Jiří Koleňák: My name is Jiří Koleňák and welcome to another episode of the Úspěšní (Successful) podcast, where my guests and I uncover the principles and habits that drive their success. Today, my guest has worked his way up through plant operations, plant management, and ultimately leading an entire industrial group. His company is a key player in the Czech construction sector: Jan Smola, CEO of Heluz Group. He started his first business right after high school graduation, but soon joined Heluz, gradually taking responsibility for manufacturing, operations, and today leading a group with approximately 670 employees, a turnover of around 2 billion CZK, and exports to Austria, Germany, Poland, and other countries. Today, we'll discuss leading a manufacturing enterprise in a demanding industry, alongside sustainability, technological evolution, corporate culture, and the future of housing. Hi Honza, welcome to the podcast.
Jan Smola: Hi Jirka, thanks for having me.
Jiří Koleňák: Honza, I always start by asking what brought my guests the greatest joy recently. What was it for you?
Jan Smola: Over the past few days? Probably our long-weekend getaway to Sicily. We came back on Tuesday—it was a wonderful autumn break and great relaxation.
Jiří Koleňák: You started doing business right after high school. What did that entrepreneurial experience teach you that you brought into the next phase of your career when you became Production Manager at Heluz?
Jan Smola: Entrepreneurship taught me self-reliance—that you are fully accountable for yourself and must actively seek solutions rather than focus on problems. It was a brief but deeply inspiring experience.
Jiří Koleňák: Then came Heluz. Do you recall the core qualities, principles, or habits that fueled your rapid career progression within the company?
Jan Smola: The key was simply not giving up. I stepped into the Production Manager role at Heluz around age 25, which meant almost every employee under me was older than I was. I arrived at a time when major operational changes were needed. Unlike the existing staff, I knew nothing about brick manufacturing at the start, making it quite challenging. Looking back today, I’m glad I didn't run away.
Jiří Koleňák: Is it an advantage or a disadvantage for a manager not to have mastered the technical process beforehand?
Jan Smola: At the start, it was definitely a disadvantage. But because I wanted to prove myself and progress, I had to master the manufacturing process very quickly. Today, I view it as a major advantage, especially having worked my way up from the very bottom.
Jiří Koleňák: Do you recall a specific experience from those early years that you rely on today in your role as CEO?
Jan Smola: Absolutely. It’s the habit of diving deep into details—learning as much as possible about a process so decisions are based on real operational understanding rather than superficial assumptions. Whatever I have to decide today, I decide with hands-on knowledge of how things are built on the shop floor. That is an immense asset.
Jiří Koleňák: Today, you lead Heluz Group, which comprises several companies. How does managing a multi-company group differ from running a single plant?
Jan Smola: You have to step back from pure technical expertise and develop a broader strategic perspective across multiple disciplines. The single biggest difference as CEO is that nobody stands behind you—there is no superior assigning tasks or catching your mistakes.
Jiří Koleňák: If you had to select three core skills you had to learn for the CEO role, what would they be?
Jan Smola: First, learning to trust the people around me. At this scale, you can no longer manage every operational detail, so relying on a strong executive team is essential. Second, stopping micromanagement—it's simply unfeasible at group level. Third, maintaining emotional composure and perspective. As a friend of mine says: "You can eat an elephant too, as long as you slice it properly."
Jiří Koleňák: Maintaining composure is vital in heavy building materials because construction is inherently cyclical. You face severe market fluctuations, energy price spikes, and demand shifts. How do you lead your team when an economic downturn approaches?
Jan Smola: Crises usually arrive so fast that you can rarely prepare for them in real-time. But because we know the business is cyclical, we focus relentlessly on operational efficiency even during economic booms. We keep key capabilities in-house and avoid wasteful overhead. Being lean and disciplined during the good times builds the financial reserves required to navigate downturns smoothly.
Jiří Koleňák: To be specific, you once mentioned that reaching full warehouse capacity is a critical operational limit. What happens when your warehouses fill up?
Jan Smola: We have to shut down production. Our largest plant in Hevlín produces 800 pallets of bricks daily. If there is no storage space left, it becomes a major bottleneck. When that limit is reached, we halt the manufacturing lines and pivot. During booming periods, we plan future capital investments, machinery overhauls, and facility maintenance specifically so that when production pauses, our workforce stays employed handling major plant upgrades that cannot be executed while the lines are running.
Jiří Koleňák: How often have you had to execute major production shutdowns?
Jan Smola: In my 12 to 13 years as CEO, major demand-driven shutdowns have happened twice.
Jiří Koleňák: What is it like stepping in front of your employees in those moments?
Jan Smola: We focus on building long-term trust. Because our employees trust us, they listen when we explain: "Market demand has slowed down. However, we are investing heavily in plant maintenance, line overhauls, and machinery repairs during this downtime. You will execute these upgrades, and in return, we will ensure you don't face salary cuts or forced unpaid leave." Because we deliver on that promise consistently, our workforce accepts it as a dependable standard.
Jiří Koleňák: Does facing a crisis together strengthen team unity?
Jan Smola: Definitely. There is a shared effort to support the company and use maintenance downtime productively so the production lines are perfectly prepared for the next market upturn. After our major shutdowns, our plants restarted seamlessly and handled surging market demand without unexpected technical failures.
Jiří Koleňák: Let's discuss sustainability. What does sustainability mean in practice for Heluz?
Jan Smola: We view sustainability as far more than just carbon emissions. It encompasses affordability, structural durability, and lifecycle impact. Building a sustainable house cannot be solely about zero carbon during construction—if a building is low-emission but financially unaffordable to the public, it fails.
For us, sustainability means designing construction materials that offer high energy efficiency, fair pricing, and multi-generational lifespans. If a home lasts centuries rather than needing to be rebuilt every 50 years, its lifetime carbon footprint is dramatically lower than alternative lightweight structures with a fraction of the lifespan.
Jiří Koleňák: Where do most building emissions occur over a home's lifetime?
Jan Smola: During its operational lifespan—roughly 90% of total lifecycle emissions occur while living in and heating the building. Embodied emissions from construction materials account for a minor fraction. We must keep that perspective when evaluating sustainable building materials.
Jiří Koleňák: How do brick products perform in that comparison?
Jan Smola: Compared to timber builds, brick manufacturing carries a slightly higher initial carbon footprint, but that balances out within five to six years of building operation. Heluz provides a 148-year warranty on its structural brick products—representing a baseline structural lifespan that in reality lasts generations. Over that horizon, initial manufacturing emissions become negligible.
Jiří Koleňák: Heluz Group has expanded far beyond traditional clay bricks into complete building envelope systems. What drove the strategy to build a broader group?
Jan Smola: Once our core brick manufacturing operations were stabilized, we recognized that future growth required expanding into adjacent building segments. Domestic brick manufacturing capacity was fully meeting market demand, so scaling brick volumes further made little strategic sense.
We looked for complementary envelope materials. Acquiring ISOS—our largest acquisition, a leading producer of insulated architectural glass—made total sense. Windows and glass account for roughly one-fifth of a house's exterior envelope. A building envelope must perform as an integrated system; there is no point in putting high-spec insulating bricks together with substandard windows, or vice versa. We created a unified envelope strategy offering optimal price-to-performance for the customer.
Jiří Koleňák: How did you know it was the right time for such a major acquisition?
Jan Smola: Our core brick business was fully stabilized, and our planned capital investments were complete. Having achieved 90% of our core strategic goals in clay manufacturing, we had the organizational capacity and financial strength to execute a major acquisition in a new sector.
Jiří Koleňák: What is it like integrating an acquired business into your corporate culture?
Jan Smola: It is challenging. As a family-owned group, we maintain a distinct corporate culture. Buying a company from a previous owner means inheriting an entirely different organizational mindset. Winning over new teams, aligning strategic direction, and blending cultures into a cohesive group requires immense effort.
Jiří Koleňák: What is your recipe for winning people over during an integration?
Jan Smola: Leading by positive example and demonstrating that operational changes yield better results for everyone. People naturally resist change. You must speak candidly, avoid false promises, and do the hard work alongside them.
Jiří Koleňák: As Heluz Group expands through acquisitions, you are also expanding international export markets. What is the key to successful export growth in your industry?
Jan Smola: Entering foreign markets generally happens through two routes: competing on price as a low-cost provider, or competing on high value-add and premium service. Heluz is not a low-cost producer. Our export success relies on delivering superior technical parameters, high value-add, and premium customer service—the exact same principles that drive our position in the Czech market.
Jiří Koleňák: Navigating economic crises puts a CEO directly between employees and company owners. How do you balance protecting workforce stability with owner expectations?
Jan Smola: The interests of owners, management, and employees don't always align perfectly. However, because Heluz is a family business, we don't manage strictly by short-term quarterly EBITDA targets. We take a long-term generational view. Because the owners attach their family name to the company, they view it as a lasting commitment. They understand that navigating a two-year market slump is a necessary part of preserving the group's long-term sustainability and strength.
Jiří Koleňák: What do you consider the most underrated leadership capability in manufacturing?
Jan Smola: The willingness and ability to make hard decisions. I see many talented professionals who hesitate to make a call because they fear taking responsibility. Willingness to step up, decide, and stand behind the outcome is a critical skill that needs active cultivation.
Jiří Koleňák: Heluz bridges traditional craftsmanship with modern innovation. How do you balance heritage materials with future-facing technology?
Jan Smola: Clay bricks are a traditional material, but today's ceramic blocks bear little resemblance to those made 30 years ago. We took traditional clay craftsmanship and transformed it into high-tech, innovative products. We combine a proven, long-lasting material tradition with advanced engineering that has advanced construction efficiency dramatically over the past two decades.
Jiří Koleňák: What are some key product innovations from Heluz?
Jan Smola: Our flagship Family 2in1 brick series features integrated insulation filled with expanded polystyrene, achieving passive house performance standards in a single structural wall without needing external EIFS insulation. You build a solid single-material wall that breathes, offers high mechanical durability, and lasts for generations.
Another innovation is our SIDI liquid mortar system: ground precision bricks are laid using a specialized applicator roller, making wall construction exceptionally fast and clean. Thirty years ago, masonry required mixing traditional wet mortar and waiting for slow drying cycles. Today, a standard family house shell can rise from foundation to ceiling slab in a day or two.
Jiří Koleňák: You once noted that in the future, single-family homes will increasingly be rented rather than owned. How close are we to that reality, and is the domestic market ready?
Jan Smola: Consumers are ready or soon will be. Look at automotive trends: thirty years ago, everyone insisted on owning a car. Today, vehicle sharing and leasing are completely normalized. Housing will follow a similar path. While apartment rentals are established, single-family rental homes are still emerging because inventory is limited. Newer generations prioritize access to services and lifestyle mobility over asset ownership. Institutional developers will step in to fill that market gap.
Jiří Koleňák: Single-family rental housing is common in markets like Switzerland. Is it a sign of societal and economic maturity?
Jan Smola: Absolutely. Across Western Europe, rental housing is standard. In the Czech Republic, the intense drive for homeownership stems partly from our post-communist history where property ownership was restricted.
However, market economics will force a shift. Land prices have escalated so sharply that buying a plot in prime regions can cost as much as the physical construction of the house itself! Facing 4 to 5 million CZK land costs, younger generations will naturally embrace institutional rental homes and shared assets, which offers them greater lifestyle flexibility.
Jiří Koleňák: How do macro trends like Green Deal regulations and material efficiency impact your long-term planning?
Jan Smola: The pressure from European regulations is intense. However, frameworks like the Green Deal will inevitably require pragmatic revisions so European industry can regain global competitiveness.
At Heluz, we pursued material efficiency and energy optimization long before external mandates arrived. In heavy manufacturing, energy inefficiency directly inflates production costs. Reducing energy consumption and optimizing material use is essential to keeping our products commercially competitive. We pursue sustainability out of sound business self-interest.
Jiří Koleňák: What do you see as the biggest systemic bottleneck in the construction sector?
Jan Smola: The structure of municipal tax revenue allocation (RUD - rozpočtové určení daní). Current tax allocation rules disincentivize local municipalities and mayors from approving new residential developments. Enabling new residential construction creates substantial local infrastructure burdens—municipalities must build schools, kindergartens, healthcare facilities, and roads—without receiving a proportional share of tax revenues generated by the new residents. Until municipal tax revenue formulas reward local development, municipalities will continue to stall housing construction.
Jiří Koleňák: How are digitalization and AI transforming construction?
Jan Smola: Like every industry, it centers on operational efficiency. Digital tools, automated workflows, and BIM (Building Information Modeling) libraries allow architects and structural engineers to design with our product specifications seamlessly. In manufacturing, our ultimate goal is fully automated lines where human hands don't need to touch the physical brick during production.
Jiří Koleňák: Looking back at your career path from entrepreneur to CEO of a major industrial group, what key lessons stand out?
Jan Smola: First, adjusting to being an employee after running my own business—learning to operate within an organizational hierarchy. Second, never giving up when faced with steep learning curves. Third, grabbing opportunities when they appear.
Whenever I reached a career plateau, a new challenge presented itself. Moving from plant management to group CEO required relocating from Moravia to South Bohemia without my family initially, stepping into a new team, and mastering new disciplines. When opportunity knocks, you have to seize it and hold on tight.
Jiří Koleňák: How do you maintain personal work-life balance?
Jan Smola: It is a continuous learning process. A decade ago, work consumed almost all my time. Today, I actively practice stepping away and disconnecting.
My primary outlet for total mental reset is sailing (jachting). Being on the open sea demands complete operational focus—handling the vessel safely leaves zero mental bandwidth to think about corporate tasks. After a week at sea, I return completely recharged.
Jiří Koleňák: What do you hope people remember about Heluz 20 years from now?
Jan Smola: I want Heluz to be remembered as a fundamentally fair company—fair to its employees, suppliers, and customers. Fairness is a choice every organization can make.
Jiří Koleňák: Is fairness your core, non-negotiable value?
Jan Smola: Yes. Fairness above all. You cannot satisfy every expectation or meet every demand from employees or clients, but you can always communicate with absolute honesty and transparency. I refuse to manipulate people or make false promises. Speaking plainly and explaining the rationale behind our decisions is the standard I live by.
Jiří Koleňák: "Fairness above all," as stated by Jan Smola, CEO of Heluz Group. Honza, thank you very much for joining us and sharing your journey and insights.
Jan Smola: Thank you very much for the invitation, Jirka. It was a pleasure.
Jiří Koleňák: To our viewers, thank you for watching, and see you next time with more inspiring guests!
