big ideas, real impact.

Where It Started

Zuzana grew up in communist Czechoslovakia, where speaking freely could lead to imprisonment and even basic necessities were scarce. After her mother’s suicide, she was largely on her own by fourteen.

Waiting until ready was never an option.

Through years of disciplined judo training, she became a national champion and competed internationally. Confidence didn’t come first - it followed effort, repetition, and follow-through. That lesson stayed: belief is built through action, not thought.

Building a Life Across Systems

When Zuzana moved to the United States alone, she didn’t arrive with confidence - she arrived with intention. Not knowing anyone and not speaking the language, she washed dishes, applied for hundreds of jobs, and took the next available step again and again.

Action created momentum. Momentum created opportunity.

She went on to earn advanced degrees, graduate debt-free, and build a career spanning education, banking, wealth management, and global consulting. Across every system, she saw the same pattern repeat: people don’t gain clarity by waiting. They gain it by moving forward with the right perspective and support.

Leading People. Scaling Results.

Zuzana has held leadership and strategy roles inside some of the most complex institutions in the world.

Her work has:

• Helped grow a $32B business to $51.7B in one year

• Shaped enterprise-wide programs impacting 16,000+ employees globally

• Supported organizations managing hundreds of billions in assets

• Transformed an unknown school into a top-ranked institution nationally

Different contexts. Same principle.

Well-informed action, sustained long enough to change outcomes.

Why perZZist Exists

After a major medical crisis forced Zuzana to slow down, one truth became unavoidable: most people aren’t stuck because they lack confidence or vision.

They’re stuck because they’re waiting for confidence to arrive before they act.

perZZist was built to reverse that order.

Action comes first - guided by experience, sharpened by judgment, and held by structure. Confidence follows because progress is real.

What Drives Her

Zuzana doesn’t believe her path is exceptional. She believes it’s instructive.

The future doesn’t happen through thinking harder or waiting longer. It gets built through informed action, taken consistently enough to reshape identity and possibility.

What brings her the most fulfillment isn’t achievement - it’s watching people realize that confidence was never missing.

It was waiting on the other side of action.

Background & Expertise

Business strategy, wealth management, psychology, execution design

Leadership across startups, education, enterprise, and global consulting

Advising leaders, operators, founders, and individuals navigating meaningful change

Selected Impact

• Helped grow a $32B business to $51.7B within 12 months

• Co-designed strategy contributing to $37.6B AUM growth in one year

• Designed enterprise programs implemented across 16,000+ employees globally

• Strategic advisory supporting organizations managing $200B+ in assets

• Led operational leadership at a school later ranked among the top in the U.S.

• Selected into Vanguard leadership program (12 selected from 20,000 employees)

Education & Credentials

MBA

BA & MA in Psychology (organizational & behavioral focus)

Financial licenses: Series 7, 63/66, 24

Personal Lens

Orphan who has learned self-reliance early

Former national athlete

Immigrant who rebuilt life from zero in a new country

Mom, friend, outdoor enthusiast

Partner, mentor, and lifelong learner