I enjoyed physics and mathematics at high school, and then studied economics and management consultancy at university. I began my career by working across various industries delivering corporate reporting tool implementation, business analysis and project management. After spending over eight years at EY, I’ve become an experienced finance professional and I am currently leading commercial finance transformation initiatives for DSS Packaging.
I was lucky to begin my working life alongside amazing finance and strategy professionals from different countries and cultural backgrounds. They became the role models who shaped my future career.
I step out of my comfort zone on a regular basis – something I consider to be important for any individual who wants to grow professionally and personally. Life is a continuous learning journey and how else can we become a better version of ourselves?
AI can be a threat, or it can become a powerful ally
I am an introvert person and a geek, so an early challenge was when I joined the debate team, taking part in public-speaking competitions. At work, I also chose a bumpy career path – for example, when I decided to take another leap and leave my cosy Big Four role, switch countries and pursue a different career path.
AI is already impacting us; it can be a threat, or it can become a powerful ally. However, this journey is not easy, as AI often develops faster than our ability to learn how to use it. But even with limited use, AI can help finance staff test and run theories, create complex documents, model scenarios and replace many repetitive activities while producing results much faster. I can now have data in minutes that used to mean a wait of days, which allows us to focus on value-added tasks, rather than monotonous routines.
This is my favourite saying: ‘It is better to try and fail, than not to try at all.’ There is simple reasoning behind it: if you don’t even bother to try something, how will you know if you can succeed?
I really enjoy my job, as I am passionate about sustainability and I work for a cardboard packaging company that has sustainability at its core (and also owns a recycling division). I also like that I defined my role based on my skills and then I selected my team. We shape the work according to the needs of the stakeholders that we partner with and adapt our solutions for the best outcomes, for efficiency and success. This includes analysing impact and also knowing when it is time to cut our losses and move on. The latter is never easy, as the feeling of failure can be overwhelming compared to the lessons learned.
I would focus on the hidden inequality faced by women choosing to have a family
One of my biggest achievements has been balancing my family and career without compromising my principles. Balance is not 50/50 but is a mix that will work differently for everyone.
If I had law-making powers, I would focus on the hidden inequality faced by women choosing to have both a career and a family. Maternity leave for working mums would be at least six months but without it negatively impacting the professional path, pension plan, salary nor medical insurance.
If I was not a finance professional, I probably would have gone into engineering, my ‘early calling’. I would have either worked at NASA, which was my childhood dream, or in medical research.
In my own time, travel is my hobby, but this is somewhat reduced now, as my main priority is spending time with my family and learning new things through the eyes of my kids. I also like figuring out how best to use AI, now and in the future.
