To my 1st year as "une professionelle"

Today is my 1 year anniversary at Vili&Ve and I figured I’d share a part of my personal, professional, random but significant journey until now. Hold on tight!

The 26th of July 2016, Gare du Midi, the evening before my 22nd birthday. There we go again, Thalys from Brussels to Paris. This time was a bit different though.

I was travelling with 2 enormous suitcases because I was going to move to Paris -again- but this time for real. On the 1st of August I was going to start my first fixed job, or CDI like they say here in France.

I was extremely excited! Ok, also slightly nervous I have to admit. Although that was mainly because of different reasons. I was namely not doing that well with my boyfriend back then and felt that we would break up as soon as I would arrive at Gare du Nord.

Weirdly, I did not lose my cool and I was still thrilled to be travelling back to Paris. I even met a very kind and inspiring man in the train, we ended up talking for 2h about life, career and so forth. Still today we are in touch and who knows we might even work together in the future to help his company with their digital marketing/transformation challenges. (Hello Ludovic ????)

Anyway, back to my story, after a delayed train ride, pleasant talks and a complete silence of my boyfriend, I arrived in Paris. As expected, we broke up on the spot and my best friend, who was waiting for me at the station, jumped in as soon as the coast was clear. Thank you again for that, Britt, you are truly amazing.

So quick sketch: it was going to be my birthday in a few hours, I had just broken up with my boyfriend, moved away from my loving and supporting home -for real this time- and was going to start my grown-up job in a few days. Cheers to life!

My birthday ended up being a great day, ok I did cry a bit because of my breakup, ok a lot even. However, my best friend and I ended up going to Disneyland, armed with 2 bottles of wine and good food, and had a wonderful day. So basically I was on this emotional rollercoaster, like literally.

Fast forward, 1st of August 2016. First day of work!

There I was, at Vili&Ve, a creative digital agency doing UX/UI, whatever I thought that meant back then.

However, I was motivated, because come on: I graduated with an MBA degree in International Business Management, was elected as the most entrepreneurial student of KU Leuven’s Faculty of Economics and Business, completed KUL’s selective Honours Programme, obtained a distinction for my MBA, a great distinction even for my Bachelor’s degree, voluntarily worked as a summer intern at Estée Lauder Companies for the brands Tom Ford Beauty, Origins, Smashbox, was the former VP of my university’s MUN team, general manager of the BMEU conference and packed with memories as well as great life experiences from 2 successful exchanges (Bloomsburg in Pennsylvania and Dauphine in Paris). Oh yeah and I speak 3 languages fluently, so I was going to kick ass! Right?

(I take full responsibility for all the bragging I have just done above, sorry not sorry)

First week at the office.

Back-end, front-end, dev, from scratch, native, hybrid, UX, UI, wireframes, process flowchart, whaaaaat?!

Before I started working at Vili&Ve I had always considered myself a digital native, I mean I could Photoshop, even use Final Cut Pro to edit video's, was pretty handy with my Apple devices, good at Microsoft Office and can troubleshoot whenever the Wifi would not work. Lol yeah, Laura. I knew nothing. Literally. The IT, development and design universe went way beyond my comfort zone and to be honest it actually took me quite some time to really get the full picture. (Actually, I still don’t get the full overview tbh)

When I look back at it I still have to laugh at the fact that I spent my first weeks at the office ‘working on my personal branding’, reading some books and getting a small introduction into the world of growth hacking and business development.

In the past, I was always surrounded by a distinct framework to guide me. Following school at an elite Jesuit school in the heart of Brussels (Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege), went to university at KUL; famous for its strong analytical side - but when talking about real entrepreneurship, as much as I considered myself an entrepreneurial and proactive person, I was wrong. I was maybe entrepreneurial in my personal circles from back in Brussels, because I did some things, but real entrepreneurship in the actual meaning of the word? No. Or at least not in this fast-paced environment of Paris where I have had the opportunity to meet some real visionary people.

So that is it for the main thoughts and realisations I had during my first months working. Even today, on a regular basis, I encounter new situations in which I feel lost. Then again, I am fortunate to experience this, it is the best way to learn in my opinion!

If I would write down a little list of my biggest learnings the past year, it would look like this:

- listen, but like really listen, Laura

- find mentors (does not necessarily mean find the most academically educated people, just find people you find inspiring with real experiences that are preferably even different than yours)

- grow a network by showing genuine interest

- stay close to your roots (my parents are probably my most inspiring mentors ever)

- consult rather than sell

- try to read between the lines, quite often there are hidden agenda's or other external factors in negotiations or meetings

- stand up for yourself to recenter men that inappropriately hit on you (they are being unprofessional, not you, Laura, and I don’t care if they are on C-level in a huge multinational)

- do not be too easily impressed, some people are just good talkers

- learn to deal with feedback, learn to give feedback and do not take things too personal

- everyone is bored at that networking event, just approach people spontaneously, people will be happy to connect instead of simply staring at the open bar to actually open

- learn to order salads and no dessert during lunch meetings (I am a complete foodie, but well, one needs to maintain a healthy lifestyle at some point, right?)

- you do not need to wear computer glasses to look older and therefore be taken seriously, Laura.

I am probably forgetting many, but these are the most obvious things coming to my mind and worth mentioning. Some may be a bit more relevant than others.

That being said, to go back to the core of this little article, or whatever this is, here is my real advice to young graduates: you do not know what is in front of you. Literally, you do not. Most of you will not be prepared for any of this, especially if you enter a more entrepreneurial and cosmopolitan landscape. But hey, isn’t that great?

Yes, sometimes it’s tough. I have had my moments that I wanted to escape as well. Receiving these amazing job offers, in NYC, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London, … gosh, I literally was on the point of almost moving to NYC or Abu Dhabi at some point but realised it would have been running away. Like Pierre, also one of my most important mentors (sorry, Pierre, I know you do not like it when I say this, but it is true for me though), once told me: “Laura, you have 2 options; either you now leave, you find a more stable structure, a job with a lot of stability and a framework to live by - either you push through, you will learn a lot more and make this happen eventually.”

Until present day I am so happy that I ‘pushed through’ or at least did not quit, being a 22 y/o girl trying to do business with all these top-level professionals in my second or third language has not always been easy, nor successful, but it was the best school I have ever had.

So, millennials, if you are reading this, yes, job hopping is a thing, especially in our generation. However, do not ‘hop' until you reach your objectives or at least reach a point where you are proud of some achievements. Do not be that quitter, that runs away, but keep your focus for a while, your feet on the ground and go for it! 

(I feel like I am writing a motivational letter to myself, sorry for that, not sure if this is actually interesting, whoops)

So today, 1st of August I have been working for exactly 1 year. Looking back on all of this, I am smiling like a little kid, enriched with amazing, some terrible (no, it’s not actually that bad) and life changing memories and lessons. Then again, I just turned 23 last week and I still have a lot to learn! Though, just like last year, I am thrilled and cannot wait for the rollercoaster ride!

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer,

Laura