind is healthy, if you're mentally sharp, you can do it. And that's wonderful — we live in times where medicine works so well that we can afford that.

As I said, the body is a tool, and you need to take care of your tools. Sport is one thing, proper nutrition is another, and sleep is important too. Honestly, I think you need to nurture everything in life. And the most important thing is balance — finding the golden mean between family life and work life. It's certainly not easy. I still have a lot to learn about this for the rest of my life.

You know, when I think about it at the end, what we're building, we're building for generations. I'm the first generation after Poland's major economic and political transformations to face this kind of task. Building a company for generations certainly won't be easy. We have examples across our western border of very large family businesses — not flower shops or small enterprises run by a husband and wife, not corner shops. I'm talking about truly big businesses like the Quandt family, owners of BMW from Germany, or the Schwarz family, owners of Kaufland, or the Otto family. We'd like to make LPP a Polish family company for generations. It will be a huge challenge. We want to develop for generations — and honestly, I can't imagine economic development without ecology. We must develop differently than before. We have a climate crisis, and we must do something about it.

Thank you so much, Karolina. And I hope we'll continue to develop in various aspects, including ecology.

Thank you so much. Thank you!