My main challenge is to reconcile processes with people and technology day in and day out. I have to make our day to day activities echo our long term vision. We want to push the limits of technology to reinvent the traditional localization roles. We want to challenge people to step away from the daily routine and truly think about their actions so that they can contribute to Bureau Works, the engine we are building together.

Walking away from my financial world, where I felt I had the most of skill set was a challenge for me. Though initially unsure of how I would perform in such a different role, I quickly noticed that my background did translate into the necessary competences to be good at this job. And I also realized that in this part of the organization I was able to introduce more relevant change more quickly. This was when I rolled out the Quality Champion program that brought our main translators much closer to the company and was the precursor to our current quality framework.

Stepping into Bureau Translations was a shock for me. Having been used to big corporate culture, I was suddenly introduced to a highly individualized and unstandardized culture. And while that may have its merits, I also saw all the challenges that running such a culture entailed. Initially driving uncharetiristic order into the organization did not go far in terms of making me lots of new friends. But it did however, give me a new sense of power and autonomy at work. This was the fist time that I could see that I could see, plan and do. It really opened my eyes.

Standard Bank brought me one of the most defining personal experiences in my career. It both crushed me and forged me into what I am today. It crushed me in that, no matter how hard I worked, the tense context that the institution faced in Brazil made it so the relational component of work became far more important than the substance of my analysis. After a lingering feeling that my career may need a change, this was really it for me. It was when I realized that despite all my personal and professional investment in finance, it just was not the path for me. And the best part of walking away from something is that even if you don't realize it, you are always walking towards something else.

As Credit Manager at Barclays i worked for the first time evaluating countries rather than just companies. It was a great learning experience working in a much smaller team than I had been used. Rather than focusing on trade finance, I focused more on derivatives and other financial products.

I thought I was done with Finance. This was opportunity to satisfy my curiosity for entrepreneurship with my love for baking and pastries. Though it was harder and lonelier than I expected, it was a wonderful experience in terms of opening my eyes to an entirely different world.

During this sabbatical I became fluent in Spanish (I took a 3-month course in Malaga), acquired an intermediate level of Italian (another 3-month course, this time in Siena), visited more than 30 cities, read more than 20 books, met many interesting people from all over the world and learnt many things about myself.

. Opine on credit proposals to be sent to HO for approval, providing concise, objective and thorough advices on every proposal. Decide on specific deals. Develop alternatives to make transactions viable, proposing alternative structures and negotiating them with Business. Discuss complex cases in the credit committee, advising the committee’s members on the risks and mitigants of each case and proposing alternative structures when applicable. Follow up on credit policies, making sure that they are acknowledged, understood and complied with by the analysts. Elaborate and implement credit policies, adapting international policies to the local environment. Provide support to the analysts regarding policies, credit products and with the communication with HO. Provide support to the Credit Risk Director and to the Risk Management Director advising them on policies and complex credit proposals.

. Responsible for a portfolio of 10 industrial American groups, such as GM, Ford, ADM, Cargil, Bunge, among others, providing credit coverage and preparing credit write ups to be approved by Risk Management. Provide support to Risk Management regarding such names when needed. Participate in conference calls, bank meetings and visits to the clients, updating credit profile, identifying possible credit issues and identifying new business opportunities. Evaluate ways of reducing the bank’s exposure in potentially troubled sectors or clients through CDS or simple reduction in exposure.

. Responsible for a portfolio of 15 industrial groups, such as Fiat, Aracruz, Suzano, among others, providing credit coverage and preparing credit write ups to be approved by Risk Management. Provide support to Risk Management regarding such names when needed. Participate in conference calls, bank meetings and visits to the clients, updating credit profile, identifying possible credit issues and identifying new business opportunities.

. Responsible for a portfolio of industrial groups, providing credit coverage and preparing credit write ups to be approved by the credit Committees. Present and discuss such cases in the committees. Participate in conference calls, bank meetings and visits to the clients, updating credit profile, identifying possible credit issues. Secretary of the credit committees, preparing the minutes.

. Rotation in Risk Management, Corporate Finance, Project Finance, Legal, Consumer Finance and Client Coverage.

. Analyse funding alternatives and negotiate with banks funding instruments. Prepare managerial reports.

. Internal marketing of products. . Develop marketing materials. . Analysis of competitors.