Guiding the Conversation
How We Helped Mendola Group Bring Clarity, Dialogue, and Governance Across Generations
Some families build companies.
The Mendola Group built an ecosystem.
A €50 million enterprise made up of 10 companies, Mendola is one of Romania’s most impressive and enduring business groups — a family-led organization where every member contributes vision, discipline, and heart.
At the center of it all stands Mrs. Szekely Zsuzsa — the founder and matriarch.
She is an extraordinary woman: sharp, determined, endlessly active, and capable of building an empire with her bare hands.
Her two daughters, Ágnes and Zsuzsa, lead companies of their own within the group:
Ágnes Gundish, CEO of Nobila Casa, a €7 million interior retail brand, and
Zsuzsa, CEO of La Majole, a successful second-hand retail chain.
Ágnes’s husband, Zoltán, serves as CEO of the entire Mendola Group and drives the creative engine behind Deco Days, Romania’s most significant interior design event.
It’s easy to admire this family — their intelligence, elegance, kindness, and the way they constantly reinvest in the communities they belong to.
From Nobila Casa to the Entire Group
Our collaboration began with Ágnes, through the Nobila Casa project — a journey that lasted two years and transformed the company’s focus, language, and growth trajectory.
Over time, trust built naturally, and eventually Mrs. Szekely reached out with a new challenge:
“We need to see the full picture — clearly and easily.”
She wanted financial transparency across all companies — something that would help every family member understand how each business contributed to the whole.
That’s how our next chapter began.
Building Financial Clarity
Together with the family, we began to design financial dashboards — elegant, easy-to-read overviews that made complexity manageable.
Numbers alone weren’t the goal; understanding was.
Because when information is visible and structured, communication becomes easier, and decisions become calmer.
We started guiding the family board sessions, bringing in an outside perspective with knowledge, neutrality, and care.
And what became clear very quickly is this:
It’s easier for a family to talk when someone else is guiding the dialogue — not taking sides, not defending history, but helping everyone move forward.
Thinking in Three Systems
One of the most powerful shifts came from introducing system thinking — the idea that in a family business, Family, Wealth, and Business are inseparable.
When something changes in one system — a leadership transition, a new investment, a personal milestone — the other two are affected as well.
Understanding this connection changes everything.
It brings patience, empathy, and foresight.
Guiding a family board is not only about financials or structure.
It’s about listening — to what is said and what is not said.
It’s about noticing when silence hides disagreement, when words hide worry, and when a shift in tone means a shift in power.
This is where family governance meets family dynamics.
Why We Love This Project
This collaboration has been one of the most meaningful experiences of our work.
We are honored to serve a family that leads with integrity, care, and respect — for each other, for their employees, and for their community.
Our next step together will be to revisit and update the Family Constitution — the foundational document written seven years ago.
Because the family has grown, matured, and changed — and their governance framework must grow with them.
This process will bring the family together again to redefine principles, roles, and rules — not to constrain love, but to protect it.
What Others Can Learn
Every transformation starts with a dialogue.
And sometimes, that is the hardest part.
Because just as love doesn’t always mean understanding, unity doesn’t always mean agreement.
But with clarity, structure, and the courage to talk — even the most complex family systems can find their harmony again.
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