Making work meaningful: Katja´s journey toward entrepreneurship
From our blog / Article
After 20 years in various B2B roles including business development, digitalization, and working as a CEO, Katja Kantola had an important revelation. She realized work has to have a bigger meaning than just “going to work”.
So for the first time in her career, she decided to take some well-deserved time off. Six months into a yearlong sabbatical, she joined the Fusion Stellar program to get the vital information and inspiration she needed to help take her career in a new direction.
Finding new opportunities
How to make work feel more meaningful? For many, the obvious answer is self-employment, either as an entrepreneur or consultant. For Katja, entrepreneurship felt like a natural choice. The Stellar sessions gave her more expertise and confidence to help shape her early ideas into a new career direction.
“When I started Stellar, I wasn’t sure what to do – but I did have a desire to take total responsibility for my own use of time, how I work, and with whom.”
Once the decision has been made to become an entrepreneur, it is essential to look at what motivates and inspires one – finding the passion. For Katja, her desire to do something she really enjoys while being in charge of her own time was the most important thing.
“The program helped me to find a completely new direction in my career that ties in directly to what I like doing.”
Valuable insights, valuable connections
The Fusion Stellar program focuses on practical advice that helps budding entrepreneurs take the next step to business success. Sessions look more closely at a wide range of different topics such as brand story, how to be agile, and the importance of due diligence – concrete lessons in how to move forward with an entrepreneurial dream.
“Luckily I was in the session where we thought about the brand story for your own business. That was really useful and important. We also discussed how it’s important to not just focus on what you offer, but what you don’t offer. This was good advice and really helped me shape my plan.”
For Katja, getting together with like-minded business professionals who want to embrace their entrepreneurial ambitions was a real benefit. The chance to exchange ideas and learn from peers was a valuable part of the sessions.
“Contacts were one of the big reasons why I participated in Stellar. I found people with whom I can find common ground and maybe start doing something together in the future. My long experience in B2B has taught me that building work-related social networks is extremely important.”
Working to inspire new entrepreneurs
Katja was happy to find a place that helps to inspire and nurture entrepreneurs. The sessions were not just a series of lectures, but a platform that encouraged idea-sharing and discussion. Group work and the chance to interact were a key part of the sessions, all facilitated by knowledgeable experts.
“The organizers worked really hard to create a very positive atmosphere. The people who took part clearly had a desire to exchange ideas and make the most of the time that was available.”
Ultimately, we measure the success of the Fusion Stellar program in how it creates a real and measurable impact on the participants – and Katja has successfully used the sessions as a springboard for her new career.
“Stellar helped give me the insights necessary to turn my interests into a profession as I start to run my own business.”
This is the 6th part of our Stellar Stories blog series:
- Stellar Stories part 1: Venla Kiminki
- Stellar Stories part 2: Giuseppe Coco
- Stellar Stories part 3: Pauliina Nikola
- Stellar Stories part 4: Harri Pendolin
- Stellar Stories part 5: Umberto Onza
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