In a sell out HEC Alumni event Anita shared a panel with HEC Alumni Marie Christine Wallis and Sophie Debaere, moderated by Marine Buclon-Ducasse, where we shared personal career change journeys and discussed topics of interest to the audience.
We speakers were in a sense from three generations and this was reflected in how many career changes we have made to date and how they unfolded; Anita three and Marie Christine two and Sophie one.
Marie Christine who started her career in consulting but then, through her interest in stylish affordable fashion and encouragement by a friend, wrote opportunistically to Zara (she used to go to Paris to buy Zara clothes) and asked them why they did not consider opening in London. They hired her and she subsequently led the UK market entry.
After taking time off to bring up children she has been an interim executive – using the business skills she gained at Zara - until recently when she joined a family law firm as Director of Chambers, In effect their COO.
Sophie spent 10 years post her Masters in Communications and Media and one day felt she just had to do something else and quit. She is now a successful entrepreneur in the corporate wellness sector.
The audience asked: Do you have to go independent – all of us are or have been (Marie-Christine) - to have a second career with meaning?
No, you don’t. As my book "Purpose & Impact' shows: we can help change issues in society from wherever we work.
But if you want to be the one who decided how to run your life and work – one day you are likely to consider this route, at least for a while...
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