For six years, Juraj Vig was a partner in a training and consulting company in Slovakia. He worked with leaders and teams, led authentic leadership programmes, and offered consulting and coaching. And then, as he says, Ljubljana’s dragon called him. He felt a very strong pull towards Ljubljana, Slovenia, and since moving here, “I have had this feeling that I am in the right place,” says Juraj. It is also a challenge. “I’m learning a language, meeting people, looking for work and building my professional life here. Starting again takes quite a lot of energy. At one point, I didn’t even get a job as a waiter,” Juraj stresses. Part of this new beginning has been the birth of ŽIVA, a project that followed Vig for fifteen years – the book contains his stories. Some are imagined, others very real and personal. “And I’m sharing this publicly for the first time: in the chapter Response-Ability, I wrote about finding out I have HIV and learning to live with it. Writing about responsibility becomes very personal when you put that part of your own life on the page,” he admits. And here is his story, in our Inspire me (Navdihni me) magazine.
You wrote that Ljubljana’s dragon called you. I love that image! But let’s turn the story around: If the dragon could speak, what do you think it saw in you that you hadn’t yet discovered in yourself?
Juraj Vig, for Inspire me
I visited Ljubljana for the first time 10 years ago and the stories about dragon just hit my heart. That time I had no clue why or what it meant for me. The truth is that since then I got even closer to dragons as a trainer – via special methodology Dragon Dreaming or monomyth Hero’s Journey and dragon slaying. Not to mention my name is Juraj – Dragon slayer 🙂 …
In that decade I was exploring all the possibilities what kind of relationship I have with that dragon – I was sharpening my sword by studying family constellations, following trainings in this methodology I understood that I am the sword, and only last couple of years I understood that dragon and I can live together in peace. When moving to Ljubljana I started a series of posts on social media’s Dancing with the Dragon – writing about navigating in a new country and learning about myself. I think the Dragon saw in me what I refused to see for many years and only now I can slowly uncover it – courage to live, courage to be true and courage to carry the stories of other people – without judgment.
Alice and me on the trip to Wonderland
We often celebrate people who take a leap of faith, but rarely talk about what happens after they land. What has been your loneliest or most difficult moment since moving to Slovenia — and what helped you get through it?
Who said I already landed? It feels like my fall is only getting faster and faster – I already passed by Alice on her fall into Wonderland – and I have no idea if I learn to fly or if there is any safe landing for me. I kinda hope for both, at least with the grounding part are already helping me my new friends I met here.
In a way I was very lucky about (not) being lonely. As a trainer for international volunteers coming to Slovakia I was giving them all the tips & tricks on how to survive in a new culture and how to build relationships – now it was time for me to turn theory into practice. The big help was also my “sostanovalka” – morning gossip, shared time for breakfast, complaints about coffee and her farting dog are the best combination for landing in a new country.
The art of becoming a beginner again
Imagine meeting the Juraj who was a successful consultant in Slovakia few years ago. What would he admire about the man you are today? And what might he find completely surprising?
Six years ago I was starting from the beginning (again). That time I left a job as a head of marketing & PR from one NGO working with LGBT+ people – coming into the world of business and corporations. I don’t think I would believe myself that I can really change so much – my attitude towards so many things including embracing my self-value.
Yet my younger self would be probably only interested that I am still single even though I am a great cook and fun 😉 Maybe I am a bit sharp, but that might be a good fit in a country which I may call Balkan only after 10pm.
Time to move and create
You spent years helping leaders and organisations grow. Then you arrived in a new country where even getting a job as a waiter proved difficult. What happens to our sense of identity and self-worth when the world suddenly stops recognising who we used to be?
Živa has been accompanying me for 15 years
Something had to die. Every transformation theory will tell you a story about death and new beginning – and so it happened with me as well. Honestly I am not sure I am there yet. I mean – there is definitely something new getting born and it feels like it is much bigger then my old self. Right now ŽIVA is getting born: a new special set of cards which was in my drawer for about 15 years.
You know – for my tenth birthday I got my first tarot cards. What started as a game later became a core how I become a trainer, facilitator and coach. I am so grateful that I didn’t even get a job as a waiter. All of this wandering made me look back into my core and there was it – or she – ŽIVA patiently waiting for me. In my mind she was drinking pelinkovec and smoking cigarettes. The new world around me never saw me as an ex-partner in a consultancy company – neither business developer, coach or trainer. Suddenly there was only Juraj – and smoking and drinking ŽIVA talking to the Ljubljana Dragon waiting for me to finally move my ass and create. Make her live.
I’ve lived and I live!
ŽIVA has been with you for fifteen years. That’s almost a relationship! Why do you think this project chose this particular moment to come into the world? Was the book waiting for you — or were you waiting to become the person who could finally write it?
Both versions are true. I didn’t plan to invest energy into creating cards – neither writing a book about it. One day I simply woke up, had breakfast and started to work on it – every day, until late night – or early morning. After prototyping cards I knew I had to give people some “manual” for the cards – but doing it as a description for each card simply felt off. So I naturally chose stories. But I wanted it to be authentic – so I decided to share my stories – and for those I had to wait 15 years. ŽIVA is about life and that time as a teenager – what would I know about it? Many people would say the same about me also now, and in a way they are right – I am super young. Yet when bringing those stories into a book I realised one beautiful thing: I lived and I live.
The stories we tell ourselves
As a coach, you’ve probably helped many people challenge their limiting beliefs. But what is the biggest lie you’ve ever told yourself about who you are, what you deserve or what you are capable of? And how did you eventually stop believing it?
That I first have to get my shit together – and then I can enjoy my life. There was always something to understand, finish, heal or become. One more thing and then I would finally be ready. And when you work in personal development, there is always another training you can attend. Very convenient. 🙂
For a long time I was living with this “first… and then…” agreement with myself. First I finish the work, then I rest. First I understand myself, then I can have a good relationship. First I become somehow better, then I can enjoy being who I am. You can spend your whole life preparing to live. I don’t think I stopped believing it in one beautiful moment of enlightenment. Moving to Ljubljana definitely gave me plenty of opportunities to practise living without having things sorted out. Many things are still unresolved. Yet I have friends here, I cook dinners, I laugh, I created ŽIVA. Apparently life started without waiting for me to be ready. And honestly – I still catch myself doing it. Even rest can become another task I should be doing properly. But sometimes I notice it, close the laptop and go meet someone for coffee – meaning pivo or pelinkovec. The work is still unfinished. So am I. And we can both survive an afternoon like that. 🙂
The extraordinary freedom of being seen
In Response-Ability, you share something profoundly personal about living with HIV. That takes a particular kind of openness. What would you like people to understand about the human being behind a diagnosis — and what has this part of your life taught you about dignity, connection or freedom?
Juraj Vig, diffrnt
I was lucky that even before my diagnosis I already knew several people living with HIV. I knew that medically I would be okay. Yet it still took me about a month to start living again. And luckily — thanks to my work — I already understood how much damage stigma and shame can do. I didn’t want to go further into that darkness. So it was time to use some of the things I keep telling other people. 🙂
For me, the way out was to talk about the shame. And yet I had to move to another country and write a book in English to be able to share it publicly… I am honestly not sure I would share this in a Slovak newspaper. Apparently I needed a little geographical and linguistic help with my courage. 🙂 And so my diagnosis became part of the chapter Response-Ability — about what life brought me and how I responded to it. There is a whole life around those three letters. And I want to live it.
The people who become our bridges
Starting over in another country is not just about finding a place to live or work. It’s about finding your people. Has there been someone in Slovenia — perhaps even a complete stranger — whose small act of kindness made you feel that you truly belonged here? Tell us that story.
We met at a job fair. She was on the phone and somehow we started teasing each other through gestures and facial expressions. The little devil still didn’t give me a job. But she took me along as a volunteer at Diffrnt Festival 2026 — and there I felt I belonged immediately. Thanks to her, I also became friends with people from the festival team, and I would love to help them prepare the next edition. Of course there are other people too. It all happens quite naturally — I can’t plan “you will be my friend and you won’t.” For me there is usually an immediate spark and somehow we both know. Although making Slovenian friends took a little longer. I think I first met every Balkan country represented in Ljubljana, and only after about six months did Slovenians start appearing in my close circle. 🙂 I guess I had to complete the regional tour first.
The courage you can pass on
Somewhere, someone is reading your story while sitting at their own crossroads — afraid to leave, afraid to stay, afraid to begin again or afraid to show the world who they really are. If you could give that person one small, beautifully rebellious assignment for tomorrow, what would it be?
Ask someone for one thing you actually want. Help. A coffee together. An opportunity. A date — and if you discover how that last one works, send me instructions. Choose something small enough to ask tomorrow. Give the other person a chance to answer before you answer for them in your head. We reject ourselves quite efficiently sometimes. They might say yes. They might say no. Either way, you will have let something true about you enter the world. Leave some room to be surprised.
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Photo: Juraj Vig – Diffrnt 26
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