From Prague Castle Guard to Czech cosmetics success story

Pavel Martinek began his career in the Prague Castle Guard, convinced he had little to offer and dreaming only of a stable military pension. Today he is the founder and CEO of Mandario, a perfume and cosmetics company with annual revenue of roughly half a billion crowns.

Born near Kutná Hora, he finished a technical school with little real interest in the trade — he had picked it only because it required no entrance exams. After graduating, he planned to serve twenty years in the army, earn his pension and then settle into a quiet job as a security guard or shop assistant. But a shortage of army places sent him to the Prague Castle Guard instead.

The service followed a punishing schedule: 27-hour shifts every third day, plus mandatory training. Every two weeks added up to around 170 hours on duty, followed by two weeks off. It was during those free weeks that Martinek found time for what would become his business.

Everything changed when his stepfather brought home a fragrance catalogue offering a side job. The world of perfume captivated Martinek so completely that he decided to rethink his attitude toward himself entirely. “My mindset was that I wasn’t capable of anything in life. That’s why I was looking for confidence in the army. But then something clicked, I stopped underestimating myself and felt I had a chance,” he told CzechCrunch.

There was no support from those around him: his parents feared debt after previous family setbacks, his colleagues mocked the idea, and his army commander told him outright that successful entrepreneurs don’t come from the military. That skepticism became Martinek’s best fuel — turning back was simply not an option he would allow himself.

Around 2008 he registered as a sole trader and started selling perfume to friends and acquaintances. Once that circle of customers ran out, he taught himself the basics of SEO, hired a student to build a website and launched his first online shop. His site soon reached the top spot on the Seznam search engine for “the cheapest perfume,” triggering a wave of orders.

He packed more than 2,500 orders by hand at home and carried them to the post office himself. The net margin on a single bottle was only a hundred crowns back then, and he cut costs everywhere, living on instant noodles and ready meals. That gruelling experience in logistics and customer service became the foundation for Mandario, the company Martinek now runs as CEO.