Magdalena Massa
Team Lead Sales Administration
“I think more women want to be a part of new and exciting developments in tech. The beauty of it is that you don't have to be a tech genius to succeed; you can bring so many skills, experiences, and values to this industry.”
From delivering finance solutions that make customers' lives easier, to championing diversity and inclusion in the field, it pays to be a trailblazer in Finance, like Magdalena Massa.
Why it pays to have women working in Finance
Having studied Marketing and Economics, it's not that much of a surprise that Magdalena fell into the field of Finance. However, she's the first to admit that she's not the savviest when it comes to tech. “It was my husband who inspired me to look into finance roles in the tech industry because he works as a Head of Technology. It seemed like a good fit for me because I wanted to work somewhere modern, fresh, innovative, and sustainable.” “Although I'm not tech-savvy myself, I wanted to join a company that was developing a cool product that I believed in, which is how I found myself at Foleon.” She soon became responsible for managing operational tasks, such as the order to cash process and billing customers correctly for the product. “When we see product changes, that means we have to keep an eye on license types too, adjusting payments and administration accordingly. I took the helm in setting up many new processes and optimizing them so that it was automated better. The operational part of the job is what I really liked about it.” Magdalena insists that with the world of automation opening up, it's an excellent opportunity for more women to look at roles that tech has to offer in areas such as Development, Sales, and Finance. “I think more women want to be a part of new and exciting developments in tech. The beauty of it is that you don't have to be a tech genius to succeed; you can bring so many skills, experiences, and values to this industry. And you may not have all the answers, but that's okay because no one knows everything. It's good that people don't all think the same way. The more diverse your teams are, the stronger they are.”
We all struggle with balancing responsibilities. It might be harder to make those career leaps we want so badly. While it takes energy and sacrifice, know this; we can do it all.”
When Magdalena first joined the Finance team at Foleon, she mostly spoke Dutch in the Amsterdam office. As the team grew and became more international, she tapped into one of her more unique and lesser-known skills — she's a natural polyglot. “I'm originally from Poland, and I speak up to four languages — Polish, German, Dutch, and English. As the Finance team has become more international over the years, I've now reverted to English, which I find to be more inclusive.” While touching on the topic of being more inclusive, Magdalena recalls a story from earlier in her career where she faced firsthand discrimination from a departmental manager during her first pregnancy. “I had been promoted to Supervisor around the same time as my pregnancy, and a manager from another team made an inappropriate remark about it. My promotion was a step forward in her eyes, but my pregnancy was a step back. She was almost asking me, 'how could you do that?'” “Although this took place nearly ten years ago, it's still something that plays on my mind today. I remember being too shocked to say anything back to her, so I mentioned it to the HR team, and they told me to ignore it.” Although comprehensive statistics are lacking, some estimates suggest pregnancy discrimination is rampant and takes various forms. A currently or recently pregnant employee might be fired (which remains legally permissible in nearly 40 countries), kept from promotion, or moved into a lower-paying role. “It was an unpleasant experience, and with the benefit of hindsight, I would tell that manager that her opinion on my life choice was incredibly hurtful. We should be focusing our energy on lifting each other up, not discriminating against one another.” Magdalena has this to say for anyone who has reservations about entering the world of tech as a woman. “We all struggle with different responsibilities on our plates, from balancing our home lives, children, education, and ambitions to develop and grow. It might even be harder to make those career leaps we so badly want. While it takes energy and sacrifice, know this; we can do it all.”
“We should be focusing our energy on lifting each other up, not discriminating against one another.”