What brought you to the Netherlands initially?

I’m originally from Helsinki, Finland. I was finishing my MBA in Finland and decided to come here for an exchange year at the Vrije University. Midyear, I was lucky enough to get an Accounting Assistant role in an IT Distribution company and started working there part-time in the Finance Department. As the semester drew to a close, they asked me to stay on full time in an FP&A role - and I did. The company was a hyper-growth start up and was acquired first by Lockheed Martin and then by GE. With the growth of the company, my responsibilities kept progressing throughout the years and ultimately I became Finance Director. Career-wise there was more opportunity in the Netherlands and it made no sense to return to Finland.

What do you like the most about living and working here?

It’s very relatable for me coming from Northern Europe. It’s a very well run country; everything works well – there’s good infrastructure, education and healthcare and consequently very few frustrations and a good ease of living. There’s also a very good acceptance of the importance of work/life balance.

You have worked for Black Box since 2004. What have been the main changes to finance processes that you have seen throughout that time?

Well, my job has changed completely, a couple of times over, during this time. When I started, it was a corporate finance function. It was a decentralised matrix organisation; we did mainly strategy, corporate reviews and consolidation and were not very operationally involved. Over the years we became functionalised and in 2017 we created the shared service centre in the Netherlands – now it’s a completely operational finance function. Finance roles have also changed over the last 10 years – finance is now more focused on strategy and financial analysis, as a decision-making tool. What was the bread and butter of finance when I started - accounting and controlling - now has less focus, but is expected to work like a Swiss clock, always on time and never failing. Most of my day is spent on making decisions for the future rather than analysing historical numbers.

When I first worked here, I was the only person in international corporate finance! It was a satellite function, supporting the VP for the business unit. As SOX and other changes came in, we created more corporate finance functions. If you do something well then you get more and more to do, which we embraced, and so the team grew and grew and we now have 30 people in finance in the Netherlands (80 in total).

We have expanded our business, especially in Far East and APAC, and changed our go-to-market model in some countries to channel. We purchased an R&D company in Ireland and launched our own products. All these have had an impact on the blueprint of the business and also on finance processes.

What kind of culture have you created in finance at Black Box and how?

It’s always funny when people talk about creating culture, because ultimately we are just ourselves at the office. It’s a very transparent environment. It’s challenging but, at the same time, very considerate. We have a lot of humour of course! And a good team spirit, coming from the challenging projects we have completed together, particularly over the past two years. We have converted the ERP together, to Microsoft Dynamics, and centralised together. All of these projects gel you together as a team. Also, other factors which I take for granted like the fact that our kitchen has long tables, where we always have a sit down lunch and spend some time together to share the latest news – we try not to talk business. As we’ve expanded, the tables have gotten longer!

What changes have you seen in terms of the challenges you face when recruiting?

Although some language and technical skills combinations are hard to find, in general Netherlands is reasonably easy to recruit in. Language skills are becoming less of an issue as business language is English more and more. The challenge is more in finding the right people who are adaptable and with wide range of (transferable) skills to transform together with the company, as we grow and change. As the department has grown, we have been able to attract and retain great talent, as they can see the progression opportunities.  I am very proud of my team, trying to be a good leader for them keeps me going.

What impact will the recent acquisition by AGC Networks have on the global presence of Black Box?

Our geographical coverage is complementary, AGC is strong in APAC and Middle East and we in Americas and Europe. So it’s really a perfect match – together our offering is quite complete. Furthermore our managed services capabilities are complementary. In short, it expands our reach in terms of global markets, verticals and clients.

What has been the biggest challenge for you in progressing to become VP Finance?

I think the biggest challenge for us all, is to have the opportunity to work with people who will teach, mentor and believe in you, especially in the formational years of your career. I took on a Finance Director role in a 300M EUR turnover hyper- growth organisation at 28 years old and that was definitely challenging. But luckily the management team was very collaborative, supportive and really gave me a kick start. If you have the right ingredients in the beginning of your career, after that it is about doing the work diligently, being curious, learning new skills and not getting stuck in the comfort zone. A lot of people helped me along the way, and there are some people I am indebted to for sure – for example  a HR Director in GE, who really helped me as I was very young with little life experience and managing a big team. You can imagine that was sometimes challenging. So good peers, managers who challenge you but also support you, to take bigger steps than you might have done, are so important.

If you could go back and change one thing about your career, what would it be and why?

I wish I would have had exposure to various industries, such as HealthCare or FMCG. I feel we get typecast easily based on our experience, but actually the skills are very transferable and often a fresh perspective may open new ways of doing things. I’m not sure it achieves anything if we continue to take people from the same pool.

What do you love most about your role?

I love a lot of things about my role. First of all, most of us have broader roles than you would expect (for example in GE I also managed logistics and legal) and, secondly, we have become more like strategy makers, supporting the Managing Director/CEO. It is our job to explain the financials, tell the story of the numbers and translate the strategic plans to numbers to validate the hypothesis. Because we know the numbers and are neutral, due to our position, we are often invited to the boardroom alongside the MD. Being invited to pitch a new strategy with the MD – this is the area I particularly enjoy in my role. So when affecting major changes, we often have a seat at the table which is exciting. Sometimes it’s very funny because I can work from micro to macro in one day – debating a small charge on an expense report and then making a decision on a 2 million deal!

What advice would you give to women in finance careers who are looking to progress to a senior level?

Generally, just say yes to challenges, trust yourself and others and delegate if you need to.  There is nothing as empowering as taking on a new challenge. Things that you may see as limiting may be your biggest strengths, for example if you are short of time because of small kids, you are probably excellent in organising, prioritising and multitasking and family life has given you great interaction and situational skills. Sometimes the life skills we acquire as a parent are completely transferable in business.  So take the chances offered to you - once you have overcome something difficult, you gain confidence and get into a positive cycle, so be courageous!

Is there anyone, either in your personal life or in the public eye, who you would aspire to be like?

I don’t really believe in idolizing anyone. I appreciate people and read and learn, but in my eyes sometimes ordinary people are bigger heroes than people who get media coverage. We all have our own paths to follow and the responsibility to make the best out of them. In my family, my Grandfather came to Helsinki as a young man with no education and very little money in his pocket and became a successful  entrepreneur with several businesses. He was also a man of faith and so did missionary work. To complete his education, he went to university in his 60’s! He was, to me, a great example of being open-minded to the opportunities that life can give you and of being courageous.