THINK WOMEN
GLOBAL MOBILITY
FEELING AT HOME AT WORK Hard work and passion are fundamental to building an award-winning business that has positively impacted relocating assignees from around the world. “To be successful, it is important to have passion. If you're not passionate, if you don't love your Monday mornings, then you’re not at the right place,” says Manuela. “I also believe you must share that passion with your
employees; it’s the only way they will share your same feelings. It's very important for Beautiful Apartments Sweden, for me, to share all these important steps and lead by example; am I living and breathing my business? Perhaps I am.” Providing a positive environment for clients relies
on having a great workplace culture where people not only share a passion for the service they provide, but also have integrity and trust each other. “We are quite a small team of 20 and we’re like family.” Celebrating small steps as well as the big successes is also part of Beautiful Apartments Sweden’s workplace culture. “You have to stop sometimes and just think about the work we are executing and celebrate all the hard work that leads to good results, but most of all happy clients.”
SURROUNDING YOURSELF WITH STRONG WOMEN Despite the always-on, 24-7 nature of running a business, downtime with family and friends, as well as colleagues, is also very much valued by Manuela. She credits the women in her family for normalising this self-starting mindset and the supportive environment in which passions and ambition can be achieved. “I come from a family of very strong women, all
having made a new career after having migrated to a new country,” says Manuela. “My mother moved from Poland to Italy as a young adult and many years later to Sweden with me and my sister. She worked hard, studying into late evening while working as CFO in different international companies. I am very proud of her because of all that she did for me and my sister. I can see a little bit of myself now in her, raising a 17-year-old daughter.” Similarly, Manuela’s maternal grandmother and
aunt normalised balancing successful careers with family life. “It starts with my grandmother, who was the strongest woman I know. My grandmother emigrated to Sweden together with my grandfather from Poland in 1969. She worked at the Swedish Nobel Library and with the Swedish Nobel Academy where she introduced Polish writers such as Czeslaw Milosz, who won the Nobel Prize in 1980. Then you have my aunt, who migrated from Poland to the US, worked as bank director at Citibank and many years later moved back to Poland where she managed Poland's daily newspaper, ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’. “Passion and hard work run in our blood and
although all women in the family were very hard- working, family has always come first.” Today Manuela continues to draw strength and inspiration from the women in her social and
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professional networks. “They are all entrepreneurs working hard. I am surrounded by all these strong entrepreneurial women. It's wonderful to have that network where we meet from time to time, have never- ending lunches where we speak business, give each other feedback and ideas.” Despite Sweden being home to one of the most
equal societies in the world, “sometimes, being a woman, when you are at a management level, you can feel quite alone. It’s therefore wonderful to have this network of women who support you and give you the spirit to work further. “Sweden is a good place to do business as a woman,”
continues Manuela. “There are still areas that could be improved, around salaries for example, but it’s improving. When I started ten years ago, I was really scared of building a business and leaving a full-time job while having a family. “I believe it is very important to be surrounded by
people who support and push you in a positive way. Make sure to have the support and network around you and trust in yourself, because if I can, you can do it too.”
“ I wanted to offer a better product than our competitors. For me, it was about being more ‘out-of-the- box’ and flexible, which is one of our core words.”
Below: Manuela collecting her 2022 Relocate Award
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