July was a month of surprises at WomenEsteem International! And one of these magic moments was to welcome Ileana Pârvu into our Community as a Platinum Lady.

”But why is this such a big surprise for our community?” you may ask.

Well… You don’t see everyday one of your best friends joining actively your dream. We use to support our friends in their journeys mostly in their personal life, and less in their professional life. But when both are happening, I think it’s a real blessing that worth to be mentioned publicly.

So, today I have the chance and the honor to speak about Ileana, and I will try my best to be as objective as possible. She specifically asked me to highlight her flaws as well, not only her strengths, so it is not an easy job for me to do. 😊

After 12 years of knowing her, I dare to say that in my perception, Ileana is a strong dreamer who kicks life’s butt if she feels she has to. Well, not only life’s butt, so be carefull not to mislead her or try to be an „ass kissing person” around her `cos you may have a biiig surprise coming from behind her perfect smile and her joyful nature!

Professionally speaking, she is currently the Country Manager of a big multinational company, having several Operations hubs in Romania. But 12 years ago, when I met her, she was the beneficiary of a Management Mentoring Program I developed, and a year later she asked me to join her team and take the responsibility of approximately 90 professionals reporting directly to her. So, she used to be My Boss for two years!!! 😊    

She has a soft heart and I must say she was one of the best bosses I ever had! Even in professional relationships she looks at people’s true nature and approaches them as equals, transforming sometimes professional relationships in strong friendships. She tried to become closer to me from the beginning, but I had a rule at that time, not to mix professional with personal aspects of my life, so I kind of said to her to “stay away” (What a jerk! Yup, myself! 😊).