Radka Kraus: I appreciate books much more

Text: Kateřina Czempková, Radka Kraus | Foto: Lukáš Duspiva

Mrs. Radka Kraus has spent almost 25 years abroad and is now an important part of the handicraft team. In today’s interview, you’ll hear about her work experience in America and Scotland, as well as her daily morning routine and other hobbies.

Ms Radka, it’s been a year since you joined FINIDR. What brought you here?
Mr. Martin Raiskub. I worked with Martin in Scotland and he was my manager. We worked in a fish processing factory, a fish factory, where I was a line foreman, responsible for people and production schedules to make sure the order was ready in time for dispatch. When Martin came back to the Czech Republic, we were still in contact, and later he offered me a job at FINIDR.

How did you get to Scotland?
I have to tell you the story from the beginning. First I lived in Florida for 11 years. A friend of mine had her cleaning company there, so I flew to America and started working for her. In less than four months, clients started recommending me to their friends, so I decided to start my own cleaning company. Americans don’t invite many people home. To get a new client, you need good references, which I had. Then they give you full confidence, you get the keys to the house and the alarm code. The homeowners treat you like part of the family, and my husband and I still correspond with some of them. I’m glad they appreciated our work, and it wasn’t just about cleaning and maintaining the house.

How hard is it to open a business in America?
The authorities must verify you, you have to have a residence permit, and it takes time. Then it’s about gaining trust with clients. In the beginning, before I sent an employee to a client to clean, I went door to door with them to be sure they are reliable.

You met your husband in America?
Yes, I met my husband in Florida in Key West. He’s also Czech. I offered him to come work for my company and I expanded my business to include maintenance around the house. We started out really cautiously until the clients got used to him. Then we were in Chicago for a year, where I have family. Unfortunately, my dad got sick during that time and it was difficult for me because of the distance, so we came back to the Czech Republic. However, over time, we found that we were not good here.

That must have been a really interesting experience. So how did you end up in Scotland?
My husband had a sister in Scotland and we went to try our luck with her there. We lived in Scotland for 13 years. First we worked for a lady who did wedding preparations. I helped her with decorations and baking, my husband put up tents and did things around the place. Then I went to work on a farm picking strawberries. After the first picking, they made me a foreman. I stayed there for a year and then I joined the fish factory.

What were the beginnings?
When I went to America, I didn’t speak a word of English. I’m a Velvet revolution child and our Russian teachers at school had to quickly switch to English. A customer there taught me English. Once I finished my work, she tught me and that’s how I learned to speak. After we flew to Scotland, I thought I would be fine with the language, but I couldn’t understand a even single word when pilot said we landed. I had to learn again. Now I miss English.

Can you compare life here and abroad?
It’s completely different. In Florida, everybody smiles at you all the time. Maybe it’s the sun. Here in the Czech Republic, people don’t smile enough and they’re negative, it’s depressing. The culture and customs are also different, Americans have everything over-sweetened and you can’t eat it. When I came to America, I thought I was going to starve to death. After a while, I found a German store with our ingredients so I could cook Czech food, because you can’t make dumplings with their flour or thicken the sauce.

Why did you come back to the Czech Republic?
We have a five-year-old son and Scotland has a different education system which doesn’t suit us very well. They start school at the age of five and we didn’t want our son to miss out on his childhood. I want him to have the classic Czech education that we are used to here. He also hardly knew his grandmothers, he had not seen one of them at all and knew the other only through the telephone. He was born in Scotland and his Czech is still broken, but also he still takes English lessons so he doesn’t forget it.

Let’s move on now to the work at FINIDR. Could you give us an idea of what a typical working day is like for you?
Yes, I first joined FINIDR “B” as a production worker. After a couple of months, Mr. Sojka asked me if I would like to try position at handicraft department at FINIDR “A” as a dispatcher. I prefer to go through everything from the ground up so I know what the job entails. We agreed that I would give it a try and see. I stayed and I’m glad I did.

My typical work day is that I come to work at 5:30, ask the forewomen if everything was okay on the night shift. I write down the orders that we have on the line and check what needs to be done accordingly, solving any problems with the traders. Every day I run out the plans three days in advance and check every order. This means that my colleagues on the handwork have all the documents and information for each order ready so that we can ship them out on a specific day. I also communicate with FINIDR “B” or the warehouse. I am also in charge of training new people on handicraft dep. I learn something new every day.

I never realized how much work is behind the book. Now I appreciate books much more and view them with more humility. It’s beautiful precise work, the book even smells different to me than before and I’m really glad to be part of FINIDR.

What do you think are the biggest challenges at handicraft?
The current challenge is getting orders ready in time to ship books for the Christmas season. For me personally, the challenge is also to keep people as happy as possible at work while doing a good job. Mrs Agata Studnicka, the process technician, and I are both relatively new to department, but we work well together and support each other. If we don’t know what to do, we can turn to Honza Sojka.

Mrs. Radka, how do you relax after a hard day’s work?
After work, I go to pick up my son from kindergarten. The little one and I ride our bikes. We like the mountains, most often we go on trips in the Beskydy Mountains, for example to Mosty u Jablunkov, from where we go to Gírova or Skalka. I also like to go to the Krkonoše Mountains.

Where did you spend your holiday this year?
This year we enjoyed our holiday in the Czech Republic. We went to Blansko, we rented a cottage in a campsite, we went swimming, we went on various trips and castle tours. I’m not a wallowing type by the sea and I like more active holidays. The next week we were in the Vysočina, where I come from. We just showed my son the beauty of our country and he was thrilled with the trips. Next year we are going to America, a former client is celebrating her 80th birthday and she invited us to the party. We are also still in communication with her parents and have other friends there that we would love to see.

What do you like to do in your spare time?
In my spare time I do classical and face yoga. I have been practicing yoga for about 15-20 years every day at 4 am for half an hour. It wakes me up, kicks me up, releases problems and puts me in a happier mood. Conversely, if I’m sick or not feeling well and don’t work out, my body is heavy and I can’t get going that day. I started face yoga three years ago. It’s good for firming up the face.

Do you have a dream or goal that you would like to achieve in the future, either professionally or personally?
I am happy in my personal life and that’s all I need. I have fulfilled my travel dreams, we have visited many countries while living abroad. I have a job here, I can afford to live and eat, I have a happy family, what more could I ask for. I got an offer to work in Holland, but I don’t want to go abroad anymore. My son is going to school next year and I don’t want to confuse him with another foreign language. We are finally showing him Czech traditions and customs that he hasn’t experienced in Scotland. Professionally, I would definitely like to move on and develop myself. If the opportunity is there, I will be happy to attempt other challenges.

What else would you like to mention in conclusion?
I would like to thank Martin and Lenka Raiskubs for recommending me. I would also like to thank my colleagues in the handicraft department at FINIDR “B” for the way they have welcomed me. I came with nervousness, I was afraid of what it would be like in the Czech Republic after my experience abroad, but from my point of view I think I fit in like family. Even though I’m in FINIDR “A” now, I still see the girls from “B” regularly.

Thank you for the interview.