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.
I’ve approached my career with curiosity and drive. Early on, I set a clear goal: to join a large corporation through a graduate scheme that would expose me to multiple departments. I wanted to see how a business truly worked. That foundation shaped the way I lead today: connecting the dots across functions and building momentum through collaboration.
After that, I didn’t follow a rigid plan. I pursued roles that genuinely excited me and gave my best to each one. My personal definition of value is simple: leave things better than you found them. Sometimes I had to push hard to progress; other times, opportunities came more easily. In both cases, my family moved with me to support those opportunities. Saying “yes” changed everything.
One of the most challenging—and defining—chapters of my journey began after I became a mother. After a brief three-month maternity leave, while still feeding my baby, I returned to work. Soon after, my husband sold his business in Dubai in just 6 weeks so we could move to Germany. Our whole family—including our cocker spaniel, Chloe—lived in a hotel before relocating to Romania, where I became a CEO at 32.
It was a whirlwind of change, but also a turning point. I had an exceptional team, and together we delivered meaningful results: sales growth that outpaced the market, a surge in workshop business, and a retail transformation that redefined how we connected with customers. It taught me to lead with empathy, stay clear in chaos, and trust a united team.
One of the most transformative initiatives I’ve led is the evolution of our CRM hub in Romania. What began as a traditional CRM function has grown into a European Experience Centre, now delivering end-to-end digital marketing solutions. With my marketing background, I helped shape the vision and support the team. Today, the Centre supports campaigns across multiple European markets—a testament to what focused ambition and collaboration can achieve.
More broadly, I lead with agility in a fast-changing industry. I believe in imperfect action over paralysis by analysis, embrace disruption as opportunity, and stay relentlessly curious—especially in emerging areas like artificial intelligence.
In automotive, the presence of women in leadership has shifted from exception to expectation, and rightly so. As the Mercedes-Benz “Be One of Many” campaign affirms, true inclusion means seeing women in senior roles as standard, not standout. At Mercedes-Benz Romania, 50% of senior leadership positions are held by women. I’ve learned from strong female role models and now mentor emerging women leaders. True progress is when gender is no longer the headline, but simply part of the norm.
