Combination of a Successful Career and the Love of Music: Expressing Creativity as a Key to Life Balance

August 31, 2021

There is something intriguing and capturing about people who manage to have it all, a well-rounded, successful business career and a continuous dedication to other passions in their lives that might not necessarily have to do anything with their line of business. One of those people is Periša Boko, RIT Croatia Alumnus. He manages to successfully juggle a serious role in a travel company and his passion for music and singing. And here is how it all started…

After Hospitality and Catering high school, Periša has enrolled at RIT Croatia's Hospitality and Management program and he graduated in 2006. His travel agency career started during college years when he worked for a local travel agency as a part of his mandatory co-op experience. Three months before his graduation, he has been invited to join the team permanently and that is the moment when his career has been defined. After 8 years in Cruise Ships Department, Periša and his partners have decided to start a new adventure by founding the Adriatic DMC in 2013, a travel company that now hires 20 permanent employees, handles 80.000 guests in a year and operates in 7 different countries within Southeastern Europe. But well before all this ever happened, Periša encountered his first love. Music. During childhood he spent years in different choirs and in music school, however the main turning point in his life happened when he joined the Dubrovnik Chamber Choir. To this day Periša believes the choir gave him firm foundations that established a path to a way how he performs today. Later on, he has been an active member of several successful vocal ensembles (klape) in Dubrovnik before embarking onto the recent "Trio PMS and Friends" project - a group of music enthusiasts who streamed their majestic singing performances from their homes during COVID-19 lockdown and rounded their project with a live concert in August 2021 in Dubrovnik.

How does he manage it all? We've asked Periša to share his thoughts with us…

Q: What role does music play in your life?

Periša Boko: The music has always been a very important aspect of my life. From the very birth I have shown affection towards music and the same has followed me until today. My mother was always telling a story how I stood in front of the TV and conducted a whole concert at the age of one during the traditional New Year classical philharmonic performance. If I were asked to describe the relationship between music and myself, the best way to understand it is by listening a song Moja posljedna i prva ljubavi (My last and first love). True love that never ends and grows every day. I use music to start my day, spike up my mood, and carry on through sadness, calm down before sleep, while driving, thinking, reading or doing simple things as enjoying in the nature. Music is always there and has never ever disappointed me so far.

Q: How would you describe your studying years at RIT Croatia? What kind of a connection do you feel with RIT Croatia as a member of RIT Croatia Alumni Association?

Periša Boko: RIT Croatia was the best possible education I could have. Years at the college were indeed very productive, creative and careless as the faculty and staff have been oriented towards the education and helping students to go through the tough process of finding themselves. Even though a lot of us believe that at the age of 18 we are all grown up and know it all, on the contrary, it is quite opposite. Excellent guidance received at RIT Croatia and actual in-class implementation of the everyday business life situations gave us a great advantage when stepping in the real business life. The fundamental difference is that RIT Croatia gives you an example of the business life and teaches you how to cope with the changes you face in business, while others do not have that practice but solely rely on theory. The friendships and other relationships established during the college years are still very active and at some point productive as we try to help each other and do business together. The help of RIT Alumni association and the support RIT Croatia gives to Alumni community is enormous. I can say that we all feel as a part of a huge RIT family, that eventually we all are, which makes us bigger than others.

Q: How did you come up with the idea of a concert "Trio PMS and Friends"? The whole concept began as a series of singing performances from your apartments in times of COVID-19 lockdown....How was this received by the local community and how did it grew into a concert in front of a live audience?

Periša Boko: In order to tell how we got to the idea of a concert we have to start from the very beginning. During the very first lockdown, LMT Studio (a video production company based in Dubrovnik) started with a project named "LMT Studio i prijatelji - Koncert iz stana". The idea was to cheer up people in depressive times by giving them the music and the videos compiled from the people who have created them at their homes. The major project was the "Moja domovina" video that was filmed by more than 55 people, edited and produced by LMT Studio. Soon after, the Studio has started doing videos where Saša Miletić (the owner's wife) was singing with musicians who would send their videos of music. Since I'm a very good friend of the family, Saša has suggested to record a duet. I accepted the idea immediately; however we have had issues to find a guitar player. When we finally found Mario Nadilo, who loved the idea, and we finished recording the first song, we sat down for a dinner and he asked: "Which one is next?" - the sentence that started it all. In the next few months, week after week, we have been recording and publishing new songs. Since we attracted a lot of people who watched our performances and waited for a new one, many of them have commented that they can hardly wait to see us in live and this is the first time we thought about it. One day while I was having lunch with a friend, the director of the Dubrovački kinematografi, who is also an RIT Alum, he started complaining that no one wants to organize a concert at Ljetno kino Slavica due to the Covid situation and epidemiological requirements. Instantly, the idea was there and I got him to think about having Trio PMS concert there. Luckily, he loved the idea so with the help of the event organizer company "Event Lab d.o.o.", owned as well by RIT Alumni, and all sponsors my lunch idea went into execution and we proudly performed in front of a live audience on August 14^th, 2021.

Q: How many people attended the concert?

Periša Boko: Of course, none of the above would have been possible without our fans who support us and follow our work from the very first day. The concert was extremely well visited with more than 175 people in the auditorium and only a few seats available left. The comments after the concert were superb, the audience was amazed and we received extremely nice and encouraging words from our friends and family. Some of them even made us cry and gave us courage and obligation to continue with the work we have done so far.

Q: You are a Director of Sales and Marketing and a co-founder of Adriatic DMC. How do you manage your professional career and your passion for singing at the same time?

Periša Boko: I have to be honest to say that while Covid-19 pandemic brought a lot of negative aspects to our lives, at the same time it allowed me to slow down a bit, to have time for myself and to have time for the music. Although I have always been in music and rushing for the concerts or gigs, Corona finally gave me the time to have more focus on it and work on the new project later named as Trio PMS. Recording every week is difficult in time when the business you run is in "full throttle", however with the pandemic happenings I believe I have learned how music is important part of my life and that I have to find a way to combine the both in order to be complete. The best example is the concert we have managed to hold during the times when the business is finally picking up. Defining priorities in a life of a business man and an artist is crucial to be successful in both.

Q: What would be your message to students regarding pursuing their passions in life and successfully managing multiple roles at the same time?

Periša Boko: It is extremely important to listen to yourself and follow your inner voice. Being an artist or having any other form of a passion towards non-business-related matter should not be suppressed at any time. I like to say to my colleague singers "Allow me to fly" because when I fly, I reach the ideas I would never reach if I was not allowed to do so. Once you allow yourself to express your creativeness or art that's being trapped inside of yourself, the results are affecting all aspects of your life, including the business one. You become happier and more productive in any way. Always strive towards keeping yourself balanced in all aspects of your life as the balance brings you to a satisfaction and completeness.