#21: New habits for a new life chapter - Vanessa Westphal
What do you do if, after 10 years of a successful corporate career, you feel the need for a big change? Can you make a career pivot, start in a new area and still be credible? Your track record may have helped you to get that new job or a promotion. And the same track record may hold you back from making a leap of faith into building your own business or starting anything new.
Vanessa Westphal is COO and Co-Founder of Choosy, a personalised meal planning and grocery shopping assistant that makes forming healthy and sustainable eating habits effortless.
After 10 years at Siemens, Vanessa decided to dedicate herself to her true passion: nutrition. We talk about how new habits and tools can support the transition from an employee to a founder and how important it is to tame your brain. Vanessa also shares her views on how technology will change the way we eat.
“Pivot in my career”
Vanessa, an electrical engineering graduate, had a clear career path at Siemens honing her skills in several roles and successfully climbing the corporate ladder. After 10 years at the company, she decided to pivot her career and fully dedicate her time to the topic that was very important to her - nutrition. After almost two years of working on her idea as a side project, Vanessa left Siemens for her own venture. Learn in the episode the most challenging first steps for Vanessa to start her business.
“Building something from scratch and then seeing other people use it and see how it helps them is the most amazing feeling.”
Changes that come together with starting a business
Leaving the corporate world, you may need to change your routines and habits. Vanessa explains how her routines have changed since she started her founder journey. To-do lists, being intentional about using Linkedin, morning meditation, and a new network - these topics Vanessa and Darya discuss in this episode. The most significant change happened when Vanessa stopped getting the monthly paycheck. It signaled, the business should grow as fast as possible and generate revenue.
“Every two weeks, I reach out to someone new on LinkedIn, and it’s a meaningful connection.”
Leadership lessons from horseback riding
Sometimes we learn about leadership from the hobbies we have. Vanessa started to learn how to ride when she was a young girl. Her biggest learning was that with the horse, you should be very clear about your intent. In leadership, clear guidance including body language is similarly key.
About Vanessa Westphal
Vanessa joined Siemens 10 years ago as an electrical engineer to then switch to management consulting and lead a corporate incubator. She got excited about building something new from scratch and then seeing other people use it and benefit from it. With Choosy, Vanessa tackles one of our biggest and yet most underestimated challenges we face as humans: How we decide what we eat.