Career Paths Are Often Shaped by Chance

How many people have followed their career plans exactly as they originally intended? I suspect not very many. Neither have I.

From Doctor to CEO

The medical profession is strongly associated with the idea of a calling. The education is long and demanding, and the profession carries great responsibility. Doctors often meet people during some of the most significant moments of their lives. Yet few graduate from medical school knowing exactly how their careers will develop over the years.

For me, my career has above all been a journey. A journey from medical school to working first as a general practitioner, then moving into research and completing my doctoral dissertation, specialist training, leadership, the role of CEO, and finally entrepreneurship.

At the same time, it has been a journey as a woman, a partner, and a mother – as a person whose life has never consisted of just one role.

Medical School Taught Me More Than Medicine

Medical education provides a strong foundation of knowledge, but perhaps even more important is what it teaches you about thinking. Medical school taught me to make decisions in uncertain situations, take responsibility, ask for help, and prioritise. Above all, it taught me to listen to people while also seeing the bigger picture.

Later, I realised that these same skills have been extremely valuable as both an entrepreneur and a leader. When running a company, you never have access to all the information you might need. Yet decisions still have to be made. You cannot control everything, but what matters is learning to recognise what is most important at any given moment.

As a doctor, I also learned that one person cannot do everything alone. Good healthcare is built on collaboration. The same applies to good leadership. At the same time, entrepreneurship has taught me humility. Not every idea works. Not every decision is successful. Sometimes plans need to change quickly. Perhaps the ability to cope with failure is one of the most important skills in entrepreneurship.

Career Development Is Not a Straight Line

When I was younger, I may have unconsciously believed that a career progresses step by step: first education, then work, followed by the next position and gradually increasing responsibility. In reality, a career resembles a network rather than a straight line. Sometimes you take a step forward. Sometimes sideways. Sometimes you stop for a while. And sometimes you make a decision that, from an outsider’s perspective, does not look like career development at all.

Family has also influenced my career. Having children has changed how I use my time, my priorities, and my understanding of what is important in life. At the same time, motherhood has taught me an entirely new kind of efficiency. When time is more limited, you learn to use it more carefully. And perhaps even more importantly, you learn to accept that you do not have to do everything yourself.

Family Is Not the Opposite of a Career – Not Even for Women

Perhaps the biggest change in my own thinking has been how I view balancing work and family life. When I was younger, I may have thought that balance meant keeping every area of life in perfect harmony at all times. Today, I see things differently. Balance does not mean giving everything an equal amount of time every single day. It means making sure that life as a whole works well enough in the long run. There are weeks when work demands more. There are periods when family needs more. And there are moments when your own well-being must come first.

As a CEO, Responsibility Grows – but So Does the Opportunity to Make a Difference

In the role of CEO, responsibility takes on an entirely new meaning. Decisions no longer affect only my own work. They influence people, customers, the organisation’s direction, and its future. At the same time, this is one of the most rewarding aspects of the role.

As a leader, you have the opportunity to build something bigger than yourself. You can create opportunities for others to succeed. You can make decisions that change the direction of an organisation.

You Do Not Have to Choose Just One Path

If there is one thing I would like to tell my younger self – or any woman thinking about building her career – it would be this:

• You do not have to choose just one identity.

• You can be a doctor and an entrepreneur.

• You can be a researcher and a leader.

• You can be ambitious and a mother.

• You can want to build a career while also wanting to spend time with your family.

Not everything will always fit into a single day. But it does not have to. A career is built over decades, not in a single week or even a single year. Along the way, plans change. People change. Your own goals change too. That is why I now believe it is more important to have a general sense of the direction you want to take than to know exactly what every next step will be.

Success is not about being able to do everything. Success is about building a meaningful life for yourself – while also creating opportunities for others around you.

Riikka Mattila,

Specialist in Occupational Health, M.D., CEO, Entrepreneur