What’s the smartest thing you ever did, and how did it impact your financial future? For International Women’s Day 2025, I interviewed 27 women and 27 men from diverse backgrounds to uncover the pivotal choices that shaped their careers, finances, and personal growth. Whether it was leaving a corporate job, making a bold investment, or moving to a new country, one theme emerged: big changes often lead to big rewards.
This post highlights inspiring stories from women who took calculated risks, reshaped their lives, and redefined success on their own terms.
Olga Blasco, M&A Principal Partner, Growth and Exit Strategy Solutions, Lion People Global, Dublin:
Blasco spent 20 years working in the corporate world and toward the end, she didn’t like the way things were going. “I was an SVP for a large American organization, and I had no time to do the other things that I loved to do. The smartest thing I ever did is leave the big corporate world and take time to think about how I could transform my life and find my ikigai. The word Ikigai means using my skills to support things that I’m passionate about, that the world needs, and that can sustain my livelihood.”
Ten years ago, Blasco started a consultancy business and moved to Turkey to dedicate part of her life to non-profit work. Today, she pivots between Dublin, Istanbul, and Barcelona. She balances her role as M&A principal partner at Lion People Global (Dublin) with personal pursuits such as supporting women entrepreneurship as co-founder of JANA (Istanbul). She is a Board member of Clear Tech (Ireland), and Women in Localization (United States), as well as author of the book, The Journey of EKİP: a recipe for long-lasting impact.
Jette Bilberg Lauritsen, Executive Secretary, Bygningsstyrelsen, Copenhagen:
“I had an older cousin I thought was super exciting. She was into astrology, reflexology, and Buddhist teachings. In 1988, I went with her to a Buddhist lecture. This was a huge experience and turning point for me. I thought, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do with the rest of my life, but this is definitely going to be a part of it.’”
Bilberg says the smartest thing she’s ever done was to start working with her mind using the tools of ancient Buddhist methods. “This led me to doing volunteer work in the Buddhist Community in Copenhagen, which gave me deep satisfaction. I then decided I wanted to work full-time at my volunteer work for a while. To live this dream, I had to fix my financial situation and I needed to be debt free.”
No more taxis for Bilberg. “I always rode my bicycle. I ordered far less take away food, cooked for myself, and I didn’t buy clothes for a long time. I paid off my mortgage for my apartment and started to save so that I would have funds to live on while pursuing my dream and working full-time as a volunteer. I am so happy that I eventually made that dream happen.”
Barbara Ortiz, Electronics Engineer, MSA Safety Incorporated, Galway:
In 2018, Ortiz left South America for the first time alone to work as the head of a multidisciplinary research lab in the United States. “For about 12 months, I lived in an extreme and isolated environment where less than 10% of the staff were women.” She worked on a wide variety of scientific projects related to the study of the ozone layer, solar panels, UV radiation, geodesy, glaciology, seismology, and cosmic rays.
There were no negative financial implications associated with another smart move Ortiz made to Antarctica. “Besides paying me, they covered the cost of my clothes, food, and accommodation. That experience was so great that I now want to funnel my financial resources in the direction of seeing all the continents. I have lived and worked in Ireland and the French Alps. The next thing I would do is work as engineer in the Arctic.”
Katia Moskvitch, Head of Communications, IBM Research Europe, and author of Neutron Stars: The Quest to Understand the Zombies of the Cosmos, Zürich:
“The smartest thing I ever did was to write my book in the way I wanted to write it. This was very smart from both a career development perspective as well as in terms of personal satisfaction,” Moskvitch says. After earning her master’s degree in Journalism (University of Western Ontario), and MPhil in Theoretical Physics (King’s College London), she worked as a journalist in physics and astronomy. She was contacted by an editor at Harvard University Press on LinkedIn suggesting that she write a book.
“I wanted to fully live the experience. I spent a year travelling the world and I frequently had the opportunity to have my travel and accommodation covered since I was also working at WIRED UK, a science, tech, and business magazine published by Condé Nast. I always tried to combine opportunities to visit places where I could interview scientists. Some people plan their work and travel destinations to align with beaches or Michelin-starred restaurants. I must be one of the few to make it all about radio observatories.”
Sarah Hempel, Head of Sustainability, Axcel, Copenhagen:
“When I was in high school my Danish cousin came to stay with us, and I thought she was quite cool. I wanted to be like her,” Hempel says. Her father’s side of the family is Danish, and she had a Danish passport. “The smartest thing I ever did was decide to move to Denmark on my own at age 19 for my bachelor’s degree. Students from the EU/EEA and permanent residents can study at a university in Denmark tuition-free: I was able to complete my entire university degree without any debt.”
Hempel has no regrets. “High income earners pay about 56% in tax plus there are capital gains taxes. However, look at what you get. We have free education, free healthcare, low crime rates, and a great public transportation system. For 20 years I just rode my bike everywhere. I only recently bought a car. Not having to own a car the entire time has allowed me to invest more of my money. All these small things add up to make a significant difference.”
Yolanda Beattie, Founder, Yo&Co Pty Ltd, Sydney:
“The smartest thing I ever did is starting my own business. In 2018 I had been struggling to perform at my corporate job selling DEI consulting services. It was tough generating enough revenue. After facing a series of obstacles, a growth strategy I had been working on fell apart and I thought in that instant, ‘Get me out of here.’”
Starting her own consultancy business has given her creative and commercial freedom to do work that she loves with people she enjoys working with. “I don’t know yet what the financial implications will be as I’m still a work in progress, but I am hopeful I won’t be worse off. I might not yet be doing well in terms of money in the bank, but the project of ‘being human’ is my greatest reward and it pays off every day with the heartfelt stuff like cultivating love, creativity, joy and wisdom.”
Shweta Roongta, Business Analyst, UTI International Limited, Singapore:
The smartest thing Roongta ever did is to start investing at the age of 18. Her first investment was in Bajaj Finance. “My dad had suggested I put all my savings ($600) into that one stock. I wanted to explore myself and do my own research, so I decided to put one third of my money in that stock, another one third in DCB Bank, and the last third in Andhra Bank. I made money on two of the three stocks. This early investing experience gave me a strong sense of financial security: I am very comfortable taking risks.”
Roongta is 31 years old and has an unending thirst to learn anything and everything. “I’m a Chartered Accountant as well as a CFA charterholder. I’ve worked in finance and accounting and then transitioned into investment management. I’ve worked in India, Thailand, and Switzerland and for the past eight years in Singapore.”
Sandra Krueger, Sales Consultant, Active Training, LLC, Chicago:
Krueger’s smartest career move was leaving Chicago to work in Australia. “Moving far away from my friends and family and starting over gave me a global perspective. I learned how to communicate in the way that Australians prefer to communicate.”
Krueger started in sales but had no contacts. “My boss told me to try contacting the top 10 superannuation funds that they had not been able to do business with. One of the fund managers told me, ‘No’ on my first call, but I kept calling him. On the fourth call, he said, ‘Look, there is no point in you continuing to call. We had a bad experience with your firm.’ I said, ‘Well if you had a bad experience with our firm, I’d like to bring in our CEO to apologize.’ Two months later, we did a big deal with them.”
Her top trait is perseverance, and importantly she can deal with uncertainty. “I have learned that 20% of the time the customer is right, I am wasting my time. But it is not a waste to develop relationships, and they might refer me other business. This happens about 80% of the time.”
Alice Tang, Chief Operating Officer, Asset Management, MA Financial Group, Sydney:
The smartest thing Tang ever did is to say, “Yes” when an opportunity came up to work on her first technology project while at Macquarie Group in 2016. “Prior to this opportunity I had worked in external audit, internal audit, and then fund management, but tech was entirely new to me. For a two-year period, I led the global implementation of Salesforce for 1,200 investment bankers across 30 different markets. I worked with many different cultures and industry lines, and it taught me so much.”
Tang’s compensation didn’t change during her two years on that project, but since it directly set her up for a job in the C-Suite, the financial implications of doing that “smart thing” have been significant.
Key Takeaway
The smartest financial and career decisions often come from embracing change. Success isn’t always about following a conventional path. It’s about making intentional, courageous choices that align with personal values and long-term goals. Whether it’s switching careers, making a bold financial move, or investing in self-growth, the key takeaway is clear: calculated risks lead to meaningful rewards. What’s the smartest decision you’ve ever made?
