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The new year is a fitting opportunity to look back on the last twelve months. For the Journal team, this means reflecting on more than 600 published articles and podcasts, as well as at least three times as many conducted interviews. Each team member has selected the contribution that has marked them the most in 2023.
At the beginning of my professional career, I was given an important piece of advice: "Nobody will give you anything. If you want something, you have to communicate it clearly and work for it. Don't expect it to be handed to you on a silver platter." Whether this advice actually comes true naturally depends on many, often uncontrollable factors. In my case, it has worked several times. Since this year, I have held the position of managing director at the Lëtzebuerger Journal.
If I had to describe this year in a single word, I would describe it as "wild".
However, not in the way it's portrayed in The Wolf of Wall Street, where excessive alcohol and drug use are the norm, and I celebrate myself every evening, thinking what an awesome self-absorbed workaholic I am. By "wild" I mean unpredictably challenging to unpredictably fulfilling. New situations always require more energy. There were many "firsts" – the first time I stood on the other side of an interview and was interviewed myself, the first meeting with the Board of Directors, the first challenging employee interviews, the first meetings at the Press Council. It was exciting to see the positive changes my first suggestions had on the team. We also published the first episode of our podcast "Déi gutt Mod" in September, which I have been producing together with our editor-in-chief Melody Hansen since September.
"During my professional career, I have been lucky enough to have people by my side who not only believed in me, but also encouraged me (…). I would like to give something back."
In our podcast, we share insights from our day-to-day management work. We talk about our observations and switch back and forth between perspectives from our past as female employees and our current role in management positions. Our aim is for listeners to better understand both sides and thus develop a greater acceptance of each other. The podcast also helps to raise awareness of the existing inequalities in management levels and to emphasise the opportunities that arise for a company when the management level is more diverse.
We find the messages and questions from our listeners that we address in each episode particularly fulfilling. Throughout my career, I have been lucky enough to have people by my side who not only believed in me, but also encouraged me. They have given me valuable advice and constructive feedback (we're not talking about mansplaining here). This judgement and these advices have contributed to my personal growth. I would like to give something back. I don't stand for the elbow mentality, where I see others who are better than me as competition. Instead, I firmly believe that we are stronger together. In our joint podcast, we talk a lot about what we have learnt in recent years to help even more people, especially more women, to overcome their fears. I am aware that this podcast is not enough to achieve more equal opportunities, but it is supportive.
