Where can transferable skills lead you?

Let’s talk about an underrated concept: transferable skills.

Transferrable skills are what helps you in life to make a change of career by making a change within an industry, from one industry to another or from one environment to another (corporate world to start-up or employee to self-employed for instance).

There is no better way to draw the conclusions of what I have learnt than by telling you my story. Learnings are summarised on my post.

When you are addicted to challenges like I am and refuse to remain in your comfort zone, you keep on taking the risk to completely change your industry, your environment, your geography.

Going from Brussels to Hong Kong was my first challenge because of doing business with totally different cultures and markets such as Japan, South Korea or the Philippines. Leaving Employee Benefits to Trade credit insurance was a bigger challenge as I had no expertise in that field – yet I received an “outstanding sales achiever” award within less than 2 years.

When I then decided to leave the corporate world to the start-up world it wasn’t for an Insurtech but for a genetic testing and digital health start-up. Here again, I surprised everyone with such a decision, and I felt this is the biggest challenge of my life. Pioneering the discussions between genetics and insurance in Europe was probably one of the most humbling and interesting mission I had. We did great but I could not have done without my brilliant colleagues nor without the support I received from the insurance industry. They helped me overcome the challenge.

During covid, I started my own company in London doing fractional consultancy for Insurtech and Healthtech start-ups. It was a risk I decided to take over joining back the traditional insurance industry. I thought that it was the opportunity for me to do my own thing and have no boss. Here again the insurance industry supported me.

In Dubai, with being exposed to a smaller ecosystem, I quickly became industry agnostic and a mentor, advisor to start-ups/founders regardless their industry. “Early stage” became my expertise and that’s why I co-founded a boutique venture studio called Thought On Paper to support idea stage. Love ideas, I always have ideas for new businesses but when you have an idea you have nothing until you execute it. UBQT was one of the first ideas of Thought On Paper that we co-built it with my dear friend and now co-founder Jonathan.

I wasn’t a co-founder of UBQT until last December. It didn’t come to me suddenly; it was a thought process. A process of getting to know my co-founder on the business side. However, after advising and mentoring so many founders, I felt ready at some point to go through the same route and go full-on in one thing and over time realised that thing couldn’t be Insurtech or Healthtech because it would not be a challenge for me. I found the right co-founder and the right idea – dream combination. It became a no-brainer.

UBQT is me, it is my life, my personal and professional network story, it is also the story with my co-founder who I know since I am 18, with who I spent a great time with when we were both in Asia and who lived in the same city as me – Dubai – for a year without me knowing it.

People who know me very well, from the insurance industry or else, are not surprised at all.

Ludovic Bayard sent me the day of our official launch: “give it time, you will find the angle”. Michael Hansen told me: “you don’t have to explain it to me, I already got it before you even started to speak”. Nadin Karadag told me that her fiancé asked her “why is Lara doing UBQT now if she has the expertise/background she has?” to this she answered “Because you see UBQT? UBQT is Lara in an app”.

They know what I am after, and I feel so blessed to have the support as usual of the people that know me with all the different hats I had the pleasure to wear over the years. From insurance to Insurtech, from mentor/advisor/venture builder to founder.

In a nutshell, to anyone, Founders, Angel investors, Global VCs in Insurtech, Healthtech, VCs in the region, that know me only for the past couple of years and are wondering why I started a social networking app, your answer is in these words: transferable skills, challenge, keep learning and pursuing myself in what I do! ?

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