Bloom: Hannah Patronoudis
Three years ago Hannah Patronoudis was an intern at Craftworkz. Meanwhile, she can call herself Managing Partner of this innovative business unit. Natural leadership and a great sense of responsibility are qualities that have certainly helped her on this path. Hannah shares her story and her passion for technology with us in this interview.
Rolled into tech by chance, and never let it go
How did you get into the tech world?
"Actually, I don't have a grand or inspiring answer to this. I didn't have a plan B outlined for myself so I just went with my first feeling. In secondary school, I took Accounting - Computer Science. That's where I first learned about coding and came into contact with IT. During my internship, I was given the opportunity to develop a website and that was obviously nothing high quality, but it did stimulate me enough to want to grow further in that direction. After my first year at PXL University of Applied Sciences, I noticed that pure programming was not quite my thing. That is why I studied software management with the idea of entering the job market as a digital project manager. In my second academic year, I visited a trade fair at Corda Campus in Hasselt where students and starters could meet IT companies. There, I soon got a sobering answer. During an introductory meeting with a company that is active in the tech industry, my motivation to start as a project manager hit a wall: 'Impossible, just start in that position without any professional experience'.
Nevertheless, I did pursue my dream. I was given the opportunity to start as a project management intern at Craftworkz and that turned out to be a perfect match. As a project manager, I could help innovative concepts to grow and continue to discover new things every day in a very technical and fast-growing world. That internship was very instructive and I was really honoured when, after my internship, they offered me the chance to start working for them as a permanent employee.
Several factors have contributed to my growth from starter to managing partner. On the one hand, within our group a lot of trust is given to young employees. That is part of the culture. You get many opportunities and have great autonomy to organise your working time. On the other hand, there was a good momentum because the founders of Craftworkz were in the process of setting up an umbrella organisation, which was eventually christened Raccoons.
I am someone who by nature likes to take responsibility and solve problems. Given the room that our start-up mentality offers, I did just that. After a while, I exchanged project management for diving into the figures and taking on the operational side, after which the commercial side quickly followed. The step to becoming a managing partner was therefore logical."
What exactly does Craftworkz do?
"Five years ago, we were known for building prototypes in all the latest technologies: chatbots, artificial intelligence, blockchain ... With all the buzzwords you can think of, we've probably already realised a project. Our mission was to show what technology can do for companies in all kinds of sectors. We were more like an incubator at the time, because eventually every expertise in a certain technology developed into its own venture. When Raccoons was created as an umbrella organisation and all those ventures had been given a new home, it was time to reinvent Craftworkz. That's what we've been doing for the past year.
Since this year, Craftworkz has been focusing on collaborations with creative agencies. Such agencies are bursting with creative brains and are always coming up with the craziest ideas. What we notice is that they need quick technical validation of these concepts. That is why we verify for them whether these creative concepts are technically feasible, what they would cost, how long it would take to build them, which technologies we would use and what possible limitations there might be. In this way, we help them prepare well for pitching the project to their customers. Once the project is won, we are eager to build it."
Growing pains and support
What are your greatest successes and challenges?
"That is a difficult question. I am often too focused on my growing pains and challenges that I forget how many I have already overcome and how fast I have grown in such a short period of time. I sometimes don't think enough about the fact that I am only 25 years old and only three years out of school.
The biggest challenge for me at the moment is leading a team. I joined our team, first as an intern, then as a digital project manager and now as managing partner. In addition, until recently I was often the youngest and the only woman, but fortunately we are changing that. Despite the fact that I get a lot of support from the team and also receive the necessary coaching, this will remain an active, challenging goal: to be a good leader for all my colleagues."
"I am often too focused on my growing pains and challenges that I forget how many I have already overcome and how fast I have grown in such a short period of time."
A shared dream: more women in IT
What are your ambitions and dreams for the future?
"I do have several professional dreams, such as being the technical partner of the top Belgian creative agencies and only working on projects that matter. Projects of which people say 'wow, did you build that?
In addition, it would be great to contribute with Craftworkz and from my role by inspiring young people to choose a technical career path. We often do that by giving introductory lessons at colleges about a certain technical topic that is not standard in learning trajectories or by giving seminars, but I would like to take a step back. I also want to be able to reach young people who have not had the opportunity to come into contact with technology.
At the moment, we do not reach that target group and we see this reflected in our recruitment, in all areas of diversity. Addressing secondary students sometimes gives a double feeling because, as a company, you don't see any direct impact when you go and speak in schools. But it would give me immense satisfaction if in a few years' time I could meet someone who has found his or her passion in the technical sector because they were stimulated by one of our presentations. That is why I hope that by being in touch and working together with colleges or with an organisation like Clusity, we can still make a contribution together."
Hannah Patronoudis, a hands-on leader with a growth mindset, proves once again that there is room at the table for women and fast-growers in tech. We're excited to see what Hannah will accomplish in the future. Are you too? Be sure to follow her on Linkedin.
