Tell me about your career journey and how you got to where you are today.

Some people’s journeys are very straightforward, but mine isn’t.  There were a lot of different side steps, and I feel like I’ve reinvented myself many times.

I started out as an English teacher, following my first degree. Teaching was interesting, but I found I didn’t just want to pass on knowledge, I also wanted to use it myself. I went back to school, got a second bachelor’s in marketing and a master’s in fashion marketing.

I’ve always been interested in fashion and clothes; I don’t see it as superficial. Like in the story of Cinderella - a pair of shoes can change your life, right? It’s a fascinating world. Quite early in my career, I got lucky and was contacted by Adidas to join them as a product manager.

At that time, I was living in Moscow. My job was to select the right products for the Russian market, estimate how much stock we needed from factories, and collaborate with colleagues on marketing campaigns.

After four and a half years, I moved to Germany to work at the Adidas headquarters. I continued in marketing, but I kept asking myself - what’s next? Everyone was talking about digital technology. I didn’t have a formal background in tech, but I knew I had relevant skills to bring in. Adidas had a development programme called Talent Carousel, where 20 people were selected to move to a country they’d never lived in, and into a role they’d never done.

That’s how I went from marketing in Germany to tech in South Korea. I was responsible for business intelligence from the IT perspective, even though I had never coded or worked in tech before.

Luckily, I had a very supportive manager, Sandra Huber, who told me: Your job is to be a manager and solve problems. What helped me was having a rookie mindset. I wasn’t afraid to ask questions, in fact, I asked millions of them. I was constantly learning from my more experienced colleagues.

The company was going through a massive SAP rollout at the time. It was a huge change process, and I was in the middle of it. Some colleagues didn’t speak English, so we even used translation apps in our day-to-day - that was a first for me.

I spent two years in South Korea. After that, I thought to myself: if I can succeed in this, I can do even more. I moved back to Germany and led the analytics team in a new department called Digital Partner Commerce, working with online retailers like Amazon, Zalando, and ASOS. It was during the pandemic, so digital became the only sales channel.

For the last four years, I’ve been part of the Advanced Analytics team. My team includes product owners, data engineers, and data scientists. We apply data science to brand marketing, predicting fashion trends from market data to support product creation. We’re also working on projects like developing the best running shoes for top athletes.

Why South Korea?

They offered it to me. I could have said no, but I was curious. At first, I thought I should go to Latin America, I felt more culturally connected. But when they offered me South Korea, I was fascinated. It’s such a different culture to what I had previously experienced.

And once I arrived, I fell in love with it. Korean culture is incredibly influential in Asia, especially in fashion and trends. A lot of what’s popular originates in South Korea. They have a huge entertainment industry, and the country is at the forefront of Asian culture and economy.

It wasn’t a 100% conscious decision, I felt pulled toward it. And I’m happy I ended up there.

Can you share some key milestones or achievements in your career so far?

Up to now, I’ve worked in three different countries and across several domains: marketing, IT, sales, and analytics. Twice, I’ve built teams from scratch. These were new departments, and we had to define our purpose, set up processes, and hire the right people. That’s something I’m proud of.

What are the most important skills you've developed throughout your career?

If I had to name a superpower, I’d say I can explain complicated things in a very simple way.

I’m a fast learner, which is probably why I’ve led three tech teams without a deep technical background. I learn fast, but can also translate what I’ve learned to others. My team is very technical, but we work closely with creatives like designers and marketers who think more visually.

Because I’ve worked in both worlds, I can bridge the gap. It’s funny that being an English teacher and translator were my first jobs, and now I’m still translating, just in a different way. I help the fashion world understand tech, and tech understand fashion.

How do you stay up to date with trends or challenges in your industry?

For me, trends are always about understanding the consumer. It’s not abstract, it’s about people. I try to understand who we are targeting as a brand.  

Now, everyone is focused on Gen Z, but soon Gen Alpha will become even more important. Each generation grows up in different conditions. I’m a millennial, and we didn’t grow up with phones, but Gen Z is fully digital. It affects how they see the world and what they value. My generation Googles things. Gen Z looks to TikTok. Baby Boomers are on Facebook. That also affects where you get your data, and what kind of insights you can derive. It’s not just about numbers, it’s about context.

What have been some challenges you faced in your career, and how did you overcome them?

Changing roles in completely new directions was always tough. The most challenging moment was when I moved to South Korea.

Looking back now, it feels like a success, but at the time, it was hard. I was in a role with a lot of responsibility, but no prior experience. I didn’t always know how to meet expectations.

But I was lucky. I had great colleagues, and one of them, Sungeun, is still one of my best friends, even though we now live on different continents. I also had a supportive manager who told me in the right moment, “Everything is going to be fine.”

One of the lessons I learned is that it’s okay to ask for help. We don’t have to know everything. There are always people with more experience or perspective who can help when your mind is clouded by stress or doubt.

How has networking and connecting with other professionals shaped your career?

Honestly, networking is the number one factor in career growth. Of course, there are thousands of jobs posted on LinkedIn. But in real life, most career moves happen through connections. Sometimes people recommend you without you even knowing.

When I moved into my current role, the hiring manager said, “You came highly recommended.” To this day, I don’t know who that was, but I’m incredibly grateful.

It’s important to have people who believe in you. We often talk about mentors who help you grow in your current role. But sponsors are equally vital, they’re the ones who help you take the next step. Some of my managers have supported me and helped me move forward. Without those sponsors, I think things would’ve been much harder.

What are some professional goals you're currently working towards?

I started in marketing, but I’ve been in tech roles for the last 7 or 8 years. Now I’m thinking about how to bring my tech experience back into marketing.

Combining both worlds would feel like closing the loop. I think being able to explain what’s possible with tech can help marketers. That’s the direction I want to explore next.

What's one piece of advice you've received that has stuck with you, and that you'd like to pass along to others?

When I was in South Korea, there were only about 10 non-Koreans in an office of 400 people. Even though Koreans are super nice and supportive, I was still very much “the different one.”

I had a GM back then, Eddie Nixon, who was British and had worked in Japan and Korea. When I was overwhelmed, he shared his own experience. Just knowing someone else had gone through something similar made me feel less alone.  

The advice I’d pass on is to talk to someone. Share what you’re going through. Ask questions. You’ll realise you’re never as alone as you think.

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