Job Digital Lab with ING Italia: the story of Anna who sews the future with training
“Work cannot feel like a tight dress that you force yourself into notwithstanding it’s not the right size. You need to feel comfortable, as if it were made just for you. This is why I hold courses, and keep updated, so that I do not feel like an alien as society changes.”
Anna Vela is Roman. She has participated in training courses organised by Job Digital Lab and is now attending the StartUp Lab, a course dedicated to women who wish to start working or even start an entrepreneurial adventure [see news: Women’s Ideas ].
With the help of Nicoletta Vulpetti, a true lover of identity stories, the second edition of Job Digital Lab, the educational programme developed with ING Italia, presents the stories of the protagonists of personal and community change.
I always thought that we should sew the future on to ourselves. You have to be aware of your possibilities and work on them to give them a direction.
At 18, I ended my course of education with a diploma as a dietician.
I began working as a secretary in a medical studio, until I had an interview for a job as a pharmaceutical representative. I was not one of the typical, few women in this profession. They were usually very exposed. Their beauty was the first curriculum item that should be noticed. I got the job. I was 30 years old. And that is where I met my mentor: an infinitely knowledgeable man who could speak about anything, but he always stopped in front of closed doors. Knocking on a professor’s door was an arduous enterprise. He feared being turned down, or not being good enough.
I, on the other hand, always knocked. Just like all former timid individuals, I had spent most of my adolescence observing situations from the outside. I could decodify signals, even if they were not explicit. This attitude helped me with my job. I looked and understood how to activate a relation and then my colleague took over for the technical part.
We worked as a perfect team for years. Then, he decided to move to another company and I followed him. Unfortunately, and most unexpectedly, Maurizio died on a December night. The nutraceutical company confirmed my position, although I was pregnant at the time.
I gave birth on January 16, 2004, and in May began a new course whilst breast-feeding my daughter.
I became Area Head for representatives in Central Italy, one of the very few women in Italy with such a responsibility. Under my coordination, Lazio became the top region in terms of billing, and I was the only one who managed to hold on to all the people that I trained, making them feel part of a team.
I extended my knowledge and paid for my own courses on communications.
Ten years later, when I asked for a raise for my results, I was fired. This time the door closed behind my shoulders. So, I folded up my sleeves.
Before the pandemic I worked as a consultant for a company that trained pharmaceutical representatives for the market.
Work cannot feel like a tight dress that you force yourself into notwithstanding it’s not the right size. You need to feel comfortable, as if it were made just for you. This is why I hold courses, and keep updated, so that I do not feel like an alien as society changes. I know that sooner or later, what I learn will be useful.
In the meantime, I enjoy life, like when butterflies land on my balcony during the springtime.
