RSM RO X TheAlternativeSchool Spotlight Romanian Women
RSM Romania has partnered with #TheAlternativeSchool to launch a new initiative celebrating Romanian female talent in the creative industries. Through a series of exclusive interviews on the school’s news platform and Instagram takeovers on #The AlternativeSchool’s official profile, the project will amplify women’s voices, perspectives, and journeys in shaping tomorrow’s creative landscape.
WeInvent, a long-standing partner and supporter of #TheAlternativeSchool, will further strengthen the project’s impact by sharing the interviews with its highly curated community of business leaders across marketing, advertising, communication, and innovation.
For over 20 years, #TheAlternativeSchool has championed creative education, nurturing young professionals and empowering them to thrive on international stages. The launch of the Young Ladies interview series adds a fresh editorial layer to its ecosystem, designed to bring stories, insights, and thought leadership closer to a global audience.
As a leading provider of audit, tax, and consulting services, RSM Romania shares this commitment to growth and inclusion, with a special focus on highlighting female contributions to the complex creative landscape.
"Our company knows from experience that when women are empowered to lead, organizations thrive — each of our departments is led by extraordinary women who began their careers with us decades ago and have grown into accomplished leaders. Their vision, resilience, and innovative perspectives have shaped our culture and driven our long-term success. Investing in initiatives that empower and promote women is not only the right thing to do, it is fundamental to innovation and sustainable growth in an increasingly complex world." said Dan Schwartz, Managing Partner, RSM Romania.
“Creativity is at its best when it reflects diversity. This project is about giving promising voices a stage—and making them heard where it matters most - in a time when shedding light on their evolution can accelerate their growth and help materialize their full potential.” said Teodora Migdalovici, founder of #TheAlternativeSchool.
This is not Migdalovici’s first initiative in empowering female voices. Over the past 15 years, she has consistently championed platforms such as Chapeau, Madame—created to amplify the authentic voice of businesswomen while promoting Romanian design—and LadiesFirst, a series that helped place Romania on the Cannes Lions “See It Be It” map while expanding visibility for female talent across industries, including editions in Egypt and Turkey.
Continuing this legacy, a new platform, #YoungLady, dedicated to mapping the Romanian creative ecosystem with a special focus on female talent under 35, will launch this fall, with Ursus as Platinum Partner.
With over 900 offices in 120 countries worldwide, RSM is one of the world’s largest networks for audit, tax, and consulting services. The firm works closely with its clients, striving to fully understand the particularities of their business, strategies, and aspirations for the future. It provides local expertise every day, strengthened by the global experience of its network of professionals. With in-depth knowledge of its clients’ businesses, RSM addresses specific needs, identifies future challenges, and helps uncover new opportunities for growth.
We spoke with Iulia to get a taste of her creative world, as we’ve been savoring her incredible drawings with both delight and a touch of nostalgia. Her work feels like a diary written in colors and lines, where everyday emotions are transformed into mouthwatering playful stories. Watching her illustrations is like revisiting childhood memories, yet with a deliciously fresh, witty twist. Enjoy discovering her universe as much as we did.
1. WHAT WOULD MAKE YOUR SOUL SING? WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
Creating art I am proud of and seeing people enjoy it. It’s the best feeling in the world, and it’s addictive. Also, the sea, the people around me, summer, good food, and long trips.
2. A CHILDHOOD STORY THAT ANNOUNCED THE CREATIVE PERSON YOU ARE TODAY
I was always a dramatic child. I once colored one entire kitchen wall while my parents were in the other room. While confronted, I said that drawing makes me feel better. What could you even respond to that?
3. BEST CONTEXT EVER FOR INSPIRATION WAS
Getting my heart broken, and falling in love.
4. THE PROJECT YOU LOVED MOST
My playing cards “Joc de Carti sau Carti de joc” (/“Playing cards or Cards playing”). It was my bachelor’s project, so I was fresh out of the uni assignments “chains”. Meaning it was the first big project I made that came 100% from me. It was like it finally came, the moment I was studying for all these years: being able to put something out in the world that is mine, like “here it is, here is what I can do”. It still holds a special place in my heart to this day, and it always will.
5. THE PROJECT OTHERS LOVED MOST
“Jurnal Culinar” (“Culinary diary”) is a very personal project that resonates with a lot of people. It combines illustrations of food with “recipes” that are actually journal entries. I love watching people interact with my art, reading what I wrote, and reacting to it. My favorite part is watching someone at an art fair get a postcard from me, and gifting it to their significant other, and seeing how they both react. It’s probably one of the best feelings in the world, the fact that my work can be a part of their love language.
6. THE BEST THING ABOUT ROMANIAN CREATIVITY IS
I think what makes Romanian creativity special is the fact that it’s a mix of raw authenticity and adaptability. I think Romanians draw a lot of inspiration from unfiltered experiences, both bittersweet and humorous at the same time. The adaptability comes from being able to “make something out of nothing”: small budgets often lead to inventive and unconventional solutions.
7. BEST STATEMENT OF ROMANIAN HUMOR
“Bine și așa rău”. It’s a bit self-deprecating, a bit self-aware, yet very resilient, just everything Romanian.
8. ADVICE FOR INTERNATIONAL HEADHUNTERS, RELATED TO ROMANIAN CREATIVES
Don’t underestimate us, and don’t expect us to work for free. Our work is valuable and takes time, effort and soul. Also, just keep looking around, because there are so many unknown artists in Romania who deserve international recognition.
9. BEST PLACE IN BUCHAREST
Any specialty coffee shop where I can sit (uncomfortably, probably, let’s be real) on a tiny chair placed on the sidewalk and just people watch, sipping coffee which later turns into a cocktail. Start with places such as OTOTO, Sloane, Barton or Origo.
10. BEST PLACE IN YOUR COUNTRY
For me, the best place in the country is Cluj. Maybe it’s personal attachment due to past experiences, maybe it’s actually a great city, who knows. I just know I love it. Shame it’s not doing as great as it should regarding the art scene.
11. MOST DISTURBING CLICHÉ ABOUT ROMANIA, IN THE MEDIA OUTLETS OF THE WORLD IS
A cliche I hate is the one that depicts us as helpless, clueless, and insignificant. Which is so far from the truth, because in the last few years since the revolution, Romania has made huge, incredibly fast progress.
12. ROMANIA SHOULD BE KNOWN FOR
The talented people it has, the beautiful places that it hides, and the resilience that characterises each one of us! We treat everything with some sort of humor, so we’re stronger than we seem.
13. YOUR VIEWS ON SPIRITUALITY
I think I’m one of the least spiritual people in any room I walk into. I’m a weird mix: artist, yet extremely rational. However, I think that our purpose in life is community, and to create things with our hands. I think that moment of creation is the closest we’ll come to God.
14. YOUR VIEWS ON MONEY
Money is made to be spent, but wisely: I hate overconsumption such as the one SHEIN encourages.
15. AN INSPIRATION SOURCE YOU RECOMMEND FOR A YOUNG CREATIVE
Just surrounding yourself with creative people is a source of inspiration in itself. This is something I miss about being a student: spending my days in creative spaces, immersed in a community of creative minds. Of course, I still do this now, but a bit less. There are art fairs—fantastic sources of inspiration—there are museums (visit one in every city you travel to), art-related events, and creative people everywhere. And don’t forget to watch films, listen to music, read books, and daydream.
BIO:
Currently a master’s student in the Graphics Department at the National University of Arts in Bucharest, Iulia Verzan is a young illustrator who has captivated audiences on insta, with her playful series celebrating the deliciousness of food, cards or just everyday objects tied to familiar brands (Ojo, Andy-). Her posts mix nostalgia, tongue-in-cheek humor, wit, and joy. Blending illustration with text, her work is drawing inspiration from everyday experiences and emotions, rendered in a playful, lighthearted way.
The article is part of the #YoungLadies series, recommended by RSM, empowered by Ursus.
Gia Energia: From Miami, with Love
Gia (@giaenergia) is a multidisciplinary storyteller & social impact creative director based in Miami. After penning award-winning speeches, essays, plays, and poetry growing up in the U.S. & Eastern Europe, Gia graduated Valedictorian in Culture Journalism and pursued a career in storytelling across mediums. Over the years, she has woven narratives at the intersection of music and social issues for the likes of SPIN Magazine and the award-winning The Calvert Journal (now New East Archive), published contemporary Young Adult fiction for Scribd (now Everand), and led creative marketing efforts for @porc_a_porter, the biggest streetwear brand in Romania. Today, she amplifies the work of extraordinary young people addressing our planet’s greatest challenges as the Chief Storyteller & Creative Director of @nilerodgers’ @wearefamilyfdtn, while experimenting with electronic music subgenre fusions, most recently under the character @sailormanic.
We sat down with Gia to explore what it truly means to navigate life as a Romanian multidisciplinary artist working abroad, how adapting to a new cultural landscape shapes one’s artistic identity, the challenges and opportunities that come with it, and whether the surrounding environment becomes a source of inspiration or a silent influence.
This is Gia, aka Energia, aka fuck creative block, aka Sailor manic, recently, coming to you live from beautiful, sunny Miami, at one of the coolest places in the city, H Gap Studios, my second home, is a wonderful creative space, very aligned with the alternative school.
1. WHAT WOULD MAKE YOUR SOUL SING? WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
I just love creating safe spaces for people to tell their stories, a childhood story for the creative person I am today, a collection of people whom I intersected with at key points during my childhood, who shaped the creative person I am today. Ms Specht, my fifth-grade teacher, who saw that writer potential in me, believed in me, gave me all the resources to point me in that direction. Mr. Kao, Miss Constanza, in the sixth grade, diriga my teacher from high school. Rest in peace. She lost the battle to cancer back in Romania, still adapting as this, like half half-American, half-Romanian person didn't belong in one place or another. She believed in me to the point where she would be on chemotherapy, and she would travel with me to international contests for performing in English or for debates or speeches, and she would be there every step of the way.
2. A CHILDHOOD STORY THAT ANNOUNCED THE CREATIVE PERSON YOU ARE TODAY
Instead of a childhood story for the creative person I am today, I would shout out all the educators that I was so privileged to have along the way. A lot of you watching, whether you are currently students with the alternative school or you will be some of these mentors and educators await for you as well. Trust that one conversation, one person, one teacher, someone you look up to, who believes in you, that's all you need.
3. BEST CONTEXT EVER FOR INSPIRATION WAS
Man, the best context for inspiration I can give you is my inside tea for how I do things like synesthesia, full sensory writing. When I sit down to write like a freestyle, like a short story, let's say I'm that bitch. We'll do it on our typewriter, because we romanticize analog tools. I got my 1940s Underwood typewriter, preferred by greats including Ernest Hemingway, Charles Bukowski, et cetera, et cetera. I love writing on my typewriter, so that's the first contextual thing that helps me personally. It allows you to make mistakes, because on a typewriter, there's no delete button. If you fuck up, you X over it, and that's part of the beauty. I almost don't like it when I have a fully clean typewriter page, because it doesn't seem real. The creative process is messy. No matter what art form you practice, using analog tools, like typewriters, will help you embrace mistakes that are all part of the beautiful, chaotic mess that is creating. Right? In addition to that, I'm very particular with the lights I choose when I'm in a creative space; the pink was chosen intentionally. I have this character, Sailor Manic, which is a music alias that I'm exploring now for some projects. She's very pink, right? Whatever makes you feel that you can get into a creative space. Lighting can be part of that. If you are working on a project that's a little bit more introspective, but on a blue light, if you're working on like an intimate story, go for a rat. Also, create mood boards for my characters. Visual mood boards on Pinterest, but also audio mood boards on a Spotify playlist. Just for a character, you're at The Alternative School, you're doing your homework. Create a playlist that goes with your campaign. Even if you're a copywriter, do a mood board. Can't go wrong with full sensory creation. That's when authentic emotions come out. Create your own context.
4. THE PROJECT YOU LOVED MOST
There's a little bit of context needed for this. Outside of my work with Creative Block, Gia, with music, with all the passion projects, I'm very, very blessed to be the Creative Director for We Are Family Foundation, which is an incredible nonprofit that works with the world's brightest young minds who are finding creative solutions to our planet's biggest challenges. This is important for context, because the project that I love the most out of my whole career is one that we recently did to announce our 2025 cohort of global teen leaders. A video announcement. Check out @wearefamilyfdt on Instagram, you'll find a pin there. These are some of the humans I love and look up to the most. They're 15, but I want to be them when I grow up.
5. THE PROJECT OTHERS LOVED MOST
A lot of people kind of got to know me a little bit better through rap music, right? I did it for, Lord knows, over 10 years, we did, like concerts and stuff, collaborations, Energia on the rap side, as a project in and of itself, that's what people know me for the most. We're past that era. If anything, I'm exploring techno now, electronic music with a lot of Miami influences, like Pera or Latin core. I’m kind of past the hip hop era. Very grateful to everyone who stuck around from then. Very grateful for the community, because what a beautiful community comes with hip hop.
6. THE BEST THING ABOUT ROMANIAN CREATIVITY IS
I would say there are three things: grit, resourcefulness, and work ethic. You don't fuck with the Romanians, bro. They will outwork fucking everyone. First people to show up, the last ones to leave, period.
7. BEST STATEMENT OF ROMANIAN HUMOR
Denikas, if you know, you know, I'm just gonna leave it at that.
8. ADVICE FOR INTERNATIONAL HEADHUNTERS, RELATED TO ROMANIAN CREATIVES
Related to Romanian creatives, especially young creatives like the students at The Alternative School, wasn't 2025 the resume experience? That's so like last season, come on, give people a chance. Don't block someone in a resume. The way, at a school, right? You're so much more than your grades. And I'm saying that as a valedictorian, as a young creative, you're so much more than your resume. Look at the portfolio pieces that they can create. Give them assignments to see their skills on the job. Fucking pay them, even if, please, if you can't, if you have a budget, don't do them.
9. BEST PLACE IN BUCHAREST
Best place in Bucharest is gonna be subjective and I say this with all the love and dor, as we say in romanian, Pork warehouse. Watching this from The Alternative School, I doubt that you won't know it. I was very lucky to be the head of marketing at Pork for about a year. I better have was their main designer, art director for I think close to a decade before we moved here to Miami, Pork will always be like my found family wherever I go. At the pork warehouse, I have some of the best memories during crazy Black Friday campaigns, everyone rushing around to fulfill like 1000s and 1000s of orders within 24 hours, some of my best memories with some of my best friends. Shout out Pork. Will love you always and forever, no matter where I am in the world.
10. BEST PLACE IN YOUR COUNTRY
Well, now that you mentioned it, we are here at H Gap. Studios, and creators live here. This is a beautiful space. Creators of all career levels, any art form, any medium, can come collaborate, be in community, in a very like alternative school way of thinking, come together, and build together. If you're Romanian, watching, come to Miami. DM your girl. I'll bring you here to H Gab, my favorite place in Miami and second home.
11. MOST DISTURBING CLICHÉ ABOUT ROMANIA, IN THE MEDIA OUTLETS OF THE WORLD IS
Honestly, I've heard a lot more good than bad recently. I've seen Romania on the BBC recently, because a genius engineer who was like front row at Rosia Montana protests like 13 years ago, is our president now. Also, we had a turnout of 30,000 people at this year's Pride, which, for post communist, heavily orthodox Eastern European countries, is massive, right? I've seen a lot more positive than negative lately. And in the US, it's not like in other countries. In Western Europe, Romanians aren't judged as much as they are in Western Europe. Romanians are like, as they say, “exotic” here, we're like the vampires. We're like the, you know, interesting people, but I did want to acknowledge that it's not a disturbing cliche, but it is a reality that needs all the media attention. The heartbreaking femicide epidemic in Romania right now is real. Please reach out to local organizations like Centrul Filia, Asociatia Vulgar. There are so many really, really dope organizations in Romania who are working to bring attention to the femicide epidemic that's going on right now in the country, and also offering resources to victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse, which sadly, we know is a big problem in our country. It's not a cliche, but it's a reality that we can't just cover with rose colored glasses. Support the organizations that are putting a stop to this. Please.
12. ROMANIA SHOULD BE KNOWN FOR
Romania should be known for bad ass, young, brilliant, amazing creatives.
13. YOUR VIEWS ON SPIRITUALITY
Of course, my views on spirituality can be reflected in my music. Name Energia. Spirituality is energy. For me is being a good person. Give out good energy more times than not. You'll get it in return, but don't give it out to get it in return. Does that make sense?
14. YOUR VIEWS ON MONEY
My views on money? It's just a tool, it's a means. That sounds like the most privileged thing to say. I don't come from old money. I was not born with a silver spoon. Won't get into details, but let's just say I put in a lot of work to be in the privileged position to say that I now view money as a tool and as a means. The reality is that it's not like that for a lot of folks. It's a survival tool. And I wish we lived in a society where it didn't matter as much, and where we could exchange creative projects like these rather than money. But it is what it is.
15. AN INSPIRATION SOURCE YOU RECOMMEND FOR A YOUNG CREATIVE
Instead of saying, like the online tools thing, y'all, y'all are fucking smart. Y'all can Google that shit. Everyone's on Pinterest. If you're not, what are you doing as a young creative outside of that would argue that the best inspiration source for young creatives is your community, the people around you, with whom you connect and collaborate. For me, it's my found family here at H Gap, it's my found family at We Are Family Foundation, all of my best friends, my close collaborators, and community, I would argue, is the best source of inspiration. It's one that money can't buy. It's equitable, accessible to everyone. It doesn't matter where you were born. If you can find your people, find your community, I can almost guarantee that it'll be the best source of inspiration for you.
The article is part of the #YoungLadies series, recommended by RSM, empowered by Ursus.
