Spotlight on BWBW Success: In conversation with Caroline Prélaz

It is our pleasure to introduce Caroline Prélaz who undertook the Bring Women Back to Work (BWBW) program in 2021.?

After an extensive career in the world of high-end luxury, Caroline reskilled with Bring Women Back to Work and now works as a freelance Project Manager & Business Analyst, bringing her digital transformation skills to small and medium-sized businesses.

Read on to discover Caroline’s personal and professional transformation through the BWBW program.

BWBW: Caroline, you were born in the Swiss Alps. Can you tell us a little about your early life and career before joining the Bring Women Back to Work program?

Caroline Prélaz (CP): ? I was born in the heart of the Swiss Alps in the small town of Sion in the Valais. From the age of four, I followed traditional schooling and indulged my love for skiing and classical dancing. Unlike my friends, my father was the stay-at-home parent and my mother worked. I distinctly remember not knowing how to explain this “complex” situation to my friends but I later realised the strength it gave in respecting differences. My father undoubtedly was the inspiration for my interest in artistic life and my later career choices.

Academic life came easily to me and soon I left home to study for my Arts degree. I am very independent and used the summer breaks from university to backpack extensively, discovering the United States, Venezuela and Asia. I am very goal oriented and in my last year of university I worked at Geneva airport boarding the first flights of the day. As I travelled to work at 5 am, I was often passing other young people on their way home from nights out. These experiences became fundamental in how, even now, I manage my time and persevere to achieve my goals.

At the end of my academic career, I was delighted to be shortlisted for the Arditi Foundation Prize for best research work and I went on to various internships, including one for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). I continued my education in IT and sought to broaden my horizons by working with other cultures.?

Ultimately, my career as a Project Coordinator for a luxury watch brand, in international markets, allowed me to work in English, German, Spanish and Italian. No matter where I am, I take pride in meeting people where they are and understanding their point of view.

BWBW: In 2021, you joined the third cohort of Bring Women Back to Work in Switzerland. What led you to apply for the program?

CP: With the arrival of my children and the impact of the COVID pandemic, like many, I began to feel the need to redefine the contours of my professional life. I saw the triggers impacting purchasing behaviours, and the new ways of working, and sought to develop a broader understanding of digital business. I did not want to miss out on the revolution that is transforming the economy.

I was lucky to meet Florence Micol from Accenture who then introduced me to Vanessa Gentile and the Bring Women Back to Work program - I knew I had found my place.?

BWBW: Tell us a little about your time with the program and the impact it had on you.

CP: More than just a reskilling program on Salesforce technology, through the Bring Women Back to Work community, I was able to find the answer to my questions on how to manage a demanding professional activity with an intense family life. The program allowed me to do a lot of personal work on my self- confidence and see that you must know yourself and your values well to create a job around your interests.

The program also allowed me to explore a diverse range of topics and follow my interests in new areas such as AI, carbon zero and sustainability. I now take my son to school by electric bike, have initiated the discussion on global warming at my son’s school and I dedicate time to continuing my education in data analysis online.?

Without question, the BWBW theme of working daily to become better versions of ourselves resonates deeply with me. As professionals, parents and children we are vectors of our values and have a responsibility towards future generations and our planet.

The notion of “give back” also lit a spark in me and today in my work as a freelance Business Analyst in digital transformation. My focus is on using the key digital skills I acquired to serve small and medium-sized businesses as well as philanthropic organisations.

BWBW: Caroline, tell us about your career since you finished the BWBW program.

CP: Within a few months of joining the BWBW program, I took the position of Project Manager with Merkle DACH. The workshops I had undertaken with Accenture, SparkOptimus and Merkle among others, during my time on the program,? allowed me to draw parallels with my experiences in the luxury retail industry and the spectacular acceleration of brands’ investments in the digitalization of international distribution. Aside from the purely technical skills, it was the analysis of needs and the power of artificial intelligence in different industries that enabled me to make the transition in 2021.

During my time with Merkle, I was fully involved with marketing automation projects, looking at unified data, marketing campaigns and data segmentation. These are techniques I now bring to my work as a Business Analyst in the medical industry. From experience, I have observed that small and medium-sized organisations are also demanding to centralise their data and to optimise their productivity through digitising their activities. The medical industry still has many gaps to fill in data standardisation and I am working to convince decision-makers that tools developed in other industries can be applied elsewhere with excellent results.

BWBW: As you reflect on your time with BWBW, what key messages would you like to share with others applying to the BWBW program?

Bring Women Back to Work is a reservoir of insights and trends, from a pool of professionals with very diverse backgrounds, who all anticipate in one way or another the future needs of business.

My luck was to have knocked on the door of visionary leaders like Florence and Vanessa, to have the listening ear of enlightened managers at Merkle who are willing to hire differently, and importantly, to have mentors available to support. My collaboration with my mentor was outstanding and supported me until I found more independence in my career decisions and found solutions on my own. Today we are friends and continue to discuss our lives, our choices and the evolution of business and customer needs.

In the end, the people you meet light that little spark to find the inner resources you need to allow you to realise yourself professionally and personally.

I express my gratitude to BWBW as I was welcomed with unconditional support from its founder Vanessa. Together with the women in the program, we created a community that continues beyond the initial objective of professional reskilling. In my opinion, the program makes us better women, mothers, wives, partners and colleagues.? I hope the values we share will echo out to others and I know we will serve as role models to each other with resilience, sisterhood, respect, listening and continuous encouragement in our respective journeys without judgement.

Congratulations, Caroline, on your success with the Bring Women Back to Work program. We are so proud of the professional and personal transformation that resulted from your time in the program. We wish you continued success in your roles in the world of digital transformation and the impact you have on the businesses you work with.

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