Emilia Osewska
Emilia Osewska, 42, found her first serious job while stumbling across an ad for marketing manager of British Airways (BA) in the early 1990s. "At that time there were no specialists in given areas," she said. "A person who knew more or less what was going on in the world, spoke a foreign language, had a university degree, and knew something about marketing would have been employed at many foreign companies."
After advancing through various executive positions at the airline, she took a postion as country manager in 1997, which a year ago was renamed as "country commercial manager." The work hasn't always been easy. Osewska admits that the most difficult period for her was when flights stopped between Poland and the U.K. for half a year in late 1993 because the airlines couldn't reach an agreement on the number of weekly flights. "That was the toughest moment," Osewska said.
At the moment, her attention is focused on developing the airline's Internet services. Soon, she said, customers will be able to book a ticket without even speaking to a BA representative. Paper tickets will also become a thing of the past as BA is gearing up to introduce electronic tickets, Osewska said.
Past notes:
Graduated with a psychology degree from Warsaw University
Studied at the New School for Social Research in New York
Completed her M.B.A. at Lancaster University in Lancaster, U.K.
Has two daughters
Last word:
"If somebody can't take a step back from her position as a manager, she loses contact with herself and her employees."
