Every career has visible milestones. Promotions. Titles. Companies whose logos look good on a résumé.

But if you trace the real arc of a life, the turning points, the moments where direction quietly changes, it is rarely a company that did it.

More often, it was a conversation.

Or a person.

Or sometimes a sentence that stays with you for thirty years.

On International Women’s Day, I find myself thinking about the women who, often without realizing it, shaped the way I think, work, lead, and live.

It starts in a university corridor in the Basque Country.

The Weekend That Changed My Compass

I was still in college when my professor, Noe Cornago, suggested that I speak with a master’s student at the University of the Basque Country (EHU) in Leioa.

Her name was Monike Nicolas.

At the time, I had been given the opportunity to compete for a scholarship that required studying in a French-speaking country. Which meant, naturally, that I had to somehow become competent in French.

And we had exactly two half-days.

Saturday and Sunday.

Now, mastering French in two half-days, especially without prior training, is about as realistic as mastering chess after looking at the board once. But that was not really the point.

Monike understood something that I did not yet understand.

This was not about language.

It was about strategy.

During those two sessions, we did not only practice vocabulary or grammar. We mapped the challenge. We reverse-engineered what would be expected. We thought about how to approach the test, how to think under pressure, and how to make the most of very limited preparation time.

What struck me most was not the content.

It was her way of thinking.

Elegant. Structured. Calmly strategic.

At some point, whether that weekend or during one of the casual encounters later when I would run into her and Noe around the university, she said something that stayed with me.

I do not remember the exact words, but the idea was clear.

Love may hold a family together.

But financial stability is the backbone that allows that love to breathe.

It was a simple idea. Almost obvious.

Yet it reframed something fundamental.

Nearly thirty years later, that sentence still sits quietly in the way I think about responsibility, work, and the role economics plays in the stability of a life.

Some advice fades with time.

That one compounds.

Power Without Distance

Years later, early in my career, I encountered another formative influence. Simone Steinmetz, Vice President of Marketing at Europe Online.

This was the era when broadband internet was beginning to reshape the digital world. Europe Online was operating at the frontier of that transformation.

Simone carried a title that could easily have created distance.

But she never used it that way.

She was approachable. Curious. Generous with her time.

For a young professional, an enthusiastic newcomer who had just jumped into his second startup, this time out of Luxembourg, she became something unexpected.

A mentor.

Not formally and not officially.

But in the most effective way mentorship often happens. Through conversations, perspective, and the quiet normalization of ambition.

She demonstrated something that stayed with me.

High-caliber leadership and human accessibility are not opposites.

They are the same skill.

The Power of Attitude

After completing my master’s degree in eBusiness at UPC in Barcelona, I joined an Italian company that at the time was a leader in mobile content. Dada.net.

There I met Simona Poli, a young Business Intelligence analyst.

Technically, her job was to provide data.

But what made Simona remarkable had very little to do with the spreadsheets themselves.

It was her attitude.

She did not simply deliver numbers. She leaned into the mission. She pushed beyond the boundaries of what was required. She made herself available when others might have stayed safely inside their job description.

The result was extraordinary visibility for our initiatives.

Her insights helped us expand partnerships, enter new markets, and scale faster than we otherwise might have.

Many people produce data.

Very few turn it into momentum.

Simona did.

The Lonely Chair of the CEO

Leadership can be exhilarating.

It can also be deeply lonely.

When I moved to Brazil, the journey was anything but linear. The first chapter did not work out as expected. After a few professional twists and turns, I found myself leading a company backed by Movile, part of what was then the Naspers ecosystem and today known globally as Prosus.

That is where Mariana Rocha enters the story.

She was the HR Manager.

But titles rarely describe the real role someone plays.

At a time when the CEO’s chair can feel isolating, Mariana became something far more important. A partner in perspective.

She listened. She challenged. She empathized.

She helped translate the emotional and human dimension of leadership into something manageable.

The best HR leaders do not manage processes.

They stabilize leaders.

Mariana did exactly that.

The Guardian of Numbers

Later, in my journey through the world of AI, I encountered another remarkable professional. Zohur Nabbus, a financial controller at Real.com.

If there is such a thing as a master of numbers, she was it.

Her command of financial awareness was extraordinary, especially considering the geographical and operational distance from the local market.

But what truly stood out was her dedication.

The hours we spent on calls, often across difficult time zone differences, were countless.

Precision. Reliability. Commitment.

These are the invisible foundations that allow ambitious organizations to function.

Zohur embodied all three.

The Wendy Rhodes of Wix

If you have ever watched the series Billions, you know the character Wendy Rhodes.

She is the psychological anchor of the organization. The person who reads the room, understands the dynamics of power, and intervenes with precision when it matters.

At Wix, for me, that presence was Roni Kareth.

She had the sharpness of a strategist when clarity and decisiveness were required.

And she had the calm empathy of a trusted counselor when understanding people mattered more than analysis.

That balance is rare.

Most professionals are strong on one side or the other.

Roni mastered both.

Which is why, in many ways, she was the perfect business partner.

The Women Who Shape Us

Looking back, what strikes me most is that none of these women set out to shape my career.

They were simply doing their work.

With intelligence.

With generosity.

With conviction.

Yet the impact was profound.

A strategic weekend that reframed how to approach challenges.

A marketing executive who proved that leadership does not require distance.

A data analyst whose attitude multiplied the power of information.

An HR partner who made leadership less lonely.

A financial controller whose discipline anchored reality.

A strategist who balanced sharpness with humanity.

Each left something behind.

And over time, those pieces became part of who I am as a professional.

The Two Pillars Behind the Scenes

And then there are the two women who stand slightly outside the professional narrative, but without whom none of this would exist.

Cruz and Kathrin.

You know who you are.

Your support, patience, and belief are the quiet foundation beneath everything.

Careers are often told as individual stories.

In truth, they never are.

To all of you.

Thank you.