17 questions for... Marta Stefańczyk Ciąpały, Founder of CAFARDINI, Entrepreneur, Investor

I do not believe in the concept of work life balance because... I am closer to the philosophy of constantly striving for harmony in life. In the case of professional and private life, it is impossible to establish a perfect division, especially when you run your own business. If someone is a perfectionist and would like to set their calendar in the perfect way, i.e. find time for their family, for work, for the team, for themselves and learn something at the same time, this may be extremely difficult to maintain in the long run.

Personally, I do a lot to ensure that the areas that are important to me are taken care of. It is a matter of harmony in which I feel good at a given moment. We cannot forget that we should listen to our intuition - if we feel that we need to take care of our health and psyche, it is worth implementing such actions right away. There are also moments when professional life is the dominant sphere and at a given moment it is not always possible to change something immediately.

My 3 most important daily health habits are…

• Every morning, so is the day, or my morning ritual that takes care of my mental and physical zone. First a coffee, and sometimes two. Time for free thoughts and the most creative ideas. Then training on a bike.

• Physical activity, emphasizing that I am not an extremist on this topic. I usually choose what is easy and accessible, e.g. walking, cycling or online training, but one thing is certain - once a day my heart must beat faster because of the effort, not because of stress. I prefer short but intense training.

• I supplement in a thoughtful way and I see that it has a positive effect on my body.

The sport I practice is... cardio training and fast walking. In winter, the morning and evening darkness outside the window makes me need training even more, but this does not mean that it is easy to wake up in the morning darkness. However, the happiness hormone will not produce itself.

I spend a week on physical activity… in an ideal scenario, 2-2.5 hours.

My motivation for sports is... how great physical activity affects my mental condition. After cycling, you can be born again and experience the day differently. Physical activity also disciplines me to live a better life, i.e. eating consciously, keeping calm, which I like, and eliminating some nervousness. Usually, if I do a workout in the morning, I live more "hygienic" during the day :)

I started meditating recently and... it's interesting. A few years ago I thought this was not my world at all, and now I'm starting to discover it. It's incredible the contact you can make with yourself during this activity. For me, it's a good way to clear my head in an often overstimulated world. I look for meditation in various forms. Sometimes it's a longer session, sometimes it's 15 minutes with your eyes closed in the office between meetings.

My diet is... balanced, without excluding any elements.

My evening ritual is… family dinner. This is a moment that introduces us to a space of absolute privacy. Dinner itself is a tool that motivates us to talk, share experiences, and plan the next day or week. This is my favorite part of the family calendar.

I spend… 6-8 hours sleeping . Sleep is an underestimated space in our lives. I used to focus on how to eat or what to exercise, but sleep is the most "luxurious product" at hand that works wonders!

I do a lot of things just for myself . I believe that every woman and man should consciously do something just for themselves. This is not due to selfishness in any way, just common sense. If we want to create a sustainable community around us, we cannot sideline ourselves. Strength starts with us. My favorite things that I do just for myself are:

• A short trip from time to time. 2-3 days just for yourself.

• I regularly find time in my calendar just for myself. Sometimes it's the theater, sometimes a good dinner with a book, and sometimes a spontaneous walk or a podcast.

• Recently I went to Ewa Chodakowska's 4-day sports camp and it was also great! I had space to think, plan, exercise and eat well.

My little sins are... more than pleasure, namely chocolate, which is my obsessive love - preferably the one with nuts. Besides, I can also be inconsistent in certain resolutions.

I believe in the definition of happiness that says... happiness is your expectations vs reality. I think this is a universal definition that everyone can adapt to their own life. It is important not to set too high standards for yourself, in any context: as a mother, boss, partner, wife or friend. On the other hand, you need to be able to truly appreciate what you have. There is no happiness without gratitude.

Luxury for me is... freedom to choose how I want to live and quality and well-spent time with people who consciously choose to spend this time with me.

My small daily steps in taking care of the planet are... segregating garbage, limiting plastic, going shopping with my own bag. However, when it comes to Cafardini, which we have been building with our team for over 20 years, we have consciously decided on the following actions and we are uncompromising about it.

• We only use natural fabrics - mainly wool obtained from certified sources.

• We only sew to order. We do not produce mass collections, several dozen percent of which are sold on promotion, and the rest goes to incinerators or landfills.

The price we pay for this is the scale of our business. We are not a global brand, but we do not have to be the biggest because we want to be the best.

The advice I would give myself if I was 20 again is... Believe in yourself, accept yourself! I have never lacked space for dreams and taking risks. It's worth supporting yourself and others.

The book I recently read and recommend is... Liz Plank "For the love of men" . This is a book that allows for a qualitative dialogue between men and women, allowing us to better understand ourselves. I am a supporter of dialogue because it gives space to understand another person and allows for making micro-corrections necessary to maintain development.