Mila Zhurova: the Power of Dynasties in the 21st Century

Mila Zhurova is the founder of the international club project «Heirs of the 21st century. Version 3.0». She is an event marketer, creator, and ideologist of the Mila Zhurova Concept Agency, promoting luxury goods and services.

Mila, you are positioning yourself as a guide to the world of luxury - both for producers and consumers of luxury goods and services. What kind of navigation do people with big money need?

In this context, I would consider the concept of "luxury" as the inner culture of a person, which allows him or her to choose the very best from what mankind has created. When wealthy people consciously form their lifestyle, it is very important for them to get into the right community that shares their values ​​and priorities. By creating the club «Heirs of the 21st century. Version 3.0», I saw it as a closed community of people of a certain level, wealth, and approach to life. This is an association of people who, choosing the best, become trendsetters. If we talk about luxury and well-being as a way of life, it cannot be considered outside the family. Therefore, the philosophy of our club is based on a conscious approach to creating your own dynasty.

What do you mean?

Family capital is made up not only of the financial component but also of human and intellectual resources. There is a saying: "Every fourth generation wears the same shirt," which speaks of the rule: the first generation earns, the second spends, the third squanders, and in the end, the fourth is left with nothing. The name of my club, «Heirs of the 21st century. Version 3.0,» means that we are trying to break this rule of generations and strive to make the fourth generation continue the dynastic model with a planning horizon of 50-100 years. Many famous billionaires give their children only the essentials, which motivates them to develop themselves. This approach helps them become the very first generation - the creator of goods. It is not necessary to continue the family business if there is no interest in it. Many children want to follow the path of their own calling. When children have limited funds, for example, when they receive them through a trust fund, then the third and fourth generations, as a rule, become more responsible for the family capital.

I am interested in such historical cases as the Rothschild family dynasty. Its founder, Mayer Amschel, had five sons, each of whom headed banks in various European cities. To develop their business, Mayer gave his sons loans from the family capital, which the children had to repay, despite the fact that some banks went bankrupt. But Rothschild differentiated his banking business by "putting eggs in different baskets."

Over time, he monopolized all banking businesses in Europe virtually yet, the main thing that held the dynasty together was family values, traditions, and responsibility.

Now, there are family consultants who create certain family charters, organize family meetings, at which each family member talks about his or her plans, ideas, and news. Together, a general strategy for family development is being built, including investment and capital growth.

Does the good old personal example no longer work, and is socio-psychological engineering required? What is the effectiveness of this approach?

The strength of a dynasty lies in the synergy of all its representatives. But often, dynasties with several branches can be closed inside from each other, thereby impoverishing the clan's total intellectual capital. In addition, by personal example, many parents want their successful business case to be adopted by the children without taking into account their personal needs and desires. Values ​​and rituals are not always formed within the family, which are the cement for any clan, both small and large.

In successful European and American dynasties, specialists in social and psychological engineering, who help build the proper productive communications within the same dynasty, have long been in demand.

When children and grandchildren, adopting the experience of their parents, have the right to move in their own direction, they can then supplement the family capital with personal, intellectual, and human resources. For example, you don't need to force a son or a daughter, talented in design, to be a financier. He or she will work much more productively, creating the design, let's say, of the company's bank offices. The main task of the family is to help each member strive for their own happiness.

And yet, difficulties are a school of life. If a family tree was engineered to be heirs and given a business in their hands, will the passion necessary for the development of global projects be formed in it?

I believe that in wealthy families, it is important to create a trust fund, which, until a certain moment, pays the beneficiaries (children and grandchildren) a minimum monthly stipend to maintain a comfortable but not excessively wealthy life. On the one hand, such an approach protects the successors, and, on the other hand, it does not demotivate them for personal, professional growth.

Unfortunately, in wealthy families, children often experience "heir syndrome." They grow up surrounded by nannies, governesses, teachers, but they are deprived of the main thing - communication with their parents. Guilt causes parents to spoil their child unnecessarily, doing him a disservice. Such children, indeed, often grow up ordinary and unadapted to life. In this regard, the book "The Wealth of a Family" by James Hughes Jr. is very useful.

By working with very wealthy people, you can probably initiate socially significant and cultural projects by attracting sponsorship funds. Is there a demand in the highest business circles for such social activities?

Yes, today, it is important to invest in venture philanthropy. This is a new level of consciousness when a person realizes that instead of buying another yacht, today it is much cooler to create a project that will improve people's lives or somehow change the world for the better - be it education, health, ecology, or any other socially significant direction - this is the direction that really inspires me to create socially significant projects within the Heirs of the 21st Century club. I am currently starting a partnership with the Golden Turtle International Interactive Wildlife Festival, one of the world's largest cultural and environmental education projects - and I plan to integrate this project in Monaco, where environmental issues are of great importance. Also, in our club, we held separate events dedicated to impact investing and venture philanthropy.