Is everything easier as a couple?

You both graduated from UP, but how are you different. 

É.P.: I was majoring in Hungarian and communication at the Faculty of Humanities at – as it was called then – Janus Pannonius University. I had a quite different vision of my future then. My parents are teachers, so I saw that career in front of me. While at university, I worked for UnivTV for 3 years, so I got closer to the world of media, but I was only attracted by interviewing, and anthropology and sociology within communication. I spent a semester in Vienna on Tempus scholarship.

Zs.W.: I graduated from the Faculty of Economics, but even during my university years I was looking for opportunities to travel abroad as much as possible. So I also got to Tubingen, Germany on a Tempus scholarship and to Reutlingen with AISEC’s intern programme. 

What kind of plans and visions did you set off into your careers? 

Zs.W.: Looking back, when we were in the fifth year, we didn’t know what we were going to do, frankly. The faculty had a partnership with Ohio University, and I grabbed this opportunity to get to the USA. Thus, being practically tuition-free, in my position as a teaching assistant I could also make a little money besides studying. Our aim was to extend our university years a little, to expand the safety network of being a student, and to put ourselves to the test in the English-speaking world as well.

É.P.: I could only speak at a basic level then, but my goal was to learn the language and to be with Zsolt, we didn’t want to spend a year apart. In those days it was a bit difficult because of the visa, but finally I was accepted for Southeast Asian Studies, I got a scholarship and could travel to the USA as a student.

Zs.W.: When we both graduated we faced a serious dilemma, but we decided to come home – we could have continued our studies, but finally we settled down in Budapest, Hungary.

What were your first jobs like? 

É.P.: Since I was specialised in Southeast Asia and Thailand at the American university, I tried that direction first. I took part in some projects at embassies in Budapest two times, but since there weren’t any position openings, that didn’t have a future for me. Then I followed the marketing-communication line, and I found myself at the marketing department of OTP Bank where I dealt with media, campaigns and PR, and later I became the brand manager for OTP Junior card.   

Zs.W.: As an economist I was specialised in management advice, so I aimed at that area first, but with my American degree I didn’t fit the usual profile of newly qualified graduates. Finally I accepted an offer from a Swedish IT company that had been present in Hungary only for half a year then and were looking for young and dynamic people for their management. I’ve been heading this company for fifteen years now, I was relatively early promoted to executive manager so I could build up the Hungarian affiliate of the company.    

And later came a  startup. Could you tell about it? 

Zs.W.: After six or seven years, regardless of the fact that I loved my job, I started to long for new impulses. I was thinking of changing my job or study something, and finally I decided on the latter. I took a study break and I gained entry to a one-year master’s course at Stanford Graduate Business School, particularly for managers with several years of experience, so we moved to California for a year. That year was a challenge from every aspect; I could study at one of the best business schools in the world, so every day was like in a sweet shop for a kid. At the end of the course we started thinking again whether we should come home or stay there. We came back, my company was waiting for me, and in the spring of 2011 I started Valley Connect, the company specialised in mentoring  startups and investment. I could realise all these with the help of my Stanford connections and knowledge, and I regularly go back to Silicon Valley with my family.

Éva, have you had a similar impulse, too? 

Yes, I spent four years at OTP, then I thought I would like to try myself in some other fields as well. I started working for HBO as a marketing and PR manager, which was a very similar position to my former one, but in this job the challenge was bigger because the company was much smaller, so I had to make big things out of a smaller budget. That time I wanted to have a family, so I only worked there for half a year. And in the summer of 2006 our first child was born, then the next one two years later. We were lucky because while Zsolt was working I could stay at home with the children, and I didn’t even want to go back to work. The time may come when I will have the time and the desire to go back, but as for now, our three children demand all my time.

What kind of compromise did work and family require? 

Zs.W.: I think myself very lucky from the point that Éva doesn’t experience being at home with the kids as a kind of compromise, and allows me to focus on my work completely. As an executive I make my own schedule, so when I need to help at home, I can arrange my programmes so that I can solve it, but in case of my colleagues I can see how difficult it is when both parents work and they must adjust their time.

What was life in the USA like? Have you never thought of settling down there? 

Zs.W.: I think both of us are selfish enough in the sense that we have a certain kind of existence and position here, but if we move as first-generation immigrants we should start everything from scratch. Besides, there was nothing that would have made us give up our lives here, and of course, we have our friends and family here. And Budapest can offer, to a certain degree, the same standards and quality of living within Hungary, too.

É.P.: The times we spent in America as young university students and as a family were entirely different and incomparable. When you are young you have much more freedom, later it wasn’t so easy with the kids, but it’s a great experience and gave a quite different view for the children as well.

With your experience, what kind of advice would you offer to young graduates entering the world of work? 

Zs.W.: I usually say that there are certain professions in which you have a bigger chance to get noticed. If you can speak languages or you are specialised in something, for example you are good at programming and design and you have plunged into simply because you are interested, it doesn’t matter whether you live in Budapest, London or the USA. It’s not a question of money to show yourself. It’s much easier to build connections through various community sites such as LinkedIn or Facebook, and you can see that there is a part of the world where good performance is appreciated. 

When we graduated almost the only career chance was to move to Budapest and work for a multinational company. This opportunity is still open, but it’s worth trying for two or three years to see what it means to work, how you can get ahead, to experience how the world works. But when you are twenty-something and have no family, mortgage and bank loans, you must have the courage to get on the next plane and travel abroad, because you can find jobs there. It’s not a problem if you only wash the dishes at first, but then the point is to dare to try yourself, because in fact you have nothing to lose. Thanks to the Internet and technology, we live in a small world  now, it’s not some kind of mystic thing to try your  luck abroad, so make the most of these opportunities, and you still can come back to Hungary later.

É.P.: Focus on what you really like, because when difficulties arise, such as a conflict in your job, it’s easy to lose your enthusiasm. But when you do something you like you find more joy in your everyday life, too. In addition, as a woman, I think it’s important to embrace motherhood, that is, you shouldn’t feel guilty just because you stay at home, because you can give a lot to your children. I’ve never regretted it, and of course it’s very important that a woman should be able to work, too, and if she can balance it with family, it’s very good. However, if you think that you want to dedicate this period especially to your children, just enjoy it and don’t feel guilty just because you don’t work. 

Petra Steiner