Good People of vitruta: Çiler Demiralp

Welcome, Çiler! Let’s introduce you to Good People of vitruta’s followers. Who is Çiler Demiralp? What does she do, how did she start, and where is she now?

I’m 33 years old, born and raised in Balıkesir. Growing up in a small city has its perks, but I reached a point where my hometown could no longer provide enough room for personal growth. At 18, I moved to Istanbul for university and have lived here ever since—except for one year in Lausanne for work, which still makes me feel like a true Istanbulite! I graduated from Boğaziçi University with a degree in Business Administration and began working for a corporate company. After ten years in the corporate world, I left my job about five months ago and started offering online marketing consultancy. I’m also pursuing a few ideas I’m passionate about that I believe can create social impact. One of these is related to the Etsy platform. I see enormous potential in Etsy as a space where people can sell their handmade creations globally and build their own economy. Right now, I’m using my spare time to learn more about the platform.

In the future, my goal is to support creators, artisans, designers, and especially women who design and produce their own products but need guidance on how to reach consumers, and I see Etsy as a great way to do that. I believe it’s so valuable to share and highlight inspiring stories. With this in mind, I’ll soon launch a new podcast series under Sıfırdan Globale, where we’ll hear the stories of female entrepreneurs.

From what I understand, after ten years in the corporate world, you've shifted your focus toward work opportunities with a positive social impact. Was this a transition you’d been planning for a while?

When what you’re doing doesn’t challenge or nurture you, neither money nor status can provide the motivation you need, and eventually, you feel it’s time to leave your comfort zone. Life is too short to be spent working in just one area or company. Sometimes, the idea of having a single career even seems absurd to me. There’s so much to try and explore, so why label ourselves under specific titles? At times, we make the pursuit of social benefit and purpose so daunting that we paralyze ourselves. In reality, everyone can make small changes within their own sphere. That’s what I aim for, and I’m still figuring out the best way to do it — which, of course, takes experimentation.

This shift in direction isn’t solely about work; it’s also connected to my personal journey. I spent years where work defined my life entirely. Now, I want to slow down, renew myself, dedicate time to learning and trying new things. I control my own schedule, read more, watch, exercise, and so on. Industrial psychologist Adam Grant once tweeted something like, "For generations, we centered our lives around work — from where we live to when we see family and friends. Imagine if we did the opposite, what kind of life would we have?" I’m in a phase where I’m shifting to center my life, not my work. It’s certainly a challenging transformation, but it’s these difficult transitions that help us grow.

Your thoughts are truly inspiring. As someone who knows you well, I’m aware that certain books and authors have significantly shaped your perspective. Would you mind sharing a few of these special books with us?

There are so many, but I can mention a few that marked pivotal points in my personal journey. The first would be Essays by Montaigne, which I read in high school. At a time when I was very confused about life, his straightforward approach to big topics opened up entirely new perspectives for me. It’s a lifelong guide for me—I still open it up often. In high school and college, The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe, Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky, and Martin Eden by Jack London were also hugely impactful.

I love Stefan Zweig’s novellas, which delve deeply into universal but somewhat foreign human emotions. He explores feelings like fear, ambition, and compassion in their darkest forms without simplification, keeping a balanced, distanced perspective that makes his work profoundly insightful. For understanding myself and human nature in general, these are incredibly nourishing books. His The World of Yesterday is also unforgettable, like a wake-up call in book form.

Since we’re talking about meaning, Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl comes to mind—it’s a deeply valuable book that illustrates how real strength comes from within, showing that no matter what happens outside, everything ultimately rests within us, and we can find the resilience we need by seeking meaning internally. Recently, I read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami, which had a big impact on me. It’s an honest, motivating piece, in my opinion.

Cinema holds a very special place for you, and I know you’ve even pursued film analysis courses over the past few years.

Yes, I took those courses thinking, "Why not enrich my perspective and make it more educated in an area I love?" I started taking film analysis classes with a small group of three friends with whom we would watch films and discuss them critically. We ended up completing six or seven courses within a year. I didn’t initially aim to become a film critic, of course, but it allowed me to approach cinema with a more in-depth perspective. Now, I find myself looking at films from new angles, which has definitely enriched both the insights I gain and the enjoyment I feel while watching them.

Although I know it’s one of the hardest questions for a film lover, I think our readers will be curious to know: Who are the directors that hold a special place for you, and which of their films earned them that spot?

This truly is one of the hardest questions for any cinephile! I’ll probably regret not mentioning some others, but here are the first names that come to mind: Ingmar Bergman’s Persona, Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love, Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, Kim Ki-duk’s 3-Iron, and Luca Guadagnino’s I Am Love.

If someone asked me to define cinema, I’d show them Roma by Alfonso Cuarón. Additionally, some films that have left a lasting impact on me include 12 Angry Men by Sidney Lumet, The Servant by Joseph Losey, Waking Life by Richard Linklater, Sevmek Zamanı by Metin Erksan, Lost in Translation by Sofia Coppola, and Dogtooth by Yorgos Lanthimos.