Only a true creative force can turn a teenage hobby into a career that inspires

myPOS grows exceptionally fast and that would not be possible without the drive and creativity of people like Drago Sokolov. Once a teenager who spent hours visualising his thoughts on Photoshop, now he collaborates with leading creative agencies in London and Paris and leads the marketing design team at myPOS. His design passion also spills into initiatives like Mentor the Young where he recently coached young professionals.

What’s the secret of juggling creativity, leadership and mentorship? Drago tells it best. 

What inspired you to pursue a career in design?  

As a kid, I was always drawn to creative pursuits and tried everything from drawing and sculpting to playing musical instruments. When I was around 12 years old, my parents bought our first computer. My brother got Photoshop installed to create cool wallpaper designs. I got fascinated by the software’s capabilities and started spending hours trying to express my teenage thoughts via Photoshop every day. After high school, I enrolled in a technical university, but quickly realised I didn’t see myself as an engineer. Meanwhile, I was already freelancing as a web designer and loved it. So, one day I packed my bags and left school to pursue my dream career. I was fortunate to land a job at a creative agency, where I could learn from accomplished designers. 

What led you to  myPOS? 

After several years of working as a graphic designer, I got to a point where I needed to expand my knowledge. I was curious about the mechanics behind web design, so I naturally got into front-end development. At myPOS, I started as a junior front-end developer. While coding was my main job, I was also doing the graphic designs for new landing pages. The company was growing rapidly, and the design projects kept coming. The leadership team liked my work, and after a few months of combining both roles, it made sense for me to focus solely on graphic design. However, I deeply value the coding experience I have, as it gave me the opportunity to see the full picture behind my work. 

What is the source of inspiration behind your work? 

I love exploring design and creativity. For example, a good book about branding, creativity, advertising can spark my imagination and help me generate new ideas in my workflow. Other than that, I find nature to be the biggest inspiration for a creative person. It is fascinating to just observe how everything interacts with each other and blends perfectly. There is never a misplaced colour in nature.

What is creativity for you? 

For me it is like cooking a dish – first, you get all the ingredients, in this case, the knowledge. Then you boil all the information you have gathered about a certain topic and combine it with your own worldview. After that, you have a unique idea that you can share with the world. I believe that everyone is creative and can be taught to express it. It is important to learn how to look inward and start using the most relevant tools to convey meaningful messages. 

Would you say your personal values complement the company ones? 

The company consists of people whose values and work ethic make it what it is today. I like the passion every colleague puts into their work. We give our all to constantly improve our products and services, offering our clients an exceptional experience. I have been at myPOS for almost a decade, and I have seen the company grow from an idea to a well-known name in the industry and a challenger brand. This would not have been possible without the dedication to be better every day. 

What is it like to be a team leader? What are your non-negotiables for building a strong team? 

Building a strong team is every team member’s responsibility. Personally, I try to listen to my team as much as possible and support even their bravest ideas, so they could come to life in a regulated and corporate setting like the FinTech industry. It is not always easy to carry our vision through, but we often succeed, and at the end it’s a great feeling to present to the world work you are proud of. 

As for non-negotiables, I only have one rule when hiring people, and that is to hire good people. You can teach everything else. 

In your opinion, which is the main ingredient for the success of myPOS? How do you contribute to that success? 

The people in the company are its biggest asset. They push forward and break new grounds every day. My role, as well as my team’s role, is to build the face of myPOS, make it recognizable as a brand, and convey its messages in a powerful way. 

What is something people might not know about myPOS? 

Our summer parties are a blast!