We are unique in what we do

During her career, she has worked in the public sector, the non-profit sector and as an entrepreneur. She has been working as a Salesforce UX Designer at PwC for four years, helping clients to enjoy technology rather than fear it. As she says in the interview, it is at PwC that she has found an environment where she can grow exactly the way she wants to.

Before consulting, you worked in many other areas. What brought you here?

I started as a project manager at a university and then worked in marketing at agencies. From there, I gradually narrowed down the things I enjoyed most. For instance, graphic design, website creation and photography, which I studied at the same time. After meeting my future husband, who is a developer, we started making websites more seriously, with the ambition of becoming a competitor to Salesforce for smaller companies. But that didn’t really work out (laughs). Paradoxically, I ended up working with Salesforce at a non-profit organisation. Consulting was the last piece of the puzzle for me that was yet to be tried. And despite the labels it gets from a lot of people, I really love it. 

What attracted you to PwC in particular?

It’s true that PwC was my preferred option. Of all the possibilities, this seemed like the most human environment. Many employees said that it’s a company that really cares about its culture, values and well-being. Moreover, I joined a team that included someone I knew. He helped me find my bearings at the beginning and realise that at PwC, you’re not just a number. And if you’re proactive, you can build the career you want.

So, what did yours look like?

I started as a Salesforce Business Analyst right away. It basically involved asking clients what they needed for their business and then helping them implement the technology. I gradually worked my way up to the position of User Experience Designer, which hadn’t existed until then. We try to customise the system as much as possible in terms of visual appearance and usability for customers who are not satisfied with their system, whether it’s Salesforce or something else, so that it’s easier for them to use and to prevent older users from seeing enterprise technology as a burden. PwC is one of the world’s leading technology partners precisely because we have a team that specialises in this. Salesforce itself sees us as an opinion leader and consults with us on the development of their own platform. This makes us completely unique in this field.

You mentioned the values that attracted you to PwC. What specifically do you mean?

Definitely the leadership, which is very human and supportive here. Especially when you want to achieve something. For example, I had been at PwC for three years and, after two promotions, I had the ambition to move on to the next position. At that time, I got pregnant and was a little unsure whether it made sense to seek a transfer before I left. But everyone was absolutely supportive. Actually, they were even almost offended that I had doubts about it at all (laughs), because parenthood is no obstacle. So, after going through the process, I was promoted, which took effect when I was already on maternity leave. No one imposed any conditions on me regarding my return to work. When we talk, they ask how I’m doing, without putting any pressure on me. I’m very grateful for that.

You’ve been on maternity leave for just over six months now. Are you in touch with the company?

I’m not working at the moment, but I’ve voluntarily invested my time in leading a mastermind group at PwC to stay in touch with people I know and am friends with. We meet once a month to discuss how we can collectively move forward or tackle problems that arise across the company. By the way, self-development is also a big topic at PwC. There are lots of training programmes where you can practise soft skills as well as technical ones. Sometimes I feel like you could easily do just that if you wanted to (laughs).

And what skills do you still have time to practise?

Naturally, most of my time is currently devoted to childcare, but I still manage to take my baby, let’s say, even to the gym. Besides, I really enjoy walking our dog, as we live near the forest.

I hear you’re also a certified pilgrim?

It’s just a fancy name for the fact that I walked 450 kilometres on the Camino de Santiago thirteen years ago, and that’s how I got this certificate. On the way, I saw children who had walked a hundred kilometres with their parents, which I found incredible. I can’t imagine doing that myself at the moment, but maybe someday...