Eight years. That's the gap between finishing my university and getting my first job in data.
In 2012, I finished automotive engineering in Italy. Some of my university friends started working at companies like Ferrari and BMW, and began building their careers. I was jealous.
I moved to Germany because of meeting my husband. I had zero knowledge of German. I had no friends there. Then I had my son and daughter.
In 2018, I started my second master's degree because I couldn't find a good job in the automotive industry in Berlin. In 2020, I got my first job in data. In 2026, I completed my first year as Head of Data & Cloud.
When I look at my friends, I still see those eight years of professional experience I didn't have. Sometimes, I wonder what my career would look like if I'd started earlier.
But those years taught me things no job did. How to start over in a country where you don't speak the language. How to keep going when the path isn't clear. How to learn something completely new while raising two children.
They made me who I am and the leader today. Not through any training but durch life itself.
I'm not saying those eight years were better than eight years of professional experience. They weren't a substitute for that experience, either.
But I've stopped seeing them only as lost time.
We didn't all start from the same place. And we don't have to follow the same timeline. I'm still running my own race. You too.
This is part of my "100 Days of Year One" series. Follow along as I share what I've learned in my first year as Head of Data and Cloud.