Line Gustafsson was recently promoted to product manager at KMD, Denmarks largest software solution center, after only 8 months with the company - she joined KMD in January 2012. She is currently managing the development of the largest mobile business app in Denmark, SmartCare, with more than 90.000 users and is an active participant in the second edition of the Women Talent Pool program. We had the opportunity to interview Line about her quick advancement with KMD, career path and future goals.

WIL: What inspired you to pursue a career in the digital sector?

Line Gustafsson (LG): Digital sector is of the utmost interest for me as it offers plenty of opportunities! You can work across different domains and meet challenges of various industries whereas in other spheres you are almost always limited to the problems of one particular sector.

WIL: How have you managed to unite your career in the digital sector and your degree in physiotherapy? When you took on this job, were you specifically looking for something that married the two?

LG: No, I wasn’t – actually, a lot of my career is due to coincidence. After school I was tired of studying and chose physiotherapy which I perceived as an alternative to the long studies and something that would have suited my needs better. After getting my diploma I actually had different jobs in the health sector for 5-6 years before switching to the digital and such a background is an advantage in what I am currently doing. Contrary to some of my colleagues who specialize only in digital sphere, I know what happens in the real life too.

WIL: After only 8 months of working with KMD, you were promoted from a consultant to a mobility manager. How did this transition happen?

LG: This transition was a result of initiative and motivation. I had an idea for a new business area and talked about it to my new director who asked me to do a presentation on it, sort of a business case. He liked the idea and gave me an opportunity to work on the initiative. So I had to fight in order for this transition to be possible but I also received support from my director who encouraged me to carry on with my vision.

WIL: How did you find the quick transition from the position of consultant to mobility manager and your new role and do you have any advice for people making a similar transition?

LG: My tranisition was due to a project I believed in and a project I was a part of creating. In these cases It didn’t feel like something which needed a lot of adjustment from my part. I actually felt it like me being given the opportunity to prove my instincts were right. My advice to others in similar situations would be to choose something, you believe in and feel confident about. If you do, you sometimes won’t even feel the change, just embrace the possibilities.

WIL: In your work, you deal with two quite different spheres: production of a product and the strategy of its promotion. What is the secret of your success in both of them?

LG: The challenge is to not separate the two, but to align both areas. If you focus only on production, you will inevitably abandon the strategy and have difficulties selling the product. On the other hand, if you concentrate exclusively on promotion, you will lack knowledge about the product itself.

In the company I wear two hats: I talk strategies to directors and talk to users of the production. I also have great colleagues who support me in this work.

WIL: How do you view your role in a large company such as KMD?

LG: I am probably not a typical KMD employee, I sometimes feel that I am swimming against the stream. Big companies often have a conservative, kind of “we have always done things this way” approach whereas I try to have an innovative attitude.

Sometimes it seems to me that it could have been easier to work in a smaller company, but at the same time they often do not have sufficient resources to support projects that I am passionate about. So I am quite happy to work at KMD and I find it encouraging to be a part of the largest Danish IT-company: it tries to be innovative and the desire to stick to one strategy is only natural and quite understandable when you have so many people to manage.

WIL: What and/or who can you call a source of your motivation?

LG: I find Elena Bonfiglioli a very inspiring person, as well as the whole Women Talent Pool Program is very encouraging. I am happy to participate in it as, unfortunately, in Denmark the separation of leadership is not such big of an issue.

There is also a quote by a Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard which really appeals to me: “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself”. This saying strongly motivates me.

WIL: Where do you see yourself in 5 years, what would you like to achieve?

LG: I don’t have any precise career plan. My motivation is to work with things I’m passionate about, as I am a sort of ‘black and white’ worker: I am either engaged in a project or not. I hope that in 5 years my experience will give me the possibility to face even greater challenges, explore new fields and work in new sectors or even new countries.