Welcome to our Mentee Spotlight of Femme Palette, where we share inspiring growth journeys from women in our mentoring program. In this interview, we meet Aleksandra Bratek, UX & UI Designer at Tietoevry and a graduate of Interaction Design from the Architecture and Design School in Oslo. Originally from Poland and now based in Norway, Aleksandra joined the Femme Palette mentoring program at a pivotal moment - leading teams as a junior designer while navigating imposter syndrome, rising expectations, and the growing pressure to connect design with business impact.
Are you planning to work for a corporation? Or do you already work for one and you’re wondering how to get more out of your current role? Here are my tips which I have learnt from the last five years in working for one of them.
I used to be constantly in a rush, managing a million things. Not only did I have an overflowing to-do list; I actually had a number of them. Days were too short, and I couldn’t even properly switch off during the night. Weekends or holidays were the same. I had this nagging inner voice reminding me of the outstanding matters that needed to be done. Don’t get me wrong, I loved what I was doing. Part of me enjoyed being involved in exciting stuff, meeting people, travelling. But as the pace was manic, I was exhausted and fragile.
Even though our main focus since the beginning has been to help women with their professional development, since we heard many stories of women struggling with their careers, our programs are open to any other genders who also want to grow professionally. Read about the stories of two men that applied to our programs and their experience.
Harassment is not an easy topic. Although it doesn't get to be discussed openly, physical, digital, or sexual harassment still happens from time to time at every workplace. What to do if you or someone you know become a person who is being harassed by a coworker? There are several steps in the process – make sure to get through them, speak out, and don't hesitate to seek help. You're not alone!
None of us were born as leaders but we are capable of leading regardless of what we are doing in an organization. We might think that we’d be stepping on someone’s toes if we tried to lead though we are not in charge. But trust me, the principles I am going to share with you will help express our absolute best and elevate others without needing a title. We can show the leader inside us by just following these simple principles.
Are you afraid of change? Get a mentor to help you fight it! This could be the message of the interview with one of our mentees Tereza Svedova and her mentor Michaela Kloudová, the founder & CEO of Genster. Misa not only guided Terka in leaving her comfortable job in finance into the unknown world of start-ups, but she also introduced her to its Czech community. And all of that despite being very skeptical about mentoring in the first place. Thank you for putting your trust in Femme Palette.
Wish you had a proper summer break, same as at school or university times? Shame we can’t travel back in time and enjoy three months off! But today, having full-time jobs and many responsibilities,summer is still a slow season, with many vacation days to take. It means you can still have some time off and use this summer break to your advantage. So how to get the most out of your, even short, summer break?
A friend once showed me a graph of his salary progression over the years (yes, he’s that person), it looked like those generic graphs you see on cartoons: smooth, up, and to the right. My heart sank, is that what mine was supposed to look like? Because let me tell you, the best way to describe my career is: turbulent.
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