Name: Louise Mai Jansen
Date of birth: 1984
Title: Head of Digital Risk Partners
Company: Ørsted
Degree: Cand.merc.(mat) – Master of Science in Business Administration and Mathematical Business Economics, CBS
Fun fact: Represented Denmark in the Olympics as a swimmer in 2004 and 2008
What do you find most interesting about your career and your leadership position?
My team have deep business knowledge combined with skills to implement digital solutions in our in-house risk management engine, which enables our risk managers to navigate in our extensive field of exposure. I find this area between finance and IT underrated, and really enjoy helping make our qualities visible. I started in this team fresh from CBS 10 years ago. After some years I moved to our middle office function and worked with risk management for 7 years, still in close collaboration with the team. Now I have “returned” as a manager and see this as a great opportunity to unite the two areas even more, as I know it from both sides. I enjoy helping people perform and reach their goals, engage in their well-being and really think work-life-balance is a key for success. Therefore, I see my job as an opportunity to help remove obstacles and support my employees as they grow, while making sure that we create business impact.
What has been crucial to get you to where you are today?
I was an elite swimmer until the age of 26 and studied alongside which required perseverance. The most important lessons I learnt from being an elite athlete were: to never stop trying, always do my best and accept that sometimes it just takes longer than anticipated before the results of dedication shows. As a consequence of swimming, I didn’t finish my studies before I was 28, and you could probably call me a “late bloomer”, since it took me nearly ten years to get a managerial role. But I trust that I made the right choices and enjoy the journey along the way. Speed is not the key to me, being present, having fun and learning every day is. I have always brought my true self to work and have enjoyed all the relationships I have built up throughout my 10 years in Ørsted. Work-life balance have been a crucial factor to me. Luckily, our VP/CRO also prioritizes us as whole persons and that makes it possible for me to juggle a job, two small children at home, and a boyfriend pursuing his career simultaneously. Had Ørsted not had those values, I would have pursued my career elsewhere, since that is the most important thing to me.
What advice would you give to young female students today?
Be yourself and chose the path that make sense to you. Do not solely focus on an end goal. If you make sure to follow your interests, then you will end up a good place. I think that all the experiences you get along the way make you a better and more robust leader in the end.
Looking into the future, what role do you think STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education will have?
I believe that STEM has an increasing impact, especially to improve digital growth and accelerate the climate agenda.