Don’t Be Afraid of Responsibility. It Came Sooner Than I Expected at Adastra, Says Ema Hrubešová

Ema joined Adastra only in September 2024, yet since January she has already been working on a major international project for Škoda Auto. In this short pre-Christmas interview, she talks about how her bachelor’s thesis led her to Adastra, what it’s like to be involved in the rebranding of hundreds of dealerships in Germany, and why she sees early responsibility as one of the greatest opportunities at the start of her professional career.

Through my bachelor’s thesis. I presented it at an international student conference held that year at Škoda Auto University. One of the evaluators was Tomáš Soudský (former Business Development Manager for Automotive at Adastra, editor’s note), who approached me after my presentation and asked whether I would be interested in joining Adastra. I was—and I started in September last year.

I’m still a student—I’m finishing my master’s thesis and my final exams are coming up. Since the beginning of my university studies, I’ve completed internships at Škoda Auto and Volkswagen, where I worked in the parts distribution center and later in series logistics. It was somewhat different from what I do at Adastra, but I had the chance to work on projects and learn a lot.

The biggest difference was the approach to interns. At Škoda Auto, I spent four years as an intern, and responsibility was very limited. Here, I joined and within a short time I was allocated to a large international project.

Since January 2025, I’ve been working on the rebranding of Škoda Auto’s distribution network. Škoda has had a new corporate identity—colors, logo, visual style—for several years now, and dealerships around the world are gradually adapting to this new look.

Together with Honza Týřl, we are responsible for the German market as rollout managers. Germany is a key market for Škoda, accounting for roughly 20% of its global market. Our task is to ensure that the entire rebranding is completed within two years.

The challenging one. In Germany alone, we’re dealing with a total of 437 dealerships and over 800 service centers. The issue was that at the beginning of 2024, the entire German team changed and the processes were not well established. In the first months, only two dealerships were rebranded; today we’re at around sixty, which is still relatively few considering what lies ahead—around 360 locations.

There are a huge number of stakeholders involved: three signage suppliers, technicians, architects, dealers, and the importer. The project also includes multiple milestones—dealer supplier selection, site surveys at each individual dealership, preparation of project documentation approved by Škoda Auto in the Czech Republic, and architectural assessment of each site.

Fortunately, the process is now in place. We track milestones, communicate weekly with suppliers and the importer, and try to block production slots, which are limited across the entire market. It’s slow and demanding, but it finally has a clear structure. The project is scheduled to be completed in December 2026, so I believe we’ll make it in the end.

I’m very lucky when it comes to leadership on this project. Honza gives me both freedom and responsibility, and everything came very naturally—I didn’t have to fight for anything. I’m genuinely grateful for that.

Overall, the team is quite young, and once you show that you have an overview and the necessary know-how, people respect you. I never felt like I had to earn that respect in a complicated way.

Don’t be afraid of responsibility. People often fear it more than necessary—but when it comes, it’s an incredible opportunity to grow. And step outside your comfort zone, because that’s where a lot of interesting opportunities come from. I’ve been at Adastra for a relatively short time, but I can honestly say I’m really enthusiastic—about both the people and the environment.

Honestly, not entirely yet. I study logistics, and I enjoy projects that are as diverse as this one—I wouldn’t mind a project directly related to my field of study, but I’m also open to projects at the intersection of marketing, branding, and project management. On the other hand, programming definitely isn’t for me. I like seeing a tangible result of my work—something concrete. That’s also why I enjoy traveling to Germany for business about once a month and seeing how things look in reality.

At the beginning of the year, my main priority is school—I need to submit my master’s thesis, and my final exams are in February.

I’m also planning several scouting activities. Unfortunately, I no longer have time to lead my troop on a weekly basis, but I still enjoy organizing weekend events. In March, I’ll be helping organize a group competition for around 60 children. It’s essentially a project where I have to take care of everything—from registrations, accommodation, and shopping, to designing the program, cooking for everyone, and occasionally treating a scraped knee. But we have an amazing team of leaders, so it feels less like work and more like a joy.

At the same time, I’ll also be preparing for the new Formula Student season. Until last year, I was responsible for the business plan, and I enjoy being able to connect things from school and work in a completely different context. As a team, we’ll be developing a new product linked to something we’re building ourselves (most likely related to the autonomous part of the formula car) and preparing a business plan presentation, which we’ll later present at competitions.