Blind entrepreneur: “Without a disability I would have been satisfied more quickly”

KURIER: You are not only a successful entrepreneur, but also president of the disabled sports association and have been visually impaired since your youth and are now blind. Have you ever struggled with your fate?

Julian Hadschieff: Not really. I was treated like everyone else at home. That certainly contributed to me seeing it as normal myself. But I soon realized that I had poorer vision and had to tackle some things more courageously than others. For example, I was riding a racing bike and didn’t want to let anyone show.

They respond surprisingly quickly to text messages and emails. How does that work?

Today Siri speaks to you. Everything is read to me and I dictate “speech to text”. Thanks to artificial intelligence and other technical advances, participation for people with disabilities has become much easier.

People with disabilities or serious illnesses don’t want pity, they want normality, I’ve often heard.

I think it takes respect and mindfulness. Parents should not only support their children with disabilities, but also challenge them.

Has your disability perhaps even spurred you on to your top entrepreneurial achievements?

Sure. My limitations have rarely hindered me, but they have enabled me to achieve more than I would have imagined 30 or 40 years ago. Without my visual impairment, I would have been satisfied more quickly.

When you were in your early 30s, you and your partners founded PremiQaMed, now the MAVIE Group, Austria’s leading private hospital group, which you led as CEO for a total of 33 years until 2023. Is there a founder gene in you?

Innovation has accompanied me my entire life. For example, I founded learning networks at the University of Innsbruck – also so that I could have the thousands of pages of scripts read out to me. In return, I summarized. It was clear to me early on that I had to go my own way and be excellent in one area: that’s why I chose hospital management. I became project manager for the spin-off of the Tyrolean State Hospitals, now the Tirol Clinics. PremiQaMed was founded later. We were probably the first to do many things: for example, the “one stop shop” principle. And that’s how it continued with my current company, Humanocare: “visionary in terms of care” is the motto.

Did politics involve you in the current health care reform?

No, not this time – and I agree with the saying: “If the king doesn’t call you, you better not go to the king.” We have been discussing the same thing for decades: the system is fragmented – divided between the federal government, the states, social insurance, and interest groups. A big success has not yet been achieved. I don’t want to downplay the results of this reform – especially the jointly financed specialist medical centers. Maybe this is a game changer.

Are you really optimistic? Anyone who closes even one community hospital will lose elections.

So far, politicians have lacked courage. We have done ourselves a disservice by saying “We have the best healthcare system in the world.” The population has now understood that a lot of money flows into the system, but it is not efficient. She knows that change is needed, but she doesn’t want it on her own doorstep. You therefore have to approach citizens and inform them that, for example, obstetric care with only 80 deliveries per year is not really excellent care. This can be a few kilometers away – after all, we no longer drive around in ox carts.

There is also a care dilemma. At the age of 34, you founded the company Humanocare, which now has 1,200 permanent employees. That’s where it goes, among other things: about rehabilitation, but also about care. Why did you recognize the need at such a young age? If you looked at the demographic development, it was clear. I wanted to offer top services for older people and those in need of care and thought that private individuals could also do this for profit. This is a people and team business and you have to like people.

But finding employees is difficult, so you and your company are training people locally in Colombia and the Philippines in order to bring them to Austria. Isn’t it crazy when there are so many unemployed people in this country?

We didn’t find enough skilled workers, it’s not easy training.

Is it too complicated?

No, but you should accept that excellent training is available elsewhere and simplify nostrification. The health care sector is slowly relaxing. Of course, we have to make sure that enough skilled workers are trained here too. But without controlled labor migration, Europe will not continue to be successful. The people brought in by Humanocare integrate well and are also an enrichment for the teams because some of them are perhaps happier and are used to working differently.

As an economic liberal, do you feel pain when you watch the government work?

Sometimes it hurts, for example when I look at the regulatory overkill. How long have we been talking about the fact that for every new law, two old ones have to be buried! We are a high-tax country with a dramatic spending problem and should ensure that people who don’t need support no longer receive it. The state should take a step back. We are all the state, so citizens should be held more accountable – if they perform, but also reward them accordingly.

Was there ever a call from politics?

There were times when this was an issue. But I have a very smart woman who gave me crystal-clear advice, and thank God I followed it.

You are also president of the Club Tirol in Vienna. In my experience, the Tyroleans don’t like the Viennese at all.

I’ve been in Vienna for over 35 years and love Vienna. There are not just grumpy Viennese and stubborn Tyroleans: there is also something in between. Our club’s task is to form an active network. I see us as building bridges between Patscherkofel and Kahlenberg. We combine love of the big city and happiness at the summit.

You converted a hotel in Steinberg/Tyrol into an event business location and opened it last year. What was the motivation for this?

This is the most beautiful “end of the world”, where thoughts take flight. I saw the place and fell in love.

Like your medal-winning brother Michael, you were a competitive athlete – in speed skating and also in skiing. What did you take with you into business life?

In competitive sports you learn to stick with it, work hard and also tolerate frustration. And you know that success will reward you immensely. Even in business you need the willingness to go the extra mile.