Challenges Come, and You Must Be Ready Not to Waste Them

Cover interview for Madam Business magazine, February 2026, with poems accompanying it.

Interview for Madam Business, February 2026

DECOLED has almost thirty successful years behind it. Do you have the time and the inclination to look back now and then?

Time does not allow me to stop. "He who stood still a moment ago now stands aside" – time usually overtakes us as well, even though we must of course plan and live a little ahead of ourselves. The past influences the present with every decision, and in that sense I have learned that challenges come, and that one must always be ready to hear their call and not waste them. It is not some sort of stocktaking, but rather a belief that when something is done with an open heart and mind, it has a chance – although in truth there is no other way. Again and again.

What is beautiful about success?

But what actually is success? For me it is mostly joy, or rather a lasting sense of satisfaction with what one does. And that is fickle, usually paid for with everyday routine and order, discipline and often so-called deferred gratification, so it has two sides, a front and a back; even joy does not come alone. But I admit that the most pleasant thing is probably hard-won trust in the next steps – a kind of inner support for further courage and for perspective on things.

And what, on the contrary, is the most difficult part of running a business?

Running a business is a decision to take responsibility for yourself and for others, every day of the year. The relative freedom of decision-making is very strictly determined by all the demands of the company. Unfortunately, the growth of a company also brings a certain independent life of its own, apart from us, and that is where the demands are probably heaviest. Development is also affected by all sorts of objective problems in domestic and foreign politics. A certain degree of unpredictability, and not very great support for small and medium-sized businesses, sometimes puts us at a disadvantage compared with foreign companies.

You are still a family company with Czech capital. What are the advantages?

We would like to remain independent. Although we are aware that this path may be slower, we hope that precisely because of this independence we can determine the shape of the company's future ourselves. It is of course more demanding, but we believe in ourselves.

Reaching a turnover of 290 million crowns a year in the field of Christmas and festive lighting is an admirable result. What influenced it last year in the best sense of the word?

We grow by roughly 30 % every year, but unfortunately the growth in profit does not keep pace with the growth in turnover – a logical consequence of the company's expansion. We are also changing segments, gradually turning more attention abroad and developing light exhibitions in Europe on a larger scale. What pleases me most, in fact, is that there is growing interest in exhibitions with an element of interactivity and education. For example, Žluté lázně (the Yellow Baths) in Prague surpassed its first year in the number of visitors and drew considerable attention in Prague among our competitors.

Have you also had to turn down or postpone any commission?

Unfortunately, for capacity reasons we have postponed some projects and have to decline others, because our business also depends on the factor of time – Christmas falls on the same day everywhere in the world.

You have countless projects behind you. The latest relates to the Krkonoše Treetop Walkway, which has been transformed into a unique light scene called Light Winter Games. What makes it unique, and what is it meant to say?

We have decorated treetop walkways several times already, but this time they are unique in a certain connection between interactively following the Olympic Games and visiting the winter games in the Krkonoše, where visitors can learn about the history of Czech sport on an educational trail, test their knowledge in a quiz and experience the wonderful atmosphere of nature and the view into places that tell it all together in a captivating synergy with our lights.

So you have in fact told the story of a place and prepared an extraordinary experience for visitors. What was the most difficult part of such a project?

Everything has its development. At the beginning we worked with our colleagues, the mountain people, to clarify things, which was a pleasant collaboration; then production began, and by the time of installation real winter had arrived – and all of that shapes the atmosphere of the whole undertaking.

Who is the author of all this light magic? Your team or an external designer?

It definitely all comes from our creative team. The idea and the theme are often something I bring, based on my sense of what a given place needs, and together with my colleagues we develop it further. That is the most interesting part for me. Then we look for the form of its technical realisation and so on.

Will you also be preparing any light installations for warm summer evenings?

This year, after some time, we are going to exhibit in Frankfurt at Christmasworld, where we would like to present our intention. We increasingly want to enter public space independently of the season, and with a more artistic treatment. Incidentally, we lend our universe to observatories and towns, so such a form already exists and perhaps others are being born. Our lighting also accompanies summer festivals, concerts and similar events.

You surely already have orders for the end of this year, so what are you getting ready for now?

We are preparing an expansion of our exhibitions not only in the Czech Republic but also in Europe. We are already producing new exhibitions for Prague, Brno, Ostrava and elsewhere, and of course we are expanding our technological possibilities and further processing. At the moment we are also preparing Valentine's Day and Easter decorations.

You are also active in Slovakia, Germany, France and Hungary. What ideas of local customers do you fulfil? Do they differ in any way from the requirements of Czechs?

I think that last year I got to know first-hand the different perceptions of our exhibitions, and of how they are presented, when I travelled around and opened exhibitions – for instance within a single week from Sereď to Zurich. A different mentality, cultural patterns and ideas of design and aesthetics are certainly reflected in everything. On the other hand, I am glad that people everywhere generally appreciate an idea, a story, playfulness, elegance and style.

What are your plans for the future?

We would like to extend our reach to other countries and possibly other continents, but above all we would like to develop our exhibitions and the way we enter public space. I would like our light exhibitions to contribute to a kind of enlightenment. It is lovely to see visitors studying the captions, testing their knowledge and sharing it all together in a kind of joy at shared experiences.

Poems accompanying the interview, February 2026

The echo of the forest
we brought in our palms
into the silence of the night
words set dancing
fell
into temporality
and a little more timid
with the joy of that tiding
we waited
for the chime
…

frost paints a smile
into your tenderness
from somewhere far away laughter rings
behind closed doors
snow dances
and inside
you

Epiphany

they go through the landscape
in the memory of our
guilt and quieter
they carry gifts
for forgiveness
in their hearts
into joy
they invoke mercy
all three

Christmas

and there is a little of the child in us,
snow crunches underfoot,
frost creeps into our pockets,
from somewhere we wait to be called,
as our mother used to call us
back home
the first lamp in the street lights up
before the evening bell
and by now we are humble
with the fear of being heard
and the trembling
in the heart
that he should see us at our little gate,
he who is yet to be born,
he who will become human,
that he might become
love
…

Into your hands a blessing
smaller than a breath
you lay
for new hearing
We dig deep
In the time of the deepening
To keep it for ourselves
…

Darkness sits down outside the windows
As it draws the day to a close
Hope with coloured tickets
Tousled by November
and the air trembles
with that small moment
into joy
that may be bound

Remembrance

with a second of silence
I halve the day
flaxen as linen
with the scent of lavender
everything
that is
by what
used to be
and once again
will be

Published in: Madam Business, February 2026.