Why do we continue making bad decisions? Behavioral economics might have the answer to a better you. 

I had the pleasure of speaking with Milena Nikolova, Ph.D. about the role of behavioral sciences in education, business, and personal life. 

We discussed:

• how her interest in human relationships and dynamics led her to study psychology 
• making the most out of our time in university
• bridging the gap between professors and students
• the dark side of behavioral insights 
• increasing the millennials’ engagement 
• the role of immersion in education vs short attention span engagement 
• Can Tiki Tok be used for good?
• implementing insights about human behavior in business 
• sustainability and the future of tourism
• examining the success factors of regional entrepreneurship 
• The Elevate Accelerator

Milena holds a Ph.D. in Business (Consumer Behavior and Sustainable Tourism) from The George Washington University (GW) School of Business. She has 13 years of combined experience as academic educator and researcher at The George Washington University School of Business (2003-2008), the Department of Business at the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) (2011-2018) and most recently as Professor of Business and Co-director of the Graduate Program in Entrepreneurship at Varna Free University / Bulgarian Entrepreneurship Center (2018-currently).

She is currently working on a book on behavioral economics for tourism (Elsevier) as a single author and recently published a book on the startup ecosystem in the Balkans called Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Unexpected Places.