Entrepreneur Mirsad Čaušević, originally from Prijedor, sold a company worth millions of dollars and spoke about his life journey on the podcast "Realno" with Drit Haziraj. His story begins with the horrors of war he experienced as a young man, and continues in the United States, where he arrived as a refugee with just $20 in his pocket.
Čaušević survived the Omarska and Manjača camps, and lost two brothers in the war. After arriving in Chicago, he started from scratch. His first job paid him $5.75 an hour, but this did not stop him from starting the company Oasis Plumbing, Heating and Cooling from a garage in 2003. The company eventually built a base of approximately 25,000 clients.
In addition to the plumbing trade, Čaušević ventured into hospitality. In 2008, he opened an elite French restaurant in Chicago, and a few years later opened a second one. His business projects employed as many as 104 workers. He later sold the restaurants, and sold a portion of the company's ownership in 2024. He sold the remaining stake in the company this year. The exact sale amount has not been published, but it is a multi-million dollar transaction.
Despite his business success, Čaušević emphasises that he could not spend as much time with his family as he would have liked during the years of intense work. He believes that money cannot make up for lost time. He also admitted that talking about the past was extremely emotional for him.
Čaušević is now considering a return to his roots. His wish is to spend his old age in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
