When I read through Josefine's member profile, I had the following thought: Even if everyone around you knows better and you actually already know it yourself..... that doesn't mean that you are already ready for the next step. Often, it is short clarifying moments or drastic experiences that move you to change something, as was the case with Josefine.

Who is Josefine Wanner?
I’m Swedish and in 1999 – yep, quite a while ago… - I moved to Switzerland for the very first time. As an exchange student I could have picked any country in the whole world, but for two obvious reasons (at the time…) I chose Switzerland:

1) my boyfriend’s sister lived in Volketswil outside Zürich, and;
2) after seven years of school German, I wanted to learn proper German.

Hrm. Well… As we all know, Swiss-German and “high”-German are not even remotely similar, and I managed to break up with the boyfriend before starting the exchange year. Things don’t always turn out as planned ;-)

Since then, I’ve married the man I got to know during my exchange year, pursued a career in financial services and also got two sons.

Even when filling in the application form for my master studies, I had a nagging feeling that I should dare to do something completely different – I had so many dreams. But I was already in the hamster wheel. After my university studies, through connections, I got my first job at KPMG and that’s how my banking career was kicked off.

In 2007 we moved back to Sweden and that feeling of wanting to do something completely different resurfaced – I even spoke it out loud. You see, I was on maternity leave and our oldest son was a very easy child, so I had lots of time to think. I told my husband that maybe I should extend my maternity leave and focus on writing a novel. But, instead of pursuing that wish, again I did the “sensible” thing and signed a contract with EY. My belly shouted “Noooooo!”, and still, I didn’t listen.

We moved back to Switzerland and I joined UBS, where I stayed for 10 years. In 2019, after a scary wake-up call, I took the drastic decision to resign from my high ranked, well paid corporate job. I didn’t have a Plan B – I just knew that if I don’t do this now, I will most likely become ill and it might be too late.

I had finally taken the decision to start acting on my dreams.

Since then, I have written my very first novel (YAY!) and am currently in the process of editing it. Who knows, maybe it will never be published – but at least I’ve tried.

When I resigned everyone, I met said that I was brave, and many told me they also have dreams, but they don’t dare to follow them. So that’s what I’m doing now too, I help other women and men to become brave again.

I truly believe that we can do everything and become anything we want. Dreams can come true. We have to believe in ourselves, and dare taking that very first, extremely important, but oh so scary step. I’m not talking about resigning now. I’m talking about believing in yourself. That’s where it starts.

Who or what has strongly influenced your professional career?
Looking back, I believe that my professional career path was initiated when I was 14 years old and my parents had decided to get a divorce.

One day my grandmother looked at me and said, “Now you need to look after mom.”

Not that my mom needed it, she’s one of the strongest women I know, but I guess I made an unconscious decision right there to make her proud, to choose a “safe” profession and become financially independent.

Why am I a bwomen member?
Equality and independence are two topics that lie very close to my heart. Together we are stronger and considering that bwomen is also a cross-industry network I didn’t think twice before joining. This is a great initiative and we can learn so much from each other.

On which topics can other members contact you and where?
I love to connect with people, there doesn’t have to be a certain topic. Connecting people is one of my superpowers.

Anyone can reach out and connect with me – for example, I love coffee chats. You don’t need a reason – I’m an open book if you’d like to learn what drove me to take that leap, how to write a book, or how to be brave again.

You find me on social media (LinkedIn josefine-wanner , IG @josefinewanner and FB Josefine Wanner Coaching) or on my homepage www.josefinewanner.com

I also offer 30 minutes free of charge and sales free pep-talks. Something I would have appreciated during my corporate career. This link will take you to Calendly which is synced with my agenda: https://calendly.com/josefinewanner/30-minutes-pep-talk

I’m looking forward to many new connections, coffee dates and future events!