Meet Selvedina Velic | Founder & Executive Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Selvedina Velic and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Selvedina, what’s your definition for success?
Success can look different and have a different meaning for everyone; it’s often attributed to money or status, but I personally define success by correlating it to happiness. When I reach a point after doing something that makes me feel truly happy with the results and impact, that’s how I know I was successful. For a long time growing up, that wasn’t my thought process around it. I used to think that if I got a high paying job or earned a prestigious title, then I’d be successful and this instilled a lot of fear and anxiety in me about not living up to my own expectations for myself. I recently turned 26 and now my relationship with success looks more like waking up everyday and finding fulfillment in how I’m spending my time, what kind of effect I’m having on others, and how I’m feeling inside. I think it’s important to constantly self-reflect and figure out what kinds of things bring you genuine happiness and make you feel content with where you’re at in life – that’s how you know you’re succeeding.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m currently serving as the Executive Director of ImmiGreatness, and previously worked in Sales among a couple of other fields. Getting to where I’m at today professionally wasn’t easy at all. I came to the U.S. at 3 years old not knowing any English and had to assimilate alongside my parents, translating for them at a young age and learning about American customs and society so that I could help them become more familiar with it. Most of my success came from independent learning which involved making a lot of mistakes and asking a lot of questions. This experience isn’t unique to me, it’s the case for most immigrants and first-generation children here which is how ImmiGreatness came about. A big lesson I’ve learned on my journey is how beautiful and powerful connections can be. With 8 billion people in the world, everyone has a story and an experience that can impact someone else in some way. In college, I didn’t put myself out there enough and connect with people, I kind of just did my own thing which was working fine for me at the time. It wasn’t until after college that I started putting more effort into meeting new people and building different networks, which changed my life. Now, I’ve formed relationships with friends and colleagues who help open my mind to trying new things, teach me information I didn’t know, and help me grow personally and professionally. Stepping out of your own comfort zone and just simply talking to people can do wonders for you in moving up professionally. I think what I’m most proud about is starting ImmiGreatness and being able to not only work with people from different backgrounds who share the same drive, but also being able to help young adults who are at the same point in their journeys that we were once at and helping them get further along so they don’t need to figure it out on their own.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There are so many great places I’d want to show them! I’d definitely want to show them the beauty of Lake Michigan and have a fun beach day if it was summertime. I’d want them to experience downtown Grand Rapids and ice skate at the Rosa Parks Circle if it was wintertime or check out some of the festivals down here and walk around the river when the weather’s nicer. While we’re downtown, I’d love for us to be able to catch a game or a concert at Van Andel, play some board games at House Rules, or walk around Bridge Street. I love markets, so I’d also show them the Downtown Market. I’d take them to some of my favorite restaurants to eat – Zivio, Maru, The Winchester, and The Old Goat. We’d do trivia at Stellas and grab some drinks at Condado, Rockwell Republic, and Knoop. Outside of downtown Grand Rapids, I’d take them to East Grand Rapids to walk around the town and eat at some of my favorite spots there: Rose’s and Pera Pizzeria. I’d love to show them around East Town and grab a bagel sandwich from Terra in the morning! If we were going to get some coffee, we’d go to Rowster and The Stray for sure. Grand Rapids is full of so many cool spots and has so many cool things to do. I love to run and play tennis, so if we were going to get active I’d take us to Cascade Park.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to my friends and family. I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by the most amazing (I may be a little biased) support system and as cliche as it sounds, I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be where I’m at in life now if I didn’t have their support and encouragement. I owe so much to my close group of friends, all of the people in my organization who dedicate their time to helping me with our cause, and my family. If my family didn’t make the difficult decision to immigrate to the US, my life could’ve looked entirely different and my friends never fail to affirm me and remind me of who I am when I start to lose sight of that. So shoutout to my friends, my entire organization, my parents, my brothers, and my nephews and nieces who all play a huge part in my story.

Website: www.immigreatness.net

Instagram: @_immigreatness

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/selvedina/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ImmiGreatness/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7lxZenonGrkp1AOWB8IbrQ

Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/40STORk9dFJz1Hg5wk5F7j?si=ebcc1bfb345945f3

Image Credits
Medina Vila Photography