Yesterday, on March 8, I joined an online event hosted by Women in Localization. It was an interview with Véronique Özkaya, the CEO of a major translation company.

Since yesterday was International Women's Day, they talked about things like women in power, work-life balance, etc. It wasn't the content, though, that impressed me the most, but rather the speaker. Véronique is endlessly positive and energetic. You listen to her and feel ready to move mountains, humming "Hakuna Matata". If there are, in fact, energy vampires who drain your emotional energy, then she is the exact opposite. An energy fairy, I'd say :)

And here are some interesting points she made:

• At work, she doesn't wait to be offered broader opportunities or more responsibilities — she asks for them. Sounds easy, right? Why haven't I ever tried? :D

• The most important person in your life is you. Disclaimer: not in a selfish way. The thing is, only a happy person can make other people happy. (At least that's what my psychologist also told me, so it must be true!) We all need to take time for ourselves and recharge our batteries. Only then will we be able to take good care of our loved ones.

• We can't do it all. We shouldn't strive for perfection. It's impossible to be a perfect mom with a spotlessly clean house and a meteoric career. (Or is it just me?) There are always trade-offs and compromises. Sometimes, for example, you might move a meeting and get home earlier to show your family how important they are.

Véronique also talked in more detail about the job and the localization industry, but these are the ideas that resonated the most with me, the ever-struggling working mom :)

Photo by Artem Kovalev on Unsplash