Case Study: Małgorzata

Introduction:

Malgorzata graduated from an IT study at a private university in Rzeszow – the University of Information Technology and Management – and then earned a master’s degree in economics at the same university in 1998. After graduation, she started working in a bank because it was always her dream. She worked in two banks: BPH and Alior Bank for more than 17 years as a customer advisor. Over the years, she became very disillusioned with working at the bank and especially the unethical approach to employees and customers. She took care of her home and family for a year and then started working at Pro-Familia medical store. 

In her current job she has discovered her talent for sewing plush toys for children. Over time, she began selling her handcrafts to customers and their children, who with their parents come to the hospital to visit their newborn siblings. 

Małgorzata is an artist who produces handicraft .  She uses digital tools in order to sell her products. Potential clients can find her products on her Instagram and Facebook.   https://www.instagram.com/mtomaka/ 

Right now she does not own a stationary store to sell her products. 

Motivation:

Margaret was motivated to make a change in her professional life by professional burnout and disappointment with her job in finance.  After 17 years, she left her job at the bank and took on the challenge of changing jobs. Margaret very much enjoys working with people and continues to do so only in a different industry. Opportunities and threats that have had a big impact on her career are: opportunities: changing jobs a chance to make a better life and learn more about herself and her talents. Threats: job burnout in finance, even though this job was a dream come true for her. 

Małgorzata was motivated to start new professional life after working for many years at the bank. Working at the corporation was very stressful for her, the relation at work were very toxic and she decided to take a break for a year and decide what to do next. As a form of therapy, she started to produce handicraft products such as: home decoration, holiday decoration, jewellery, renovation of furniture, etc.

Support Received:

Małgorzata has received support from her family and friends.

Objectives:

The objective was to become freelancer and financially independent person.

To achieve this, Margaret had to define her skills. Her strengths are: 

• She learns quickly and implements new information while working;
• She easily adopts to changes;
• Knows and applies the required techniques to do her job well;
• She listens and pays attention to other people’s problems;
• Her work develops her personally;
• She enjoys working in a team;
• She has no problems with planning and organizing her own activities;
• Likes to have goals and achieve them;
• She establishes contacts easily;
• She is an empathetic person. 

In addition, she enjoys professional development and, in addition to her studies, she has completed training in assertiveness, sales techniques and influencing people. She also completed a sign language course, as she had a deaf customer while working in a bank. This skill came in very handy for her in the bank as well as now, since she also have such clients. 

Barriers:

Małgorzata has to overcome the following barriers: believing in herself, finding clients for her products and learning ICT technologies to sell her products.

Lessons Learnt:

Małgorzata learnt that it is possible to change her life and profession.

She believes it’s worth fighting with yourself, sometimes getting out of your comfort zone. For her, a person who likes stability, changing jobs was a challenge. Money is not a priority for her, family is the most important thing she has. As a woman with disability, she has to take care of her well-being first and foremost, as stress leads to serious illnesses. 

For Margaret, courage and creativity are very important. Learning to be assertive with the people she works with. 

Impact:

The impact of this case study is to inspire and encourage other women, not to be afraid to start new activity.

Margaret has many years of experience in mentoring at work. For six years she was a mentor in a bank for new employees for the first three months of their new job. She thinks she did very well as a mentor, because her mentees were always well prepared and did well at work. In her current job, she is also a mentor for new female employees, and their team is all women.