“I graduated into chaos,” says Sanja Popović Pantić, President of the Association of Businesswomen in Serbia and head of the female entrepreneurship group at Enterprise Europe Network, in the latest episode of Emerging Europe Talks She’s Next, empowered by Visa.
Sanja came of age during Serbia’s hyperinflation in the 1990s—when your salary could become worthless within an hour. “I studied economics, but nothing in the textbooks matched reality.” While many of her peers emigrated, she stayed—and started building.
She now leads research at the Mihajlo Pupin Institute, one of Serbia’s top centres for science and technology. But her deeper purpose emerged through supporting women entrepreneurs. “I hadn’t even heard of ‘women’s entrepreneurship’ until a conference in Washington opened my eyes.”
Back home, she co-founded the Association of Businesswomen in Serbia—during wartime. At one early workshop, displaced women shared their stories. “They’d lost everything—but were still determined to build something. That day, I decided: don’t leave—help.”
Over the past two decades, Sanja has helped reshape the landscape for women in business, including launching Success Flower, a national award recognising exceptional women entrepreneurs. “Many winners cry on stage—they never saw themselves as extraordinary until others told them.”
Despite progress, challenges remain. Traditional inheritance practices still block rural women from owning land. Young female founders are doubted twice—for their age and their gender. “It still takes women nearly a decade to earn the trust men gain in three.”
Yet Sanja believes women bring vital strengths to leadership. “We think beyond profit. That’s not a flaw—it’s long-term strategy.”
“Sanja’s story blends resilience and clarity,” says podcast host Andrew Wrobel. “She proves that reinvention starts not with power—but with purpose.”
Asked what she dreams of today, Sanja smiles: “To stay young in spirit. And to keep believing that goodness wins—even when the world says otherwise.”