Women of Swarovski - Ewa Siemion

Ewa joined Swarovski exactly 4 years ago and is now Managing Director Global Business Services and Head of Customer Service Operations based in Costa Rica. Gender equality and women empowerment are very close to her heart, which reflect in her daily actions, involvement and in the great insights she shared with us.

Your career, in a few lines.

?I chose a career in Customer Service as I strongly believe that as a profession, we have a superpower to influence how a brand is perceived on the market. I applied for the job of a Customer Service Team Manager at Swarovski just over 4 years ago after visiting Gdansk with my friends. Little did I know that this application will change my professional life to such a degree and that I will move to Costa Rica as a result. I currently hold the position of Managing Director and Head of Customer Service at Swarovski Global Business Services, and I am very proud of the daily work that my team does.

One challenge you had to overcome.

A few years ago, I have come to a point where I knew I wanted to extend my responsibility to a leadership position, however, it was next to impossible to do it formally. I decided that it will not stop me, and I changed my mindset: you do not have to have a managerial title to be able to influence the reality around you. I ran a few department-wide initiatives that gave me the experience I needed to apply for a leadership position in the future. I learned that you have to be ready for the next step when you take it and demonstrate your skills before the job posting is out there.

One a personal note, I continuously practice my resilience to comments that could potentially drag me down. ‘You chose career over having children’, ‘you should ask your boss, he is a man, he knows better’, ‘but you do not know how to do this job, why did you apply?’. Hearing such comments makes it easy to doubt yourself. Do not forget that surrounding yourself with the right people to lift you up, inspire you, help you change is crucial and that is your own responsibility.

One quote, or advice you would like to share with us.

"Something that I keep in mind daily is a quote from an American writer, Suzy Kassem: ‘Doubts kills more dreams than failure ever will’.

What usually holds us back is ourselves. Don’t be afraid to have high hopes for yourself. What is the worst that can really happen? Majority of our fears never materialize."