Charlotte Vicca - Belgium

As Azelis continues to grow, new opportunities appear in the various parts of the world where we are present and thriving. Offering these opportunities to our employees and a chance to discover new worlds, progress and personal development, is at the heart of our talent mobility program.

This Talent Mobility Story leads us to Antwerp, where Charlotte Vicca holds the position of M&A Manager at Azelis. Notwithstanding she enjoys to travel and has quite an international background, her mobility story lies in one and the same country. Because for Azelis, talent mobility comes in various forms, be it geographical or function-oriented.

Hi Charlotte, thank you for taking the time for this short interview. For starters, can you tell us a bit about yourself? Who is Charlotte Vicca and how has life led you to Azelis and your current function?
I was born in Antwerp, Belgium, but at the age of 7, I moved with my parents to the south of Spain where I grew up and studied at an international school. Once I turned 18 and it was time for me to go to university, I decided to move back to the place I was born and started my studies at the University of Antwerp in Applied Economics. After graduating, I was offered a job as a financial auditor at EY in Antwerp where I worked for 2 years before joining Azelis in June 2013 as a corporate business controller. After a couple of years, I got the opportunity to jump from the corporate side into a more in-depth and market-focused role as Finance Manager for Azelis Benelux. One year ago, I had the opportunity to discover another function at the corporate side of Azelis, bringing me to the M&A manager position I am in today.

Those are quite some changes in the span of 6 years. What were the biggest changes throughout your Azelis career so far?
I’d say the perspectives have been completely different. Especially when I went from Group Controlling to the position of Finance Manager Benelux, I had to switch from a corporate helicopter view to a local focus, which brings its own complexity of daily operations, people management and a lot more in-depth market and business feeling. Later on, these previous experiences proved to be very useful, as they prepared me for my current job.

With these different jobs, I have been taken out of my comfort zone quite often, but then again I remained determined to fulfill my roles to the best of my abilities. This actually taught me that I can do almost anything I set my mind to. I have recently also become a mother, which has taught me patience, which is something I did not have much of before. Also, a good balance and being happy both at home and at work has become crucial to me, because we spend the majority of our time working but time really does fly when you are having fun.

How do you feel now after being in the M&A Manager role for 1 year?
I am honored to have been given so many opportunities within Azelis and to know that management believes in my abilities and takes my ambitions into consideration. It’s great to be able to use all my gathered knowledge and apply it to my new function and at the same time learn new skills from my team members.

The most exciting part of my job now is that we help to determine the Azelis future by the acquisitions that we do and learn about the specialty chemical distribution business and meet industry experts around the world.

Now that you have been given the opportunity for this new role in your professional career, what are your thoughts now on the talent mobility initiative?
I think it is an excellent platform for people to expand their skillset and gather experience in different aspects within one company, whether it be within different roles or in different parts of the world.

If you could share one piece of advice to someone on internal job rotation, what would it be?
Have open communication with your line manager about your career perspectives within the company. Do not be afraid to open up about your ambitions, as this can only benefit you. Once you are presented with a new opportunity, think carefully and take it with both hands. They believe in you, and therefore so should you.