"Leadership, for me, is about empowering and inspiring others"

Thank you for joining us. How are you feeling in your role after six months in the position?

Thank you for having me! I'm excited and grateful for the opportunity to lead the business development team and drive the commercialization of our strategic growth platforms within Biomaterials and Stora Enso. It's been a whirlwind of a transition, but I'm really looking forward to the journey ahead.

That's fantastic to hear! Could you tell us a bit about your background and how you got to where you are today?

Certainly! I've always been passionate about sustainable growth businesses that can truly transform traditional industries. I have worked in various roles within the company over the years. My journey at Stora Enso started in Consumer Board, nowadays Packaging Materials; from there, I moved into Biomaterials. I was leading legal functions in these divisions where I closely watched our professionals making the new business happen; and now, I can be even more integral part of that work. These experiences helped me develop a holistic understanding of Stora Enso’s business opportunities and paved the way for me to take on this new step in a purely business leadership role.

It sounds like you've had a well-rounded journey within the company. Now, as the VP and Head of Business Development, what are your primary responsibilities and goals for the Growth Business Unit?

As the leader of the business development team, my primary responsibility is to support our great colleagues to execute our strategic growth areas within Biomaterials, currently meaning commercialization of our Bio-binders and Lignode offering. This involves forging partnerships, exploring new market opportunities, and developing innovative approaches for new business models. I'll also be helping out that our team is equipped with the necessary resources and support to achieve our ambitious growth targets. Ultimately, our goal is to provide commercial solutions to our customers' needs that are sustainability leaders in their respective market segments and bring profitable growth to Stora Enso.

It's clear that your team is important to the company's growth. Could you share some of the key challenges you anticipate that the business development team is facing in the new future?

Absolutely. One of the key challenges will be navigating the vastly evolving business landscape, staying ahead of industry trends and executing fast. This means constantly assessing the competitive landscape, understanding customer needs, and adapting our offering accordingly so that the business cases we create are attractive. Additionally, driving growth requires effective collaboration across different functions within the decentralized organization, so building strong cross-functional relationships will be essential. Lastly, as we scale up our activity, we need to ensure that we maintain the agility and entrepreneurial spirit that got us here while implementing industrial, scalable, processes and structures.

Those are indeed important challenges to address. As you embark on this exciting journey, what leadership principles or values do you prioritize?

Leadership, for me, is about empowering and inspiring others to reach their full potential. Being kind and serving others. I believe in fostering a culture of trust, open communication, and collaboration. I value diversity and believe that a diverse team brings different perspectives and drives innovation. I also believe in leading by example and being accountable for my actions. Lastly, I think it's important to celebrate successes and learn from failures, creating an environment that encourages experimentation and continuous improvement.

Those are fantastic leadership principles. Lastly, what are you looking forward to the most within the commercialization journey?

I think it all boils down to achieving together, as a team, and I look forward to celebrating the success of our efforts.