This article was first featured in Business Review’s special editorial project Women Redefining Business 2025 (print edition), celebrating the remarkable journeys of the most innovative and successful female business leaders in Romania.
My career has been unusual, but well-rounded and transformative. Over the past 17+ years I have worked across CPG, Health, and Banking, in 5 different countries (Romania, Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, and the US), alternating between local, regional, and global roles. This journey allowed me to help businesses, brands, and teams grow while constantly stretching myself.
What’s unusual is that I started the international journey right after my very first local assignment. I still remember my manager at that time telling me that moving to a global role might not be the wisest step for my career (at least not in the short term, versus choosing a role on the local team) but that it would be rewarding, help me learn more, and see a different side of marketing. He was right: the mix of local and global roles made be a better, more level-headed marketer and leader.
One of the defining moments in my career was moving to the US for a local role. Even though I had worked abroad before, this was a completely new continent, with different consumer habits, business dynamics, retailers, and ways of working. I quickly realised that what had worked in Europe could not simply be replicated in the US. I could not just go into action mode; consumer deep dives combined with simply learning, listening, observing the local team were key to getting this right.
It wasn’t always easy. There were moments of doubt and learning curves but also “eureka” moments, presentations with the CEO, getting his support at critical times, and many amazing team brainstorms and “let’s get it done” moments. Resilience, agility, and openness to the new environment helped me navigate. We did not only successfully launch the new brand—beating the targets and soon challenging the #1 in the category—but I also grew enormously as a professional and as a team leader. For me, leadership is about people, performance, and purpose. I strive to bring energy, clarity, and direction to the teams I work with.
Looking back at my first year at ING, it was all about setting the foundations for growth: making it clear that growing the business meant growing the brand, bringing consumer centricity to the forefront, developing a locally relevant, globally inspired communication platform, and rethinking our agency roster to deliver more impact and magic.
But perhaps the most rewarding part has been seeing the team around me grow and expand their impact and influence. Marketing & communication has historically been a female-heavy field, but not always in management positions. When I started my career, I remember that most managing directors were male. Since then, I’ve seen things evolve significantly. Along with the fact that there are more women in leadership positions, we’ve started having more honest conversations about work and work-life balance. Vulnerability is a sign of strength, not of weakness. I see people in both teams and leadership roles having more space to be themselves.
