Jessica was 23 when she moved to Amsterdam with just her green hiking backpack. She never thought she’d still be there seven years later, but what a ride it’s been— career changes, travel adventures, and many beautiful experiences.

Moving to a new country was more challenging than expected. With a science degree from the University of Melbourne and experience as an Environmental Consultant, Jessica had the ambition to further her career in sustainability. However, upon arrival, she discovered those roles required Dutch—a language she didn’t know. After some exploring, she landed an English-speaking role at a consulting firm where she worked on some of Europe’s largest business transformations. The work was interesting, but the highlight was the company's annual ski trip to Austria - a perk of living in Europe!

Three years later, she joined a MedTech scale-up focused on faster stroke diagnosis and became the COO. The role was intense, very rewarding and sparked her passion for healthcare. Now, she’s onto her next adventure, launching a venture capital fund to invest in HealthTech startups across Europe.

Looking back, if she could give her teenage self some advice it would be to take risks and to trust that you will figure things out. You don’t need to have your life and career mapped out straight after high school, it will most likely change anyway. But then again, she says, “my teenage self probably wouldn’t listen to me”!