From a Digital Producer for her university magazine to Head of Experience & Design for Gomeeki, we caught up with Laura on her impressive career through digital & design.

Career

Laura was born and raised in Finland, with both her parents working in Business & Technology. Naturally, this meant she was always quite curious about the industry and she completed a Masters degree in Business, undertaking studies both in Finland and Australia. During this time, she worked for the university magazine as a Digital Producer and this is where she really became interested in design.

Laura completed her thesis, conducting user research on how technology is used in the workplace and how it could facilitate more effective work. This research was highly regarded but instead of continuing through a doctorate, she decided to find her feet in the business world and joined Accenture’s Customer Strategy division. Laura loved working in consultancy because it offered her the opportunity to work with different clients on different projects exploring analytics, e-commerce and marketing so early on in her career. This gave her a much better understanding of what she wanted to do. UX design was not a well-defined topic at this point in time but she knew that she wanted to do something with Technology and Design, having always been a creative person and loving the arts. Accenture transferred Laura over to Sydney, where she worked as part of Accenture Interactive until the start of 2017.

Laura then spent two years at Oakton/Dimension Data as Experience & Design Practice Lead, where she delivered services in digital experience and grew the design team. Most recently, Laura joined Gomeeki as Head of Experience & Design, having always wanted to work within a start-up environment, and has loved every day of it so far. She is able to work on innovative projects in a dynamic environment with a great team and is excited about the opportunities to grow.

Leadership and Mentors

Laura feels she has been lucky in her career that she has always had someone in every company that has supported and guided her. She has found that good managers have definitely made a difference to her career, and if she never had this then she would have likely sought out a mentor.

Laura is a direct person, and she can imagine that some people believe this to be a Finnish stereotype and it could be perceived in a negative way in some contexts. However, in her career, it has seemed to work in her favour, as she has never been afraid to challenge or ask questions and put her opinion forward.

Leadership qualities that she admires and strives for:

• People focused – empower people to do their jobs
• Authentic and approachable
• Transparent and leading by example
• Visionary characteristics

Teams

Laura highlights that whilst she works in a male-dominated industry, the male/female difference within the companies she has worked for hasn’t really been something she has observed and the culture has always been positive. In Finland, women and men are seen very much as equal so it has never been within her thinking. As a result, when building teams Laura would be hesitant recruiting based on a quota, and although she is keen to see more women in the Tech industry, she wants the best people in her team, who are the right fit for the company. Diversity to her does not only mean female/male ratio, but also other aspects such as cultural diversity. She finds that she sometimes doesn’t get as many women applying for roles, possibly because they may be more risk averse than men and sometimes hold themselves back if they don’t feel they are 100% qualified.

Advice

Laura’s advice to women starting out their career in Tech:

• Take the risk. You are never going to know everything, so don’t be afraid to try something new. You’ll learn.
• Don’t specialise too early, more experience gives you a different perspective.
• Play to your strengths and do what you love.
• Seek to work for inspiring people who you respect.

Laura is clearly extremely passionate about what she does and wants to lead her team by example. She has demonstrated an extraordinary career thus far, with a vision for even more success driving forward.