Exclusive Trusted Magazine Q&A with Brigita Puriene, Project Manager @ Ruptela
How could you describe your career path in few words?
I’ve enjoyed managing and being in control of things around me for as long as I can remember – at school, with my family, even within my circle of friends! I plan everything in advance, and I purposefully pursue my goals with these blueprints in mind. Right after school, in my first year of studying economics at university, I received an offer to take up a position as an office administrator at a company that specialized in cash registers and software solutions. Thus, began my journey into the world of IT. After graduating, the shareholders at the company invited me to continue working in this field as a business manager, where I quickly rose up the career ladder to the position of project manager. I worked there for 10 years, taking just a few short maternity breaks. Feeling that my role had become stagnant and that I was ready for an exciting new challenge, I changed employer and began to work as a project manager at a company that delivers innovative custom software development solutions. This work was very dynamic: projects were different every time, and I had the opportunity to work with newly assembled project teams, encounter new technologies, and consult with an ever-changing roster of client-side stakeholders. This experience was invaluable and provided me with a wealth of project management experience. During this time, I developed my skills via the Project Management Professional certificate from PMI and the Professional Scrum Master I certificate from Scrum.org. Now, I’m working as a hardware and firmware project manager in a global telematics company that develops high-quality GPS tracking devices.
My career path has so far been dynamic and varied, spurred on by my desire to explore and test myself in new areas. The one constant throughout is that I remain as convinced as I was on my first day of work that the role of project manager is my calling.
What was your most challenging experience and has it changed your mindset?
I’m a perfectionist; I’m the person that feels obligated to put in as much effort as possible into everything that I do. I also feel a special responsibility at work towards managers, colleagues, and team members, and I value their time immensely. Because of this, I always want everyone to receive everything exactly when they expect to and with no omissions or lack of quality. This desire to please led to there being a time in my life when I devoted myself to my work, sleeping for four hours per night, working constant overtime, and neglecting my family and my personal affairs. As a result, I was permanently stressed, nervous, exhausted, and unhappy. I realized that I had to do something to stave off burnout and get me out of the rut I was in. A turning point for me was the realization that a good work-life balance is not just desirable – it’s an absolute necessity if you want to stay healthy, maintain energy levels, and perform in a professional environment. I began to take small breaks throughout the day, made time to catch up with my colleagues, and stopped working during my holidays (well, mostly – there are always occasional exceptions!). Since this period, I‘ve become much more comfortable
with asking for help if needed, I understand the relationship between my personal health and my work life, and, most importantly, I make my family relationships and my health a priority.
When you get surprised by an unusual or uncertain context, what do you think?
Our daily lives are full of uncertainty – you never know what’s around the corner. If something occurs that isn’t in my plan, then I first focus on staying calm, clear, and logical, before rethinking with the new facts in mind and launching plan B. Crucially, I’ve learnt that if this doesn’t work and I make mistakes then that isn’t a complete failure. I value the unexpected as an opportunity to learn lessons and to do things better next time.
Based on your experience, what’s the key success factor for a female leader/manager?
In my experience, I would say that female leaders and managers are, on the whole, friendlier, more empathetic, and better communicators. It’s important to lean into these strengths and excel in this area. Paying attention to the needs of team members, listening to each individual, and genuinely caring for and supporting them will both motivate your team and produce positive results for your company. Women are also fantastic multitaskers, allowing them to expertly juggle work responsibilities without neglecting the aforementioned personal touch.
