Tamara, Chief Processing Officer

I’m Tamara, 39 years old, and I have been a Chief Processing Officer at CHECK24 since the summer of 2021. After my degree in mathematics, I worked at McKinsey&Company for 13 years on lots of exciting, global projects where I advised financial institutes, among other things. Finally, however, the day came to take action myself, and I found myself at CHECK24.

After several frustrating experiences as a project advisor, where digitalization was downgraded to a non-prioritized, multi-year initiative, it was time to make a decision.

Customer focus is often a fashionable term that companies use but don’t enforce. To see how CHECK24 has internalized this guideline throughout the entire organization appealed to me a lot and ultimately led me to sign the contract. CHECK24 also gave me the option to work in a part-time management role. I have two children of nursery school age and want to see them grow and be there for them. As an advisor, I was already working part-time but often found myself in situations where I’d have to explain myself. That’s different now.

CPO and mother of 2 children are like juggling ten balls at once. You’re always working to make sure you don’t drop the ball. Coping is only possible with lots of composure and a partner who is just as heavily invested in raising our children. A solution always arises if both then put their calendars on each other. You can also make use of all the support available to you. Nursery, relatives, part-time work, or working from home so that you can manage if your child is sick.

“Be here now!”: When I’m at work, I’m working, and I don’t ask myself what my kids are currently up to. When I’m at home, I’m playing, preparing food, or doing laundry, and I don’t think about the to-do list on my desk.

CHECK24 offers all employees a steep learning curve by letting them take on responsibility early on and allowing them to bring their ideas to the table. For example, I’m responsible for the CHECK24 Chatbot and have already been able to run a workshop with a group of young Product Managers (PMs) on this topic. Each of these PMs is responsible for the Chat for a particular product area and is therefore responsible for the content and technology, which is also really important for us as a brand as they directly communicate with the customer. Every person understands their responsibility and does a fantastic job. I found that inspiring.

I’ve got two tips: on the one hand, I’ve seen many women asking themselves about compatibility with family life far too early on, sometimes even before choosing their program of study. On the other hand, every woman should follow her passion, take each step as it comes, and not be dissuaded by potential obstacles before she even starts. By allowing yourself to go on an adventure, you’ll be sure to find the correct route. Once you’ve found that, combining the best of both worlds is enjoyable.

On the second hand: having the right partner by your side is. My husband is also in a management role, took paternity leave while I was working full-time, and we split things equally in terms of who stays at home if one of the kids falls ill. Unfortunately, this approach hasn’t been accepted in society yet, so I can only appeal to every woman to have an open conversation with her partner and prevent herself from falling into a traditional role. After all, a career and family shouldn’t exclude men, and everyone should have a right to part-time work and parental leave. That way, women can achieve far more than trying to do it alone.