Pauliina’s story: From B2B sales to creative specialist entrepreneur

Today, I am a specialist entrepreneur. I create PowerPoint presentations primarily for well-known Finnish companies, such as Fortum, MTV, Pentik, Veho and VTT. My journey to entrepreneurship has not been straightforward nor obvious, but in hindsight, it was almost inevitable.

Already in comprehensive school, art was a subject that I was passionate about and excelled in. After upper secondary school, I applied to study graphic design, but I didn't get in on my first attempt. My faith in my skills was shaken, and I ended up studying business and marketing. I thought that marketing would get me closer to the visual world, albeit in a business role.

My career got off to a good start during my studies, and I ended up working in sales. I was a natural at sales. My network carried me to the next job whenever the previous one had ended more or less unexpectedly. I worked for seven companies over eleven years before becoming an entrepreneur. These companies were small and medium-sized.

My first job was at Jari Sarasvuo’s consulting company, Trainers’ House, where I started as a cold caller. There, I learned to boldly reach out to potential customers, and I believe this skill contributed to my courage to become an entrepreneur. The experience still bears fruit, and the network I built while working there carried me from one job to another later on.

In my following jobs, I learned about the advertising world, e-learning, banner advertising, digital tools development and social media content monitoring. I learned about productising services, gained sales experience and tried my wings as a Sales Director. Along the way, I received positive feedback on the presentations I made, which bolstered my confidence in crafting clear presentations.

My last job before becoming an entrepreneur brought me closer to visual design than any previous position. Still, it wasn't me who made the presentations. The most important lesson for my entrepreneurship was that it is possible to specialise in presentation design.

A network that supports and proactivity that rewards you

Nowadays, no job is necessarily guaranteed to last you until retirement, and you cannot completely trust in job continuity. In my experience, working in small and medium-sized enterprises is particularly unpredictable. 

Whenever a job ended, I always found the next one either through my network or by directly contacting the company’s CEO and asking if the company could offer me a job. I always wanted to get back to work quickly. I was genuinely enthusiastic about every job I got, even though they weren’t yet my dream jobs.

Finding employment in this way requires the courage to tell people that you are looking for work. Your network grows through every work experience, and you meet different people in other areas of life as well. You never know who will remember you favourably later. If you can actively grow your network, it’s worth doing. It may require stepping out of your comfort zone, but it is worth it. Networking is like investing – the best time to start was yesterday, but the next best time is today.

Every job teaches you something valuable

Time has shown me that I have learned valuable lessons from each of my previous jobs, such as business and project management, sales and marketing, and design. I wouldn’t have guessed that all those years in B2B sales would be a decisive factor in giving me the confidence to take the leap into entrepreneurship.

As an entrepreneur, you must have the courage to contact people, whether it is for asking for advice, seeking recommendations, or offering your services. This boldness lays a solid foundation for an entrepreneurial career. An entrepreneur must also know how to charge for their services, so the lessons on service productisation and negotiation skills were needed from the start. One of my first customers tried to avoid paying the invoice on its due date, claiming that they wanted to first revise the delivered work. My firm statement that we hadn’t agreed to such a term motivated the customer to pay the invoice immediately.

Answering the call of entrepreneurship

I have been an entrepreneur for five years now in a profession that I did not study for and didn’t have traditional work experience in, such as working as a graphic designer. When my last paid job ended, I knew that my next step was to be the one creating the visual design for companies’ PowerPoint materials. I also knew that no creative agency would hire me without a portfolio. The best way for me to quickly learn visual design and be able to demonstrate my skills was to become an entrepreneur. Nothing beats hands-on experience, so I dove into the deep end – and it was worth it.

My goal has always been to do something that genuinely excites and motivates me, and where I find my flow. In such work, I can be at my best, learn and develop the most, and have the highest change of succeeding and providing value to my customers. At this stage of my career, presentation design fulfils this for me. Who knows how I will expand my skills in the coming years. One of my dreams is to create the layout of a book.

For me, the most important thing about becoming an entrepreneur and succeeding in it was to have faith in my own abilities, to be able to take the first step. That faith came from an inner voice that had been whispering about my passion since my childhood and from a few encouraging words from managers along the way. The person giving positive feedback might not realise how significant their words can be. One comment that I remember went something like this: “This is a better presentation than 90% of our customers can create.” The feedback is from a time when I was just starting with presentations. I've come a long way since then.

Financial peace of mind enabled entrepreneurship

My friends asked me how I had the courage to become an entrepreneur. I told them that I had bought myself time to try it – and possibly fail – by having a financial buffer. I would not be in trouble if entrepreneurship did not pay off or I could not cover the company’s expenses or pay myself a salary.

It was a pleasant surprise that my first year in business was so successful that I was able to pay myself a competitive salary. My earnings from when I was employed came second. However, in these uncertain times, entrepreneurship has meant a fluctuating income, so common sense in paying myself has ensured continuity of my business. Entrepreneurship and paying the self-employed person’s pension insurance (YEL) have also allowed me to take two parental leaves, one of which I am on right now.

Work and life tailored to my needs

Becoming an entrepreneur is, thus far, the greatest success of my career. I can use my best skills in a much more versatile way than in any strictly defined job role or obligation to do whatever work the employer assigns. The best benefit for a company is an employee who is intrinsically motivated by their work.

Being my own boss, I can be flexible with my working hours. I can take time for other areas of my life when needed, or rest when I need it. It is pointless to try to be a productive worker when tired, as the same work flows faster and better after rest. An employee’s timely rest also benefits the company.

Although I love losing track of time while working in my passion job, there are many other things in my life that require time. The most important are my children, with whom I spend most of my free time. They deserve that time, so flexibility in work is very valuable. I hope that more leaders would understand this in order for company cultures and work life to evolve towards being more human-centric. 

I hope that my story has inspired you, whether you dream of entrepreneurship or are otherwise looking for a new direction in your career.

Four questions for aspiring entrepreneurs or career changers

• What is your calling? What tasks excite you, and what activities make you lose track of time
• Does your financial situation give you time to try? Can you save a cash buffer to cover living expenses and possibly also business expenses if your business does not initially or ever yield results? I also recommend that you familiarise yourself with the start-up grant before registering as a private trader or limited liability company. 
• What knowledge and skills can you rely on initially? What previous experience helps you as an entrepreneur, and what are your strengths? Which personality traits can help you win people over?
• From whom can you seek advice or mentorship? Do you know people from whom you can get ideas or feedback about services, tips on potential customers, recommendations, or social media likes? Suomen Mentorit and other similar organisations are also worth exploring.

Pauliina Ullner Di Pietrantonio
Entrepreneur
Ullner Creative Oy