Meet Your Board: Kuba Zwolinski of Snowdog

Tell me a bit about your background and what you do now.

I am the founder and leader of Snowdog, an Adobe Gold (former Magento Enterprise) Partner and technology startup. I am a certified Magento developer and solution specialist, four times chosen as Magento Master: Maker. I have organized seven editions of Meet Magento Poland and many local Poznan meet-ups, and I am the former VP of Meet Magento Association.

I’m inspired by open-source projects/business models. I started 15 years ago with interface translations, which changed into a solid relationship with the open-source world.

I graduated from University in Poznan with a master’s in meteorology and climatology, and I’ve recently engaged in clean energy initiatives, mostly related to hydrogen fuel. I’m also an adventurer and outdoor enthusiast, trail runner and kayaker.

Describe your relationship with Magento Adobe.

I build current core business thanks to Magento technology and have started many great friendships in the Magento ecosystem. Now, I am working hard to give back to the Magento world as much as possible to let other people experience the same friendly and helpful atmosphere, no matter how big an enterprise Magento will become.

Do you have any other volunteer or board experience?

Yes, I recently was invited to a local government working group (H2 Wielkopolska) for zero-emission initiatives (replacing coal based energy with hydrogen). My role is to connect government with science and add business.

How would you describe yourself in three words?

Curious, visionary and honest.

What are your greatest professional and personal achievements?

Professional: I work with a team of great people at Snowdog who love their work and sharing the same principles about trust, friendship and reliability.

Personal: having my three kids growing, joining me and my wife in outdoor adventures, and also understanding how important it is to respect others.

What do you hope to achieve personally by being part of the Magento Association Board?

Learning how to make important decisions with the group (most of my life I was running all my business on my own), how to take care of that responsibility and face challenges when we can’t make everyone happy. I hope that after my time in the board will end, I will be proud of that work and not regret anything what we did.

What are you most excited about to see Magento Association achieve?

True support for the community, not driven by sales but passion to share and learn. Hopefully we can start some initiatives that not only makes Magento ecosystem better but also can improve the world in general (like coding education at developing markets, career opportunities in most remote and poor parts of the world, enforcing accessibility approach in e-commerce projects, etc.).

Tell us more about yourself.

I have a wife, three kids and a dog. I’m addicted to outdoor adventures. From trail running, mountain biking, swimming, kayaking and backcountry skiing to ocean sailing, motorcycle and 4x4 rally. I love good sci-fi books and coffee. And good food. Sometimes I’m very introverted, and sometimes I’m very extroverted — a kind of difficult combination :)

What’s your favorite country you have visited, and why?

It’s not about country. Borders are just lines on the map, and amazing friendly people live all over the world. I love open spaces, so whenever I’m in mountains, on an ocean or at a desert, that’s my favorite place in the world at that particular moment. I can’t explain why, but I really enjoy coming back to Poland. I’m OK spending months away, and I love traveling and exploring, but I like the feeling that there is a place to come back one day.