Nicoletta Franchino

Nicoletta, tell us about you and what brought you to Finland?

My name is Nicoletta, and I’m originally from the south of Italy. I moved to the north of Italy to study because there were more opportunities there.  In Milan I met my partner, and we both started our careers there.

However, it was quite stressful, and we had a very unstable work-life balance. We were commuting for two hours a day, and pandemic made things even worse. That’s when we decided to leave our country, inspired by one of my partner’s colleagues, who is a Finn.

‍As an Italian, what aspects of your cultural background have you brought with you to Finland?‍

Well, one thing I’ve noticed about Italians is their ability to find solutions when there’s a need. And I think that’s something that I’ve really tried to adopt here in Finland. Moving to a new country is never easy, especially when you’re dealing with a different language and culture, and you’re basically starting from scratch. In my specific case it was even harder, because I moved during one of the lockdowns in Italy, so everything was ten times more difficult to manage. But I believe that the Italian approach to problem-solving has helped me navigate these challenges and come up with solutions to the obstacles that I encountered.

Before your internship, what kind of work were you doing?

In Italy I worked as a copywriter in an advertising agency and later on for a company called ABB, in their Customer Experience team. In Finland I worked for a while as the Digital Communications Manager of a tech startup, and after that I started my job search again, which wasn’t easy.

In terms of personal growth, how has this internship at Avaus impacted you?

I’m working as an intern at Avaus, in their Marketing team. I’m learning a lot of new things from my colleagues, like how to use LinkedIn campaign manager, their CRM and other platforms. We’re taking it step-by-step.Just imagine how happy I was when the ads I created for a campaign showed an increase in CTR: it was so nice to see that the content I created was effective! I’ve seen some results, and I’ll start proper testing very soon on some new campaigns. Avaus is in a period of growth and change, and it’s exciting to be a part of that.

How has Herizon community been part of your journey?

First of all, I think I would have never had the possibility to join a company like Avaus without Herizon. Aside from learning how to experiment, Herizon is normalizing trying new things and even failing. Also, I joined a Herizon co-working session, which I found to be so lovely. I got the chance to share my feelings of starting an internship and to hear other people’s feelings as well – it made me less anxious about starting it.

What would you say to other Herizon community members?

To dare and do something different from what you’ve been doing. Think about it: what’s the worst thing that can happen?

What’s next for you?

My first priority is to find a long-term job after my internship, to be able to settle here in Finland and be economically independent, which I think is really important for any immigrant woman.