Sometimes you need to fake it till you make it ...

This year marks the 10 years anniversary since I graduated from Uni … not sure where time has gone but fact is it has gone and looking back on it, it has been quite a roller coaster of a journey in my career but one I wouldn’t change for anything else because it has landed me where I am now (and that’s far away from where I thought I would be when I graduated). Especially in the last couple of years I have had the privilege of talking to so many (up and coming) marketers and have been part of their journey in their desired career but have also seen left fielders who exited their initially pursued career and followed their real passion and have become super successful. And because career progression is not a steady uphill curve and often it’s the side path that is not always obvious but takes you where you really wan to be, my journey might be a good example to show that you don’t necessarily already need to know where exactly you want to go or achieve but being open minded to opportunities and having the faith in your capabilities can get you a long way. 

Where it all began...

With my parents both being entrepreneurs and have always been self-employed from an early age on, business and commercialising ideas have always sparked my interest. It started when I was a teenager and wanted to buy all the expensive clothes but didn’t want to rely on my parents’ mercy. So having developed a personal passion for fitness and a desire to make an impact on people’s life, I decided to become a group fitness instructor and get paid for what I love doing. Back then, I  was very shy which didn’t make it very easy for me to stand in front of a large crowd, motivate them to follow me and make it all look super easy and fun. So of course, my nerves got me and I failed the first exam … to be honest, with a big bang but I could do it again …  Failing has motivated even more to pass next time the best I possibly could, so I practised day and night, giving instructions front to back, smiling, making it easy when I nearly fainted because I was out of breath and improved that much that at the 2nd attempt I not only passed with 100% (which was judged by an international panel) but it helped me with my next challenge … the law. In Austria, back then, instructors legally had to be 18 years of age to teach… I was not even quite 16 years when I became qualified trainer … so clearly something had to be changed and that was not my age. With a regarded jury backing me, I was given the chance to prove to authorities that I was as responsible and professional as more senior instructors and was able to teach from then on as law has changed and instructors could teach from 16 years onwards. It not only gave me the confidence that age was just a number but that I could do bigger things if I wanted even when others didn’t think I could.

But there were more battles to fight ...

Still at high school, studying wasn’t easy for me either and I nearly failed not once but twice in English and a number of my teachers recommended me (in the nicest possible way) to not go to University because I would struggle too much and they would hate me to see failing. And there it was again – my motivation to show that I was capable and I wanted to not only attend university because I loved economics but because so many people didn’t think I would make it at all, I wanted to not only complete the studies but doe it faster than the average. I studied like there is no tomorrow when I didn’t teach at gyms or worked as PA in a mobile marketing organisation and boom… Whilst the average study time was 7.2 years back then, I graduated in 4.2 years with a Bachelor in Business & Economics and a Master in Marketing.

Next challenge was getting a job. I specialised in FMCG brand and product marketing and with Austria (being similar to Brisbane) not having too many large organisations, meant tough competition, to be more specific, for my first grad role I applied for – an Assistant Brand Manager for a leading FMCG company, I was up against 187 applications. I got invited to an interview and the GM of this company said that the only reason he wanted to see me were my extracurricular activities. I was so excited about having been invited at all that I prepared a presentation with a SWOT and competitor analysis as well as ideas for new products and how I would go to market them with. I was up against grads with a couple of years’ experience in that field (which was the requirement but I only worked as PA for about a year before I applied) but he saw that whilst I didn’t have the Industry knowledge or experience already, I had the drive and the willingness to give a 110%. So I got the job and worked my butt off as I wanted to become Brand Manager asap. My manager fell pregnant after a year and I was sure I would get her role ... Well, that was not the case with the reason that the international program stated that you had to be at least 2-3 years in the Assistant role before getting promoted. Me being the most impatient person on earth,  this answer was not an option for me so I started looking around. A Product Manager role for another big FMCG company with market leadership in tomato sauce, 2nd in pasta sauces and 4th in BBQ sauces was vacant. Me loving food, I did exactly the same again for the application process – I prepared business cases for new product ideas based on target market and competitor analysis and a recommendations on how to become 1st in the other segments. And there it was again - I was appointed as Product Manager for the company’s largest portfolio. First day in my new job, I was asked if I could take over the business reporting and monthly board presentation as that was the weak link for them and I mentioned in my interviews that reporting is big part of my daily KPIs… Well, whilst I did reports at my time as Brand Manager, I always  had my manager to support me in the interpretation. Nevertheless, I said I would love to do it … Whilst it was horrifying as it completely pushed me out of my comfort zone and I wasn’t as confident that I could do it by myself, it was also a good chance to shine. I spent weeks working throughout the night to get the reports happening and tried to match up numbers and make recommendations but nothing seemed to make sense or added up. Initially I doubted myself to ever be able to do it as I was buried in data and information without any links to each other but I didn’t tell my manager as I just started my new job and told him I could do it. The long hours I spent on analytics and reporting, I developed a genuine interest for it and could add new insights in every single report which resulted in me not only taking the pasta sauce brand from nr 2 in the market to market leader but I also launched a completely new category - ready to cook sauces. Most of my nearly 17 launched products during my 2 years tenure with the company are still in Austrian shelfs and it makes me smile every time I visit and see them still there.

Then, my next project came up – I wanted to gain international experience to speed up my career opportunities in Austria. I came to Australia for an initial 6 months stay to do my Cert III and IV in Fitness with the plan to go back and focus on growing my own PT business in Austria further. Having fallen in love with Australia, the 6 months have become now 6.5 years and it’s been a great journey with many challenges along the way but also amazing experiences: I not only had the opportunity to develop a public transport product in my first role in Australia but I could also launch and promote European spirit brands in QLD and created a number of tasty sandwiches for a large take away company in Australia and NZ. After 8 years in FMCG marketing, I became itchy feet and wanted to try something completely different, wasn’t quite sure what but something that pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me in a new way. So I took the leap of faith and entered a new industry, recruitment (kind of by accident though). It was a big decision as I love marketing and was in the industry for quite some time but also thought if I wanted to grow and see what else is out there, I needed to make a change. Daunting enough, I got knocked back by multiple agencies due to ‘lack of sales experience’ which made me again even more determined to peruse it even further and prove that you don’t need the experience to be good at it as long as you give 110%. The team at Hudson must have seen something in me and has given me the opportunity to a launch a new desk – again, very daunting as digital marketing was very new (read – completely foreign) to me but again, I put my head down and worked as hard as I could which again resulted in my developing a real passion for the industry. I not only could establish a profitable desk but have now grown the specialisation into a standalone practice within the company and have been given the opportunity to work on even bigger projects in the background which I am personally passionate about and the business supports me in realising it. 

And the moral of the story is ...

Long story short … you don’t always need to know already everything or have had the experience in doing it as long as you have the eagerness to learn it and be prepared to put in the extra mile before you get something back. People are get given chances and opportunities when they show initiative – no one will run your door in and beg you to work with or for them. If you have an idea or a suggestion on how to add value to your dream company, go for it and be prepared to work hard to realise your dream. You need to have faith in you and your abilities, otherwise no one else will have it either and give you the chance to prove it. Know what you can do and show it to the world. As long as you think you are the best for the job, you will be the best for it! So get up and active and kick some goals this week!