Her professionalism and reliability secured her a position in a men’s world and she is now ready for new challenges….
Anamaria, we thank you on behalf of our readers for your grace in giving us an exclusive interview for our publication.
In 2013, you reached a great performance, namely to be nominated and be given almost all the awards granted by publications. How do you feel about your success?
It is true that last year I swept almost every award I could have won. I am extremely proud. I worked very hard to prove myself and to the others believing in me that a woman can reach performance in a man’s world. Professionally speaking, I am an accomplished person.
Share with us about your experience. What was the highlight and what set you apart from the other women?
My results in soccer are plenty. I really feel thrilled when I manage to carry out a transfer, when you make happy the person who trusted you and put his career in your hands. Other women have tried to go on the path I have opened, but it is difficult. I wish more women were here….but you have to live and breathe soccer! This job is unique in its nature.
What was the turning point in your career? Which one do you remember the best?
The year of 2006 is when I decided to go into soccer…a turning point, did not have, honestly. For me, it is important to have a straight road ahead, to hold my head high no matter the consequences. It is only black and white, no gray areas in between for me. I do not know whether it is good or bad…but the only thing I know is that things always must be my way, I always must be the winner. This is how I have been raised. My father was telling me that there is only one place and this is the first one.
What relation do you have with your ‚clients’? In your opinion, what is your upper hand versus your competition?
We are in a perfect relation. We respect each other and try not to hide anything. As their manager, I always tell them what exactly I talked about with the owners, presidents or coaches. On their part, they keep no secrets from me. In our world, the managers’, very bad things happen. There are managers contacting the players of other managers…they lie to them, they promise wonders…and in the end they crush them. I and ‚my people’, as I call them, are the perfect team, sincere and professional. We are professionals to our bones…and this bothers very often, as we live in a total chaos.
Where does your success in business come from?
My secret lies in professionalism, reliability and my soccer fanatism, my devotion towards my career.
Do you have a motto that you are following?
Could not care less … , this one has helped me a great deal. Everyone was left alone and I took care of my business, transfering players like on the assembling line, without even looking at them for a second.
A regular day in your life.
My life means soccer…non stop. My children have learnt much about soccer, my husband is a soccer honored master….the moment we open our eyes we watch TV…everyone on his TV. We spend a lot of time together. Laur comes from the training session in the afternoon, we both cook lunch. Soccer is our daily topic. Players come over to our house and we hang out with the players I represent. We are a big family. My children have grown up next to the players, they know them well…and they are happy for my clients, as they see them as members of our family. Everything we do, we do it together. For me, the best moment of my life was when I met Reghecampf…he is the man who manages to bring me down to earth, who gives an incredible balance; he is the man I honor and from whom I learn all the time. I love to say that he has been sent by my father to take care of me, to spoil me and give me the strength to keep going, exactly like him.
What is your greatest professional achievement? What about the best in your personal life?
My personal victories are my children. This is actually my only riches. As for the professional achievements…I have had many and honestly they make me stronger. When you succees to transfer a soccer player from a monthly salary of 5,000 € to 80,000 €…how would you feel about it?
Do you have a greatest disappointment, something that you wished you had done if had the chance?
I have never had or will have any regrets. Or disappointments…I have lived my life perfectly, never said no to anything, have learnt to enjoy every second of my life and lived as if those seconds were my last. This is what I am doing now, living my life to the fullest and get the kick out of it. I raise my children the same way, they should never look back.
Have you had a model to follow in your career, who gave you a strong inspiration?
My only models were my father and mother. I have not had any idols in my life. I had my father to look up…the most reliable, smartest, most educated..he was a man who committed himself to the family and job, exclusively. And I had my mother, a strong woman, determined, from whom I learnt to live my life the way I just said…These people made me be what I am today.
How hard was it for a woman like you to come into her own in such exclusivist world?
I cannot tell that it has been difficult for me. My father never had boys… so he raised me like one. I think and act exactly like a man. But what has always annoyed me was the roughnecks…and to my despair, the world is full of them.
Are the men in the soccer worlds misogynist?
They are everywhere in Romania and I am trying to ignore them. I hope that this year I have managed to leave the soccer people consterned…all my awards and transfers…they were left dumbfounded…Too bad that too many people in this world with their mouths open as they were born – I like calling them ‚illegal brain carriers’ – people who have ended up in this job for no reason, with no school, education…who have sneered at soccer…until this year, they have been all held in high regard…now they are in crumbles.
What does your husband think about your arguments with the people in soccer?
We are both laughing at the expense of these…I do not know how to call them..can’t give them the name of ‚people’…It is embarassing to bicker with a woman and humiliating to have a woman bring them to their level. I can not wait to have a man coming to this world, my world, a man with whom I can fight, but there are only women around me. I will end up believing what I am told…that I am the ‚only man’ in this world … .To be honest, I like to square them away.
Has your mother’s celebrity helped you in any way in your career?
The celebrity of my family is like a double-bladed cutter. I have always run away and tried to escape from the name of my family. When I turned 18, I got a job at a newspaper and I signed with another name, just because I did not want to have anyone saying…it is not ok. She is Ionela Prodan’s daughter, her mother pulled the ropes for her…I have passionately hated to be told that I was Ionela Prodan’s daughter. I have always wanted to hear that I am Anamaria Prodan and my mother, Anamaria Prodan’s mother…After all these years, I want to believe that I have reached that goal. And I have chosen soccer, as neither mother or father had anything to do with it. I am very appreciative when my mother hugs me proudly and cries while saying that her daughter has managed to do so many things on her own.
What plans do you have for this and the coming years in your career?
Every second that passes, I wish to become better and better. This is how I am…Just trying to outdo myself…every day is a challenge for me..making efforts to break my records .
Do you feel an accomplished woman? How do you mix the career with your family life?
I am a fulfilled woman from anywhere you would look. My family is wonderful, children are incredible, my husband is one-of-a-kind, friends are special…I am afraid to ask for more from God…I have already been given too much!
You live in Las Vegas, do you like gambling?
I love Las Vegas but I play responsibly . I enjoy it along with my friends and I never play my minds or all my money…When I was younger, I would just throw myself forward. Now I realize that every thing in life needs to be done thinking, especially in gambling.
Can you share with us a gambling moment?
When I moved to Las Vegas, I remember making a bet with my friends that I am the luckiest person in the world and if I put a 25-cent coin in any machine, I will get all the money in a second. We made the bet, I inserted a coin in the first slot maching I ran into and I had 350$ in chips…they were all in shock. That was a Kodak moment.. I told them that it was natural for me. From that day on, I have never ever won anything at the slot machines..
But I am now stuck with the ‚lucky man’ nickname. .
Do you have a piece of advice for the women willing to build a successful career for themselves?
I can NOT give any advice but I can suggest them not to let anyone ruin their dreams. They should bang their head against a brick wall…and follow their instincts. There is no such thing as a career for men or women. We are equal…Very oftern women reach farther than men, very easily, because they are more careful, more docile, more ambitious….
A few words for the readers of Casino Life & Business Magazine?
I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their vote, for their trust and for that fact that they considered me I deserve to be number 1. I promise that I will not let them down and I will fight for this position year after year. Do not forget that there is no ‚I cannot” but only ‚I do not want’. I love you! I wish you the same for myself!
