A genuine example of passion and devotion, Andrea Varda is able to inspire simply by talking about the ambitious projects she and her team have succeeded in completing. To her, AAM Consulting, the company she leads as one of the managing partners and as head of the International Business Unit, is more than a job. Being part of the company for the last 15 years has allowed her to become even more creative in delivering ingenious sustainable solutions. Andrea Varda is the new champion of the latest edition of Hero Stories from DevelopmentAid.
“Many people perceive their jobs to be just jobs. I find my situation to be different. My job … I would not even call it a job, it is work that I love, it is my hobby. Doing your hobby, you enjoy accomplishing challenges. I hope this is contagious and my colleagues enjoy what we are doing within the company the same way I do.”
Inspirational? I should say so. Some of us are still trying to discover the job that best suits our expectations in terms of a career path. Andrea Varda, as she says, had the good fortune to discover her passion for international development right from the outset. Her first job turned out to be with the company she has worked for over the last 15 years.
“I joined AAM Consulting in 2006 as a junior consultant within the International Business Unit. Over the years I worked on various international development projects. I gradually rose to a senior role, after that followed the position of manager and now, I am part of the management team as well as being one of the owners. It was not a conscious career decision on my part. I never planned to one day become a partner in the company. This was a natural consequence of my devotion to the work that I have always loved to do. Since I enjoyed doing what I was doing, I wanted to have more challenges to overcome, to grow, to work on different agendas.”
Andrea emphasizes that the variety of projects she has been involved in has offered her a wide range of opportunities to exploit as a professional.
“Working on various projects gave me the opportunity to get to know other cultures and systems, to become more open regarding the mind-sets and experiences of others. I am sure that people with different thinking can be brought on board and guided in the same direction and at the end of the day we will share the same values.”
The company was founded in 1994 and, during the first few years, most of the projects were implemented in Hungary. Then from the beginning of 2000s, and when she became part of the team in 2006, Andrea and her team tried to conquer the international market.
“Our company has more than 27 years of experience with more than 2,500 projects implemented. Every year we start around 70 to 80 new projects. Besides the projects implemented in Hungary, we have focused our activity on the Western Balkans region. Western Balkans, thanks to its geography and cultural closeness, is our priority. We have great experience working in the Balkans, developing long-term partnerships, collaborating with companies, experts, individuals, and institutes but we keep an open eye out for potential partnerships in other regions as well.”
AAM Consulting has succeeded in gaining a sound track record in international development. Challenged by complex issues, the company has gradually extended its areas of interest from the private sector to public administration, from banking to energy.
“We mainly work with the private sector in Hungary but we deal with public administration as well such as banking and finance, insurance companies, the telecommunications sector, energy, etc. Internationally, since we collaborate with EU institutions, multilateral development banks like the World Bank, EBRD, and other donors, we channel our efforts towards public administration but also any other interesting projects. We look for synergies to establish strong partnerships. Competition is growing and complex projects require complex teams. Companies don’t have all the capabilities required to cover all a project’s needs especially if it is a complex one. Our favourite projects are those where the complex issues are brought together. All these preconditions bring us more confidence that our projects are going to be long-term ones.”
Working in a consortium has its advantages but, on the other hand, can be challenging. For Andrea, challenges and opportunities are the best path to personal and professional development, as well as to team consolidation.
“Often changes and unexpected situations turn out to be good for projects. The team finds itself in a situation where it must come with a new perspective, its members have to be able to rethink something that had already been decided. Dedicated team members will find a way to bring suitable solutions to the table. Other main challenges are related to the fact of there being so many actors managing a single project each with their own views and expectations. So, sometimes from the first meeting, we understand it is not going to be as planned. But replanning is a regular exercise. These are the challenges and opportunities that allow our team to grow.”
From the very beginning of the discussion, Andrea Varda underlined how important the members of her team are and how their efforts are supported within the company.
“What is important to highlight about AAM? We are a working team and corporate values are milestones for us. We motivate each other to embrace and exploit the development sector. In our company, developing your own career path, as happened in my case, is a natural or expected development route for everyone. The company culture is built around individuals and their growth. We try to solve our challenges together.”
The pandemic has significantly affected the company but has also created the appropriate context to stimulate collaboration among team members. Despite the hardships brought about by COVID-19, AAM Consulting feels stronger than ever and, what is more, more successful too, Andrea emphasizes.
“The new set-up made us understand that it is important to exchange information, to have our discussions, daily plans, to see if your colleagues have the resources to continue the job or not, to ensure better systematic cooperation. We grew up a lot in one year. Our members now feel part of the team more than they did before. COVID is still setting the trends that require new strategies. Our experience points to the fact that the international development market has not returned to some normal trends but we can say that the present year has brought more success than ever, so we are back to being able to build on and achieve sustainability within our team and our company.”
We could not refrain from asking how one can overcome all the challenges and troubles, particularly during such a troublesome period. The answer came out without hesitation: you need to be devoted to what you do.
“It is important to love what you do. Thus, you are naturally motivated, and it is so important to find this motivation. I couldn’t do my job without devotion. I was lucky not to waste time trying to find a job I liked. I understood what I would like to do was be involved in international development. At the same time, I would like to add that in my job it’s very important to build partnerships, to have reliable active players by your side, who can bring added value to your client. So, my advice would be to love your work and become a good partner. We can do great things by cooperating successfully together,” Andrea Varda, the managing partner of AAM Consulting and head of the International Business Unit, concluded.
You can discover more inspirational stories on DevelopmentAid.
