Mihaela Petrova Petrova

• Launched "Merlia & Alek" Substack, analyzing financial markets through the lens of mythology, cyclical patterns, and behavioral observation
• Developed a long-term experimental collaboration with AI, focusing on practical AI training through language, symbolism, and narrative structure
• Introduced advanced, less-represented layers into AI interactions: archetypal behavior, psychological pattern recognition, and relationship dynamics to refine the model's contextual and cyclical awareness

• Manage and maintain the Association's website, overseeing editorial content and visual presentation to ensure audience engagement;
• Gather, organize, and input professional information into digital database systems;
• Implement AI-assisted solutions and optimization strategies across office workflows to enhance communication and operational efficiency;
• Developed deeper domain knowledge in financial culture and emerging AI communication technologies.

• Created high-impact feature articles, interviews, and long-form commentary for leading outlets (Harper's Bazaar, Manager, BGlobal, Edna.bg, BNT).
• Specialized in subjects requiring strong cultural, psychological, and audience-oriented understanding, particularly in the areas of relationships, sexuality, health, wellbeing, wine & food culture, identity, social trends, and contemporary human behavior.
• Developed and maintained long-running personal columns and recurring editorial formats, building loyal readerships through a recognizable authorial voice combining storytelling, emotional intelligence, cultural references, and accessible communication.
• Maintained long-running authorial columns, building a recognizable voice that balanced emotional intelligence with accessible communication
• Worked across both print and digital media, adapting tone, structure, and language style for different audiences, editorial identities, and publication formats while maintaining strong editorial precision and culturally nuanced writing.
• Collaborated closely with editors, psychologists, cultural experts, and creative teams to develop content balancing journalistic integrity, social sensitivity, research depth, and engaging storytelling.

• Served as screenwriter and reporter for the cultural documentary series “Djins” (Джинс), dedicated to ancestral memory and family histories.
• Conducted extensive field research and interviews across Bulgaria, working with archives and local communities to make historical narratives accessible to modern audiences.

Director of Production Center & Head of National Book Center

• Held dual leadership roles within the National Palace of Culture (NDK), Bulgaria’s leading cultural institution, overseeing both large-scale cultural programming and national literary initiatives.
• As Director of the Production Center - coordinated large-scale cultural programming, artist relations, and budget management for public performances.
• As Head of the National Book Center - managed initiatives supporting the international translation and promotion of Bulgarian literature, collaborating with publishers, academics, and the Ministry of Culture.
• Participated in the organization and evaluation processes related to the annual “Перото” (“The Quill Pen”) literary awards.

• Invited by the Editor-in-Chief of Today’s Woman Magazine in 2003 to create and write the authorial column “Sex in the First Person” — a relationship and sexual culture series inspired by the broader cultural wave surrounding Sex and the City and the rise of contemporary women-centered storytelling.
• At the time, I was one of the very few Bulgarian magazine writers openly addressing sexuality, relationships, intimacy, and emotional dynamics under my real name, which positioned the column as a distinctive and culturally recognizable voice within Bulgarian media.
• Following the publication of my book “Sex, Love and Other Verbs”, I chose to conclude the column, feeling that I had fully expressed the ideas and themes I wanted to explore in that phase of my writing.
• Afterward, I launched a second authorial column, “Money in the First Person”, focused on women’s relationship with money, financial responsibility, personal independence, and emotional attitudes toward financial culture and long-term security.

• Worked as a Features Editor and long-form writer for Union Media: Egoist — a landmark Bulgarian urban lifestyle magazine - a defining cultural phenomenon for a generation of young readers during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
• Features Editor for EGO magazine - the project of Union Media, man's lifestyle magazine.
• Contributed feature stories and editorial content across a wide range of subjects including gourmet culture, relationships, sexual culture, health, social trends, plastic surgery, politics, substance awareness, and emerging urban lifestyles — with a different central theme explored each month.
• Worked in an editorial environment that encouraged strong authorial identity, creative freedom, narrative experimentation, and distinctive voice development, allowing the evolution of a recognizable personal writing style and audience relationship.

• Organized and led a small female reading panel that reviewed more than 100 contemporary international titles over a three-month period, combining editorial evaluation, audience insight, and cultural relevance analysis, ultimately helping shape the publisher’s editorial plan and final selection of ten titles for publication.

• Created regular editorial columns focused on books, cinema, restaurants, culture, relationships, and contemporary lifestyle topics for a Bulgarian audience entering a rapidly evolving media and consumer landscape.
• Established a recognizable authorial voice in the areas of relationships, emotional communication, and sexual culture, developing feature content in collaboration with Bulgarian psychologists and relationship experts.
• Worked on editorial content requiring strong narrative structure, cultural sensitivity, interdisciplinary research, and the ability to translate complex psychological and symbolic themes into accessible and engaging storytelling.

• Covered cultural and social issues for the News Department
• Supervising Editor for the morning show “Good Morning” and creator of the educational entertainment format “Sunday Between Times”

• Prepared content for the newspaper’s Culture section, covering cultural events, theatre productions, exhibitions, music performances, and contemporary artistic life.
• Collaborated with editorial team to create engaging content tailored to target audience preferences.

• Worked on the “America XX” book collection, participating in title selection, editorial preparation, and publishing coordination for contemporary international literature.
• Conducted comprehensive fact-checking to ensure accuracy of published content.

• Worked with one of Bulgaria’s early rock music magazines during the final years of the socialist period and the beginning of the country’s democratic transition.
• Responsibilities included coordination with photographers and graphic designers, organizational support for concerts and cultural events, and assistance with editorial and communication activities.