Judith is the next inspiring woman we would like to introduce in the bwomen member profile round. Learning to be one of the only girls in a boys-school shaped her positively in her career. It is always inspiring to read your stories. Please contact us, if you would like to participate as well.

Who is Judith Raymakers?
I am a Belgo-Swiss who moved to Switzerland 20 years ago and despite the fact that I have been working full time my entire career, it still sometimes feels like being on holiday in this beautiful country. That might be explained by the fact that I am a little bit of a workaholic or that I have always been fortunate to have had jobs I really loved. Luckily, I have a husband who believes in my career and is more than happy to share the work at home and the care for our two sons when I am traveling abroad. I am pretty proud of my sons, who turned out to be passionate musicians and fill our house with bedroom rock, alternative rock, jazz, reggae or swing.

 
Who or what shaped you the most for your professional career?
Different people had a strong influence on my career but the first significant push I got, was from my parents. In our little village, there weren’t enough boys for the boys-school, so when the director of that school asked my parents if they could help prevent the closure of the school and send their daughter there, they accepted. At the age of 12, I ended up with 4 other girls in a school full of boys. It was only much later that I realized how this experience of being part of a minority, being different, shaped my life in a positive way. I have never been afraid of doing other things, going to other places or starting all over. So, I studied mathematics, informatics, communication, signed up for the pilot school (wasn’t accepted), had a career as C-level in marketing before starting my own consulting company a few years back.

Why are you a bwomen member?
We still hear a lot about the glass ceiling for women and I believe that there are many misconceptions about this. I want us to stop complaining about chances we don’t get but focus on how we can make things happen. We all know women who arrived at the top. Actually, this group of women is proof of it. I look forward to more lively discussions, sharing of opinions and valuable advice. Let’s support each other and have some fun interactions along the way!

On which topics can other members contact you and where?
About 4 years ago, I co-founded Motivators@Work and support leaders to create the environment for their people to be engaged and motivated. Change is a constant in business and so the biggest part of my work is helping leaders and teams to make change successful by focusing on the intrinsic motivation of all stakeholders. I would be very happy to explain our theory of motivation at work, in a workshop, a webinar or a personal discussion and can be contacted at judith@motivatorsatwork.com