Nastja Mulej holds degrees in economics, sociology, and a master’s in communication science.
In 2000, she started working at the New Moment agency, founded by the legendary creative guru Dragan Sakan. Nastja quickly became his right-hand person in the business. She encouraged employees, clients, and the wider public to think creatively. When she first hosted the world-renowned expert in thinking, Dr. Edward de Bono, in Slovenia in 2003, she knew she had found her life’s calling.
Two years later, she translated his most famous work, Six Thinking Hats, and a year after that, Lateral Thinking, becoming the exclusive licensed trainer for these two methods. Over the years, she mastered many more of De Bono’s methods, tools, and books, which she successfully teaches to participants, training directors and teachers, leaders and public officials, professors, and even children.
Today, she is a Master Trainer, one of only 26 in the world, passing on her knowledge to new trainers, helping them improve relationships and communication, focus and structure, engagement and satisfaction, streamlined processes, and innovative results.
With the thinking tools developed by Dr. Edward de Bono, we can live in a tolerant and innovative society of prosperity. We can become more balanced and less emotionally drained. We can spend less time completing tasks. We can work on projects with greater engagement. We can have meetings that lead to concrete agreements – and implement them effectively. We can eliminate excessive ego and simply create together. We can plan more comprehensively and make better-informed decisions.
Her vision is to teach people how to think in order to create a tolerant and innovative society of prosperity together.
For her work, Nastja has received numerous awards and recognitions. One of her most cherished accolades was awarded just over a month ago—she was named Speaker of the Year 2025 in Slovenia. This means that all members of the Woman.Comm Club attending her workshop on March 21st will be part of an event designed and led by a woman who has been officially recognized as the best in the field.
Media Marketing: You are coming to Sarajevo on March 21st, the first day of spring, to speak at the Woman.Comm Club workshop about applying Dr. Edward de Bono’s thinking methods in practice. For those who haven’t heard of this brilliant thinker, author of over 80 books, could you start by telling us a few sentences about Dr. De Bono?
Nastja Mulej: Dr. Edward De Bono was an exceptional thinker, best known for developing methods for “out-of-the-box” creative thinking. He coined the term and created the tools for lateral thinking, which have been part of the English language since 1972. These tools help generate breakthrough (disruptive) ideas, simplifications, and solutions. His ideas revolutionized problem-solving approaches, teaching us that the best solutions often come when we step away from conventional, linear logic.
With over 80 books and a network of exclusive trainers—including myself—he left a lasting impact on business, education, and psychology. His methods continue to influence various industries, including communications. In advertising, for example, success depends on uncovering new insights into the market, products, users, and business models, as well as generating fresh ideas on how to meet needs and desires. This requires a different perspective, which is exactly what the term “lateral” means.
Media Marketing: What will you talk about in your workshop? What will participants take away from it to enrich their knowledge and experience?
Nastja Mulej: In Sarajevo, I will interactively demonstrate how we can apply De Bono’s methods of deliberate, lateral, and parallel thinking in practice to solve challenges in any business—including the communication industry.
I will emphasize the importance of creativity in finding innovative solutions in daily work. We will work on a provocative challenge, one that anyone hearing it would automatically say “no” to. But instead of rejecting it outright, we will reason:
“We will first think about this challenge, examine it from all possible angles, and only then decide how to proceed.”
Workshop participants will leave with concrete techniques and tools to help them in business planning, decision-making, and idea development. These skills may also enhance their ability to tackle complex challenges in advertising, media, or other communication roles.
Media Marketing: The mission of the Woman.Comm Club is to fight for the rightful roles of women in the communication industry. What is your perspective—do women have the roles they deserve in this field?
Nastja Mulej: The mission of the Woman.Comm Club is incredibly important because many industries, including communications, still face a lack of equal representation and opportunities for women. Thankfully (not due to divine intervention, but thanks to women persistently breaking the glass ceiling over the decades), many women now hold important leadership and developmental roles. However, I believe women could still be even more recognized in key positions.
Ultimately, I look forward to a time when it won’t matter who wears what, and when parents will equally share responsibilities at home, allowing both partners to balance childcare and household duties while also networking and traveling for business.
I deeply appreciate initiatives like Woman.Comm Club in your country and OnaVe (SheKnows) and 500 Woman Entrepreneurs in Slovenia, which support equal opportunities and recognition of women’s work. These efforts increase our influence and drive positive change in the business world.
