Emotional intelligence in entrepreneurship helps maintain sustainable success. When an entrepreneur is attuned to the perspectives and needs of the people around them, it helps in strengthening business. Prioritizing emotional intelligence also helps build a connection that provides entrepreneurs with the necessary insights for running businesses optimally.
“For any leader, it is vital that they have a higher sense of emotional intelligence – this leads to the better decision-making process for the leader,” believes Andrey Czupiel (Founder and Director at Appliance Technical Institute of Canada). He enunciates that although no amount of mentorship can prepare an entrepreneur to bear the hardships during the journey of entrepreneurship, emotional intelligence can help tap success.
Networking during Shifts
Andrey underwent a challenging time while choosing an academic path. After pursuing alternating academic choices such as Psychology and Nursing Diplomas, he returned to York University to graduate with a Psychology Degree. During every shift of his academic journey, Andrey built close contacts and networks with several people who could potentially help him in the future. He assisted his father Chris Czupiel with his Appliance Servicing business–Toronto Appliances Service–to establish a training center. After researching, he found that the Appliance Technical Institute of Canada was required to register under the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities, to become a Private Career College. “This was a short project which I had every intention of leaving once the doors opened. I am still here and built two more companies because of the college,” mentions Andrey.
Resources to Master the Industry
Established in 2017, Appliance Technical Institute of Canada is reinventing the implementation of training and education for the Appliance Servicing and HVACR industry in North America. Its goal is to provide an exceptional foundation for domestic Appliance Servicing and HVACR by offering an academically rigorous, innovative, and learner-focused culture. The institute provides students with all the resources necessary to master the industry, and its three values are training, innovation, and leadership.
Appliance Technical Institute stands out in the crowd due to the following distinguishing factors:
• The only comprehensive appliance servicing training center in Eastern Canada;
• Offers a 12-week co-op placement for students to gain real-world experience. These co-op placements allow its students to receive employment contracts, which AT Institute boasts a rate of 96% employment post-graduation;
• The only institution which teaches domestic and commercial refrigeration Sealed System Mechanics. Students learn how to complete a full sealed system job, evacuating the refrigerant, changing a compressor, and recharging the system;
• Core sponsors are Whirlpool, LG, and Electrolux / Frigidaire; and
• Has trained students from British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, assisting manufacturers and service companies across Canada with staffing needs.
A Voracious Leader
Being at the helm of the company, Andrey undertakes several roles and responsibilities. He collects and reports on various KPIs for the college and Ministries, and manages registration periods for the students of the School of Applied Technology. Andrey has worked on numerous projects and day-to-day activities that reflected the overall direction and positive strategic growth of the institute. He also ensures that program and third-party associations (accreditations) meet all stakeholder compliances. Moreover, he is also in charge of the Business Development within the local markets through outreach activities, professionally and academically with the college, and the Curriculum Development for School of Applied Technology programs and their administration.
Andrey leads the team of AT—comprised of several highly intelligent individuals. He considers his self-awareness and self-management in a way that evaluates his role and motivations. He quotes, “With self-awareness, I understand that when I am capable to make the decision, but also emotionally competent to understand that it is not I who will make the decision, but instead a colleague more capable in the circumstance.” Moreover, while evaluating his self-management, Andrey evaluates all the components such as self-control, trustworthiness, and many more. The evaluation mechanism earns Andrey the trust of his colleagues and established a consistent record of emotional control and achievement. He has also been nominated as one of the Top 40 Under 40 in Canada in 2021.
Substantiating Emotional Intelligence
Substantiating on emotional intelligence, Andrey asserts that it distinguishes him from his competitors. He states, “It is vital that an entrepreneur can identify the ability branches of emotional intelligence: perceiving, using, understanding, and managing emotions, and use these abilities as a leader.” Harnessing the aspects of emotional intelligence and coupling it with his networking skills has helped him create and build a national training center. He further cultivated those skills and established two more businesses in 2021—Appliance Service Master Class, and Beauty Maison Medical Spa.
Leveraging Opportunities
AT Institute provided appliance servicing and HVAC programs during the pandemic, which contributed to an increase in skilled trades among newly trained technicians. The institute has rapidly grown between 2019 and 2021 and has adopted an online / in-class blended teaching method to ensure it safely serves students.
Moreover, Andrey founded Appliance Service Master Class in 2021 for building an online consulting and training firm to serve service companies and new technicians across Canada and the USA. As a nurse, he sensed the massive trend in increased telehealthcare and private clinics and established Beauty Maison Medical Spa with Hannah Baclit.
Currently, AT Institute offers an Appliance Service Technician program on a full-time and part-time basis. Refrigeration courses and gas technician programs are also provided by the institute. It strives to earn accreditation for International Students in the upcoming years for better serving the entire world.
Anecdotes for Aspirants
Andrey remarks, “The entrepreneurial path is lonely and trying, but giving up is not in our entrepreneurial personality.” As an entrepreneur, the most vital skills and abilities are emotional intelligence and the ability to network. These will only allow leading an organization of any size to success and help create new partnerships for propelling the company to success.
Pearls of Wisdom:
