We Can Learn A Lot From This Woman

Maja Kazazic and Vela Business Solutions help businesses find
profits through improved processes.

By Jay Winchester

These are difficult times for many in our country. The economy is down, foreclosures are high and jobless rates are rising. Be it a recession or a depression, it can be downright depressing...depending on your perspective.

Perspective is something that Maja Kazazic (pronounced My-ya Ka-za-zitch) uses to drive the success of her business, Vela Business Solutions. The company’s mission involves helping businesses identify sources of waste or inefficiency while suggesting affordable solutions eliminating wasted time while increasing productivity. “Ultimately, our aim is  to increase client profitability,” she says. “In this economy, it is critical that a company’s processes and workforce both function at the most efficient level they possibly can.”

Chief among the services that Vela Business Solutions provides are two: One is the Systems and Workforce Analysis (SWA), which includes ROI projections. “Our comprehensive SWA has several components,” Maja says. “First, we'll interview the workforce. We'll even purchase your product or engage your service, putting ourselves in your employees' and customers' shoes. Next is an in-depth review of your workflow processes and systems, which shows how they currently advance, or hinder, your business goals. The result is a customized recommendation on how to maximize your organizational efficiency and a return on investment projection to support that recommendation.”

The second service revolves around custom systems development and implementation. “If a client wants to pursue our recommendations, Vela provides full support for development and implementation of our proposed solution including everything from new workflows to employee training,” says Kazazic. “Our products are famous for ease of use and lack of need to train new employees. This has provided major cost savings for our clients.”

In distinguishing itself from the competition, the two-year-old Palm Harbor company offers clients some additional features and benefits. First, the company takes justifiable pride in pointing out that every Vela solution is custom built. “Every business is unique, and so are many of their challenges,” she says. “Our competitors offer an application, product or system that they have already developed. They try to force fit their clients’ solutions into this generic product while charging ongoing licensing fees and update costs. Clients end up with a solution that may not fit their specific situation, and ongoing overhead costs that represent a liability to their organizations. We provide custom web-based solutions tailored to fit each individual client exactly.”

Another way in which Vela is unique is its intentional approach to turning solutions into client assets, rather than liabilities. Once the company designs and builds a custom solution, it belongs to the client, not Vela. Maja says, “There is a one-time development and implementation cost, and we turn the final product over to the client for ongoing enhancement and development that keeps pace with their organization.  Since we provide web-based applications, they never become obsolete and changes to the systems are easily made.” She points out that Vela’s solutions integrate and communicate easily with existing client systems, regardless of how old or new they may be.

More than any other single thing, what truly makes Vela and Maja Kazazic unique, comes back to that issue of perspective. Perspective is all about how a person’s life experiences help form their view of the world. In this case, if you attach a business filter to that view, you can understand how that person’s perspective gets applied to business matters. Under Maja’s leadership, and working from her personal perspective, Vela Business Solutions is a company driven to be the best in its niche, possessing a gritty determination to succeed regardless of the less-than-perfect circumstances in the current business climate. It is a company built to overcome obstacles.

This stems directly from Maja’s life experience. Born in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina she was 16 years old in 1993 when the war that ripped her country apart became more real to her than ever before. She suffered severe injuries, including the loss of her left leg. Separated from her family and left clinging to her only possession- a t-shirt- she was airlifted first into Croatia, then Germany, and finally into the United States for treatment and care. Confined to her hospital bed for the next year, and undergoing hundreds of surgical and medical procedures, the young woman watched TV to pass the time between procedures, eventually becoming fluent in English.

While these events form a wave of tragedy that might overwhelm the most mature adult, not to mention the sometimes fragile self-esteem of an attractive teenage girl, the young Maja gritted her teeth and set about rebuilding her life. Her initial goal was to be reunited with her family, and after two years of laboring through paperwork and bureaucracy, she was reunited with her father, mother and brother in Maryland in 1995. “It was such a long process to get them to the United States,” she recalls. “The week before they came, I actually took a week off school, I was so nervous and excited. The drive to the airport took only three hours, but it seemed like forever. I saw all three come off the plane at the same time, and couldn’t stop smiling. I was amazed that my little fourteen year old brother had grown so much and his voice had gotten so deep in the two years we’d been apart! I left when he was a boy, and he came off that plane as a young man.  Of course, finally hugging and being hugged by my parents was beyond words. Somehow, we had all come through this terrible time. We took separate paths to be sure, but we ended up together and became a stronger family because of it.”

Her next undertaking was in 1995 when she formed her own company, Eclipse Web Design, focusing on building websites for the medical community. Then came college, putting herself through Saint Francis University. While in college, Maja also had the opportunity to become part of the Center of Excellence for Remote and Medically Under Served Areas (CERMUSA) team. CERMUSA was one of the first telemedicine and tele-education labs in the country, created through a partnership between the U.S. Navy and the federal government. Kazazic was one of five team members selected to build the lab from the ground up.

Finally, in 2000, with her degree in hand and an incredibly diverse technological skill set for someone so young, Maja set off to officially start her corporate career, signing on at UICI, a large insurance broker. Maja had been hired to design their website. It started a lifelong fascination with using technology to improve business results. “In addition to maintaining their website, I ended up managing the information technology for over 70 sales and marketing people,” she recalls.

She learned that, while everyone wants technology, being responsible for developing and delivering it can be stressful. “Every large sale seemed to include a commitment to go outside our normal processes and provide a unique deliverable, everything from a customized enrollment site to a quick turnaround on newly filed products,” says Maja.  “Since we eventually served over 400 clients nationwide, these deliverables became quite a challenge!”

She soon found herself face-to-face with the modern management challenge: getting it all done and still having a life. “That position quickly became unmanageable, and I often found myself working 18 hours a day, 7 days a week,” she says. To solve the problem, she reverted to her knack for finding ways to overcome obstacles. She states, “Almost out of self-defense, and to reduce the time I needed to devote to routine technology support, I began suggesting- and then developing- business systems for several departments to automate and streamline their standard processes and make them run more efficiently.”

Thus was laid the groundwork for Vela Business Solutions. “We just turned the corner on our second year in March,” she says. “I am still thrilled that I am no longer an ‘employee’ but am truly an entrepreneur in control of my own future. I am amazed at how much investment Vela has required, not only in money, but in time and personal commitment. I now work 7 days a week, and love every minute.”

Along the way, she met long-time Tampa Bay entrepreneur and noted philanthropist, Ray Murray. Impressed with Maja’s drive and vision for Vela, he became her mentor. “I am privileged to have Ray Murray as my mentor,” she readily acknowledges. “People that know Ray will appreciate how fortunate I am. He has opened doors and exposed me to the way he lives his life as a philanthropist. Ray’s personal story is amazing and provides a true inspiration for me. As a mentor, Ray concentrates on four areas: mental, physical, spiritual and financial. He makes sure that I am growing in a balanced way, paying attention to all four of these areas.”

Part of her growth in life stems from her commitment to helping others make necessary transitions in life. She is actively involved with several charities and organizations. “Vela gives money to different organizations once a month, such as WEDU, PBS or ASPCA,” she says proudly. “Additionally, once a year we choose a local non-profit organization and provide a project pro bono, whether it’s a new website design or business process reengineering consultation.”

She is also on the board of, and works as a counselor at, Camp No Limits, a camp for amputee children that allows them to play and interact with other amputees of their own age. Maja is a member of the Challenged Athletes Foundation and just completed the Gasparilla 5K run in Tampa to support their mission. Lastly, she is an Amputee Certified Peer Counselor and as such, she visits new amputees to help with their transition into amputee life. As part of this effort, she has built a new website called AmputeeAthletics.com, a website for amputees by amputees.

There is one more activity she’s involved in that has helped her form a unique relationship with people who have lost a key body part. “Once per week I volunteer at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium,” she says. “I was a frequent visitor when their star dolphin Winter was brought in. Winter lost her tail and the Aquarium has been working with Hanger Orthotics and Prosthetics to create a new tail for her. I began volunteering last year, and I feel lucky to watch Winter grow and to contribute my experience as an amputee to the Aquarium. Winter’s connection also led to Hanger O&P becoming my prosthetist of choice, enabling me to have a great quality life and enhancing my love of athletics.”

To say Maja enjoys sports is a little like saying Winter the dolphin enjoys swimming. The young woman immerses herself in activities of all kinds. “When I need to stop the ball rolling, I play 18 holes of golf by myself,” she says. “The fresh air, the beauty of the surroundings helps me focus on what I need to do, to regroup. When I need to let frustration out, I play tennis. I burn a lot of energy, get those endorphins going and I always feel refreshed afterwards.” Like Winter, Maja is drawn to the sea. “I love the water and always have since my childhood vacations on the Adriatic. I’ve always wanted to buy a boat and spend time on the water, and I’m working to get there. In the interim, I appease my love of the water with windsurfing and kayaking whenever I have the time.”

Time. It’s a commodity that, in her life and in her work for her clients, Maja has learned not to waste. She believes in making every second count. “I believe that the universe strives for balance: things happen for a reason, and when I am presented with a problem, I look for the opportunity that the problem may present,” she says, confidently. “This is really how my clients benefit from my work with them; I know there is a solution to every problem, and I am confident that I can find and implement that solution.

Having faced mortality at such a young age, Maja Kazazic has developed an appreciation for the small things that most people take for granted. “This has allowed me to enjoy life much more than I would have if I had not literally been through a war and seen how tenuous life can be.”  You see? Success in life, as in business, is all a matter of perspective.