Travelling the world is a dream of many of us and Marek Wiliams, who you know here as Operation Manager in the Public Focus team, made this dream come true thanks to figure skating. You can read about how figure skating came into his life and what it has brought him in the next few lines.
17. August 2023
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Reading time: 4 min.
CANCOM Slovakia: Marek, try to tell us briefly something about yourself. How did you get into CANCOM?
I joined CANCOM among the first 50-60 employees, in April 2020 as HR Manager. Coincidentally, that was just the beginning of that turbulent period when all the restrictions started and our office closed. As my main role was to work with people, which was not quite possible at the time, after about three months I moved to the position of Service Desk Manager. From there I then moved to my current position as Operations Manager.
CANCOM Slovakia: What we’ve found out about you Marek is that before you got into the IT world, you were a figure skater for a living. Are our confidential sources lying to us?
Yes, figure skating has been a big part of my life since I started doing it at the age of 4. Of course the first impulse came from my mom, then I started to do well and all the coaches motivated me to keep doing this sport.
It was a very difficult time, I have to say. Even as a child I realised that some results were required from me, whether on the ice or at school. I didn’t have a lot of free time, as we regularly worked in two- or three-phase practices every day. Especially before competitions, we always had three-phase practices. Plus we also had gymnastics and ballet classes for proper posture. And during the summer, when there was no more ice, we used to have so-called dry workouts, where we mainly trained fitness. That’s the kind of toll you have to pay if you really want to give it your all.
CANCOM Slovakia: How many years have you been figure skating?
About 30 years. First as an amateur and then when I came back from the war, which was still compulsory at that time, I started to do it professionally and I started to make a living out of it. Around 1990-1991, when it was possible to travel to more western countries, I went to Hausberg, Germany, where they did the entrance exams, which then allowed me to work for Holiday on Ice.
CANCOM Slovakia: What were your beginnings as a professional?
At that time there were 5 divisions. I joined one of them and we immediately embarked on a year-long tour of South, Central and North America. The shows we did were more of a cabaret/Frank Sinatra theme. The whole show was actually a 2 hour show where we had about 15 guys and 24 girls taking turns on the ice. In between that, of course, we also went to change, and that was sometimes even more challenging than the actual performance (laughs), as everyone had calculated exactly how much time they could spend changing in order to make their entrance. Our show director then filmed the whole performance and if there were mistakes, which were often repeated, they were subsequently fined. And if those mistakes were repeated more often, that person was then replaced with someone else.
CANCOM Slovakia: This job must have brought you a lot of travel experiences as well.
I have travelled to about 90 countries in 10 years of professional skating. It was a very interesting period.
CANCOM Slovakia: What’s the most exotic country you’ve been to because of figure skating?
Fu, it’s very hard to choose, but for example Honduraz or Venezuela are countries I wouldn’t go to just by myself. In every country we arrived we had a dedicated person who took care of us and prepared different attractions for us. For example, in Costa Rica we went river rafting in the rainforest, in Egypt we lived in Cairo for about 3 months and they only allowed us to enter and opened the Cheops pyramid. But the top country for me was Costa Rica, which I mentioned earlier. Another country that has stuck in my mind is South Africa. There we managed to go all the way to the south of Africa to the city of Cape Town, where you can see the two oceans, the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, flowing into each other.
CANCOM Slovakia: So if someone wants to travel a lot, all they have to do is become a figure skater. How does one get there? When is the ideal age to start?
As with any sport, if you want to do it professionally, you really have to start from an early age, so that you can not only do it physically, but you can also adjust yourself mentally. It’s really hard work and one has to sacrifice a big part of one’s life to this.
CANCOM Slovakia: What this experience bring to your life?
Definitely discipline, independence and gaining such a different perspective on the world. Because we traveled so much, we spent weeks or even months in some countries afterwards. You make new friends and get to know the country in a completely different way than a normal tourist who comes there for a holiday. I even got to know my current wife through skating.
CANCOM Slovakia: Why did you decide to stop skating then?
The retirement age is very low in this business and when you are around 30-35 years old, you are really at the peak of your career. If you don’t leave on your own, they will subtly ask you to look for another job. That’s when my wife and I decided to quit our jobs and we moved to her hometown in the UK, Sheffield. We lived in England until about 2012, but then my wife suggested that we move to Slovakia, to my hometown. Since then we have been living together here in Košice.
CANCOM Slovakia: Do you do any recreational skating now?
Not at all. I literally hung up my skates and since I stopped doing it professionally I haven’t been on skates at all. However, my hobby has changed from figure skating to archaeology, ancient history and also space exploration, which I practice with my home telescope.
When work is also your hobby, it can turn out like this. Marek has been a figure skater for most of his life and has been doing it on a professional level for 10 years. During this period he managed to travel to more than 90 countries and met a lot of interesting people. One of them was his wife, with whom he decided to end his career together. Since then, Marek has moved into the IT world and has included books on history and space among his hobbies.
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