Let me tell you the Jump-Up Story of one of the most charismatic, smiling, and kindest Project Leads at A Data Pro.
Meet Stefi
A perfectionist, role model, and inspiration to all of us, she is always ready to give a helping
hand.
Please tell us a little bit about yourself
Hello, and nice to meet you! I am Stefi – a workaholic, shopaholic, traveller, and Zumba enthusiast. I live with my husband Yordan and our baby girl Bozhidara, who are my rays of sunshine. We have two tomcats – Mishi and Johnnie, who are part of our family. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and a Master’s degree in Psychology. I have always been a person of opposites. I love visiting megapolises and walking in crowds, and at the same time, I am happy to live in a small town in the South Central region of Bulgaria.
My greatest passion is travelling the world and exploring new places, but I am always happy when I get back home. I love my job and the team and enjoy working, but in the last few years, I have been keeping a healthy work-life balance and spending quality time with my family away from the keyboard. I like going out and visiting fancy restaurants and noisy bars, but sometimes I need quiet time with a book and a cup of hot chocolate, accompanied by cats purring.
What is your ADP Story?
I started working at the company as an Analyst in 2008. It was not easy at first, as I took two years for one at the university that same year, just three months after I started at A Data Pro. It was challenging to split my time and focus between the university and the job. Luckily, my then team leader supported me in this adventure. As I did not want to miss a single lecture, he let me split my shift in half, so my work schedule was 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM and 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM each day, and I had lectures in between. Gradually, what I thought was a summer job, turned into the place where I wanted to be in the long term, and after I graduated, I decided to pursue my professional goals at the company. I began climbing the corporate ladder, which motivated me to keep over-performing. I have worked in the Risk and Compliance Department and the Entity Extraction Account for the last seven years. Now, more than 14 years after my very first day, I am sure I made the right choice not only because the company constantly challenges me and drives me to develop my full potential but also because it has a friendly environment, business ethics, is socially responsible, and is totally in line with my inner sense of morale.
What are you most proud of when it comes to your work in ADP?
I’d dare say I have achieved many professional milestones, and there are many to come. I am skilled at starting projects from scratch and working with demanding customers. During the years, I have gained the trust of my peers, managers, and clients. But I am most proud of my contribution to my current project and team. When I transferred seven years ago, the project was relatively new, and it took me a lot of time and energy to set the standards we follow to this day. It has been a great pleasure to build the team and gain their respect, not just because I am their project and line manager but because I act ethically, am kind, and always support them. That said, my responsibility to the team now is even higher.
What would you advise your younger self?
Have the courage to pursue your dreams; they will come true when the time is right.
We live in a dynamic world. How do you expect the industry you work
in to change over the next 12 months? (ex. interesting tendencies,
trends, latest developments etc.)
Time and information are a few of humankind’s greatest assets and will be very important in this and the following years. Given that, the data processing industry has a few challenges it needs to handle:
- The number of online media sources is constantly growing, and a substantial number of
them publish hundreds of articles daily, making it hard to track all articles and extract the
relevant information; - Disinformation is another stumbling stone for businesses operating with data. Automation and machine learning can solve these obstacles and save time via automated data selection and fake news detection. More and more companies will invest in technologies to save time by getting the data via automatic data gathering, processing, and evaluation. I already enjoy the benefits of automation and machine learning, as they have been a considerable part of our workflow for the last few years.
Bonus Q
Which fictional character do you feel you’re most like? What traits do
you share with them? 🙂
I don’t want to brag, but I have always been an overachiever and perfectionist. I am goal-oriented and always motivated to achieve more. I am ambitious and have a thirst for gaining knowledge, which helps me accomplish my goals and pursue my dreams. I have a strong sense of justice and fight for what I believe. At the same time, I put kindness, compassion, and empathy above all merits. I consider myself to be a good person who always tries to do the right thing. I protect my family and friends and am always happy to help everyone. That is why Hermione Granger and I have a lot in common. Ah, and let me add that we both adore cats.
Interested in reading more Jump Up stories from our team members of the Risk and Compliance department? You can check the latest stories from Boris Drandiyski and Slavena Georgieva. Access all stories here.
