Jan Kočárž: how GoldBee's Czech founder turns ADHD into a strength

Czech entrepreneur Jan Kočárž, founder of the fashion brand GoldBee, has opened up about his diagnosis — ADHD, dyslexia and dysgraphia — and how these traits actually help him run his business. He is expanding his empire at the same time: his portfolio recently grew to include the Brno fitness club BoboGym.

The 32-year-old Kočárž lives in a village outside Brno, where he has spent years working as a volunteer firefighter. That same impulsiveness and tendency to act without hesitation recently took him to France — after seeing news of devastating wildfires, he bought a ticket, rented a motorbike and rode out to see the burned areas in person, simply because he felt “drawn” there.

That same speed and impulsiveness have followed him his whole life, but only recently got an official medical explanation. Doctors diagnosed the entrepreneur with ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia and dysorthographia, alongside an above-average IQ. “I’m quite the colourful mix,” Kočárž laughs.

The path to the diagnosis did not start in business but with an anxiety disorder that developed after a loved one's serious health problems. Therapy led him to a specialist, who recommended a clinical assessment. Kočárž decided to speak openly about his diagnosis to inspire children facing similar struggles at school — to show them that their weakness can be turned into a superpower.

In his school years that meant dictations with fifty mistakes, forgotten homework and impulsive behaviour — while the child in him quickly picked up on connections between things. He tried to compensate in his own way: drawing attention to himself, acting extravagantly, dyeing his hair. The bold tattoos and piercings he still sports today are a natural continuation of that teenage urge to shock, the entrepreneur admits.

That same boldness and flair for provocation became the signature style of his brand GoldBee, which makes comfortable leggings and swimwear in Brno. The company is not afraid of provocative social media campaigns — including photos of Kočárž himself in a Borat-style swimsuit. “That’s our DNA,” he smiles.

The entrepreneur's business history is as colourful as his looks: he ran a café at a swimming stadium managed by his father, distributed chewing tobacco across Czechia, and then started importing Italian jeans for his girlfriend — and finding them too expensive, ordered a bigger batch and sold the rest, which grew into a sportswear distribution business.

When the COVID-19 pandemic sent daily shipments crashing from two hundred parcels a day to fifteen, the team switched to sewing face masks, and then to leggings. That is how the GoldBee brand was born — the first Czech brand Kočárž brought onto Zalando, and one that today has revenue of around 70 million korunas.