From hockey to Microsoft

He became an important player on the junior team of the Sparta hockey team. While some of his teammates from that time are now long-time Sparta supporters, Štefan Kutlák went in a different direction. Through university, book sales and the best bachelor's thesis, he ended up at Microsoft. What credit does the hockey cabin have for this and what habits would it not have been possible without?

Can you tell me more about your hockey career?

I am originally from Slovakia, where I also started playing hockey, specifically in Prievidza and later in high school in the youth and junior teams of Dukla Trenčín. My steps then led me to Sparta Prague, where I started playing for the junior team at the age of eighteen. We had a great team, ambitious, full of disciplined guys, and we were coached by former NHL player David Volek. Along with that, I enrolled at the University of Economics in Prague, which was not unusual at the time, because several other teammates were studying. My parents encouraged me to have school at the same level in addition to hockey. At the age of sixteen, I had the opportunity to go play overseas, but for education and finances, my parents and I agreed that I would rather stay at home so that I would have a second option, which now, in hindsight, I see as a good move.

But more teammates at Sparta back then studied right?

Exactly, we had a teammate who is now a doctor, another is a lawyer, an architect, some made it to Forbes. At first, I didn't believe that it would be possible to combine hockey at Sparta with one of the demanding subjects at university. But I had teammates who proved that it was possible. After I finished hockey, I suddenly had so much free time that I even studied economics and medicine for a year in parallel.

What were the next steps?

After a year in the junior team, I was training in the first-league Beroun and trying to work my way up to the A-team of Sparta. That didn't work out in the end. I couldn't even return to the junior team, so the coach arranged a place for me in the second league in Jablonec. But I lived and studied in Prague, so basically every day my manager drove me to Jablonec for training and back, which meant spending over two hours every day in the car and over time it became difficult to combine with school. I finished the season in Roudnice nad Labem and then I didn't continue with hockey at a professional level. As our coach Volek used to say, the second league is the beginning of the end.

So what did you other than hockey while studying?

The very first summer after the hockey season, I flew to America. It was my first summer in 16 years where I didn't have to prepare for the new season with the hockey team, so I wanted to use that time constructively, improve my English, have foreign work experience and earn some good money. At a job fair at school, I met a classmate from high school who told me about a job in America, where her boyfriend earned 300 thousand crowns last summer. At that time, it was a lot of money for a student, young guys in the first league were paid 10 thousand a month and this job was only supposed to be for 12 weeks. When I met her boyfriend, I thought to myself, if he gave 300, then I'll give even more! It was about selling educational books for children and students, up to CDs with software for preparing for the SAT exams for American universities. That job was absolute madness, the hardest job I could have possibly chosen at that time. It was in 2010, just after the crisis ended, and we were sent to sell in the city of Stockton. The first three weeks were very challenging. America, which was a childhood dream, turned into a nightmare in places. There were days when I didn't sell a single book. I was used to not giving up and fighting on in sports. I gradually improved so much that I ended the summer as the best freshman in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Looking back, I see it as a great experience, where I met friends for life and experienced how difficult it is to earn money through work and not through sports. .

‍

What did you do when you returned back to Czech?

I wanted to try medicine, following the example of my former teammate David Puna, so in addition to studying at the University of Economics, I prepared for the exams and got in. I was finishing my bachelor's degree in economics and started studying medicine. In the summer, I flew to America again, because in 12 weeks I could earn enough for a year of living in Prague. What I enjoyed most was selling books to doctors. They knew the value of education and liked books, so they always bought a lot. It motivated me to see how luxuriously they lived overseas. But the reality in Bohemia was completely different. The second summer we sold on the East Coast, in Virginia. I led a team of five people. We experienced a hurricane and an earthquake, it was quite challenging and I was already looking forward to starting medicine after the summer. Because I was doing my bachelor's degree in economics and was in my first semester of medicine, I combined the fields and wrote a thesis entitled Financing of Healthcare on the Example of Hip Joint Surgery. The thesis was successful, my supervisor nominated it for a national competition, and I eventually won it. I received a scholarship and a job offer from Ernst & Young. My medical career lasted only two semesters.

You talked about a different reality in the Czech healthcare system, what differences did you see specifically?

In my first year at the 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, I had a completely different feeling about the teachers and the environment than I did about doctors in America. Everyone here seemed unhappy and demotivated to me, even though they were hugely talented in the field. In anatomy, they told us straight away to think it over, that we would work here for five or six years, then we would do our certification for five years and earn maybe twenty thousand. And then you would get maybe fifty if you worked the night shift. That's what they told us in the first lecture. At that time, I was driving a convertible with the money I earned from selling books. And then you see students five years older than me, still living with their parents or in their dormitory at almost thirty. A kid in fifth year medicine, who I thought was a genius, was working part-time at Tesco at the cash register. No job is shameful, but I felt that this probably wouldn't be the path for me. So I was wondering where to go next, fortunately I had an offer from Ernst & Young and was able to go to America for the third time this summer.

‍

What helped you made the decision?

A sales manager flew in to see me, we had a long conversation and I wondered aloud whether to try to continue studying medicine or go and earn money again through sales. His parents happened to be doctors in England and at that time he struck the right chord with me that I probably needed. Štefan, you can be much happier and more successful in a field other than medicine, he told me. At the same time, he offered me the attractive area of ​​Orange County in California. I had my own team again, so it wasn't just about sales, but also about leading people and I enjoyed that, motivating them to better results.

How challenging was the actual sale for you or dealing with people turning a blind eye to you every day?

It was the sport that taught me discipline, perseverance, working outside my comfort zone and the art of working with defeat in my youth. These are exactly the things that sports build in a person. At the time, I thought it was the worst job in the world, and it was probably true. Even today, when I'm not doing well, I remember what it was like when I was knocking on doors in California in forty degrees and offering people something they didn't want. In that case of rejection, you had to realize that they weren't rejecting you as a person, but only your product.

After finishing your medical studies, you went to America to study, is that right?

That's right, I decided to finish my engineering degree and as part of my follow-up studies at the University of Economics, I went for a semester to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which is the Alma Mater of Michael Jordan and other successful athletes and businessmen. The experience from three months in America helped me a lot to improve my English so that I could cope with my studies. During that time, I went back to playing hockey, which was very pleasant because the university had its own team. I studied subjects together with MBA students and I must say that that half a year there gave me more to my life than the entire master's degree in the Czech Republic. Both sports and education there were at a completely professional level. If my children are going to be involved in sports, I will definitely want them to try university life in America.

Did you find the combination of sport and education attractive?

Very much! The conditions for studying and playing sports at the same time are incredible. The teachers' approach was completely different and you didn't feel like a slapstick puppet in medicine, but like a team player who is a co-creator of what happens at school. I really enjoyed this study and found it very useful for my future life. The bonus was that I could return to the hockey locker room. That way, I also practically immediately found friends and a group to spend time with. The teamwork is also reflected in school, because in each subject we had certain team projects where you have to learn to work collectively, and then you might even meet with this team outside of class. The American environment pays a lot of attention to teamwork. Thanks to hockey and the semester in America, I can do this and it is a huge advantage in my current job.

So you had no problem fitting into the team at school and in the cabin?

Before I left, I got in touch with the hockey team and we had our first training sessions the first week in America. It's great that your teammates will take care of your establishment in such a situation. The captain took me under his wing and helped me find better accommodation. I found the first one on Craigslist, I wanted to save money, but it was terrible. My roommate was probably high on drugs, and someone even broke into our place once, so I was glad I was only there for about two weeks. The other guys on the team also welcomed me well.

Let's move forward in time to your return to the Czech Republic and your subsequent work career...

After returning from America, I needed to finish my diploma and my last subject at the University of Economics. At that time, I was already looking for a full-time job where I could use the knowledge I had gained from school and experience from American work and university. I had four interviews and received a specific offer everywhere. In addition to my work experience in America, awards for my bachelor's thesis, an internship at Ernst & Young and a semester at an American university, I had a great CV. I got the best offer from the IT startup ZT, for a Business Development position. At that time, they offered me the same salary as a doctor after certification, which was absolutely great for an almost twenty-five-year-old guy, considering that I had not yet completed my studies. So I finished my diploma while working at this company. While I was studying for my final exam, I decided to apply for a position at Microsoft. I went through seven interviews and successfully received an offer. However, the requirement for the position was a completed master's degree. So I literally had a knife in my throat because I missed the last state exams, specifically the most difficult ones in economics. I took the exam on March 27th and was supposed to start working at Microsoft on April 1st. If I didn't take it, I would lose this job, which usually only gets one person out of hundreds of applicants.

It must have been a huge pressure. How did it end up?

(laughs) Okay! Luckily, I passed the exam with my ears pierced and was able to join. And I'm still at Microsoft today.

That's a great story! You talked about pressure, that's something you must have dealt with while playing hockey. What else has hockey given you in the work you do today?

Team sports create certain habits, build discipline. If you pick up almost any book from the category of personal development today, it will write about things that were instilled in us in our youth, right in the cabin. Today, perhaps, there is not a day that I would not start with a cold shower. It is uncomfortable, but I have built a habit that helps me to kick start before the working day, it is healthy for my body and mind and there is also that part of the discipline or overcoming to do it every day. Hockey has definitely taught me to work in a team. To be able to prioritize the collective goal over the personal ones. Today I have a lot of colleagues at work, I function in a large community and you need to be able to work with them. Perseverance is also important, accepting partial defeats, accepting them and keeping the momentum on the goal. So if a person refines these qualities and adds hard work to it, it cannot turn out badly.

Is that your motto?

Basically yes, it's about that approach or attitude. Perseverance and hard work.

Microsoft is an American company, you have experienced both the Czech and American environments, are those American values ​​reflected in the corporate culture?

Sure, you can feel it here. I like it because I can relate. Mutual motivation within the team and a positive view of the world are also maintained here. I am convinced that it is team sports, or rather the combination of sports and studies, that create the ideal opportunity and prerequisite for a successful life.

So, if you could go back to your school years, would you choose to go to an American university?

Yes. I only tried it for half a year, but it enriched me immensely. Those who play sports at home have the chance to use sports as a tool to get a scholarship and, thanks to that, get a top education and a very interesting item on their CV. If they continue to excel in sports, they have a great chance to get into the professional sports world. If sports don't work out, they have the business side ahead of them. At my current age of thirty-three, I still have many years ahead of me in terms of work. If I had chosen the path of hockey back then, for example, and made it to the extra league, I would only have a few years ahead of me when I could play with the elite, and then what would I do without education or other work experience? Education in addition to sports is therefore a certain way to hedge risk.