The Reality of Work Life Balance.

Part two of a two-part profile, read part one here.

Meet Valerie Huet. Partner & Alliances Director, Western EMEA

• A Technology Industry expert
• With Hitachi for 6 years
• Born and raised in Paris, France
  
  

I started here as a Partner Account Manager and after winning a complex deal with Global System Integrators, I slowly rose from the ranks and became the Western EMEA Partner Director. Throughout, I was raising my three children. There came a point where I thought I had to choose: my rising career or being a great mom?

Making a Bold Choice

I used to think that to be a good mother, I should always put my children first. But in my heart, I knew that I wanted to progress my career. I wanted to be a leader, to be challenged. I was afraid because I thought having three children while keeping my ambition was not realistic.

Then one day I made a choice. I realized my children were happy and healthy. I decided to drive my career forward and put my energy and passion into it. I’d spent many years questioning and doubting myself. I was not confident enough to believe I could have both career and a happy family.  But after years of growing my career, I became confident in myself and in my professional expertise. I’m 56 now, I know what I'm talking about when it comes to being a saleswoman — I’m not afraid to talk to the president or to the VP or anyone.

It hasn’t always been an easy ride. After my third child and maternity leave, I found it difficult to come back to work. My manager knew I was always positive, energetic, and motivated, but I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to have that same drive. I felt immense pressure, I felt the imposter syndrome, but I navigated my way. I had to be very organized in my personal life and motivated to make it happen.

Driving Forward

I have a positive spirit, lots of energy and an innovative mind — I use these strengths to take on new challenges and support my team. I know I can’t succeed alone, so having a good team and working as one really drives me forward. Growing my team is ongoing, but it’s motivating. We have multiple business units, it’s not just Valerie in her own channel entity. I always come back to our larger vision to keep myself and my team motivated.

Progressing Your Career? My Advice.

Identify your strengths, where you want to go and be pragmatic. This is the first step, once you have a vision, you will find the right opportunities for you and get support along the way. It’s about being confident in yourself and expressing yourself in the right forums. Nobody’s going to come to you and say, “do you want this job, have you seen this opportunity?” you need to stand tall and push forward.

Not everyone has the confidence to pursue challenging career paths and it’s our job as leaders and as females to empower, encourage and support female professionals to have the confidence to put their hand up.