Today we’re turning the clock back to December 5, the day Gabriel Soldanescu’s story at Banca Transilvania began. On December 5, 2016, Gabi decided to join the BT family, just as it was growing. That was also when BT Mic was born, and the timing — together with his ambition — made him a perfect fit for the new role!

So Gabi became one of the #OameniidelaBanca we’re fond of and who, without a doubt, helped make BT Mic anything but small. Calm and extremely organized, nothing escapes his eye. His relationship with banking has been woven over time, starting in 2006, when he worked in corporate lending at another bank. He is now a regional manager and says he still hasn’t met a boring day. Why? Because he gets to meet new people and see new places all the time. He spends much of his time on the road, at his “mobile office” (a.k.a. the car), as he jokingly calls it. “It’s where the magic happens. I can pull over, take out my laptop, set it on the hood and tick off a few things on the go.”

For him, advice and guidance are what #humanbanking is all about. “First and foremost, you have to love what you do.” And that’s him to a tee: with a dash of humor and contagious ambition, he helps entrepreneurs across no fewer than 8 counties in Moldavia and Bukovina get all kinds of businesses off the ground.

Being organized, it’s no surprise time is always on his side, so in the afternoons he heads home to his wife and their two wonderful boys. He met his wife, Iulia, 17 years ago. He was a student in Timisoara and used to come home for the summer to work at a restaurant in his hometown, Suceava — where he ended up staying, for a reason that’s easy to guess: Iulia.

There, through her brother, who was a colleague of his, he plucked up the courage to ask her to the disco. Gabi knew from the start he couldn’t go wrong. “Saying I charmed her is an understatement! I always have the right words.” If we asked her, we’re sure Iulia would say the same about him. The proof? Matei, aged 8, and Mihnea, aged 4, who turned their marriage into the perfect family.

Weekends are reserved strictly for family time: trips to the mountains in beautiful Bukovina, football matches and men’s handball games. Sport runs in the Soldanescu family’s veins: Gabi makes time to play football at least twice a week, and his brother plays handball at CSM Bacau. Wednesday is the day he hits the pitch alongside his colleagues from BT. His talents go beyond the football field and into the kitchen: “I cook very often — and very well. At least that’s what my family and friends tell me.” We’ll take their word for it!

Our Gabi has another asset too: an infectious sense of humor that can’t help but make those around him at least crack a smile. He also jokes that he’s a fairly imposing presence: “All I’m missing is a few tattoos.” Behind the humor, he says the most important thing in life is to enjoy what the present has to offer. The rest will always fall into place.

Dear Gabi, tattoos or not, we’re glad you chose BT to be the stage where your charm, optimism and determination can prove contagious across the whole country! ❤

P.S.: Thank you for being the salt and pepper we need every day!

Photo credit: Gina Stef