Helen Savmyr, 63, is not quite ready to leave business even though she is retired. The Swedish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce first came in contact with Helen when she brought the organization of female leaders, Dot Connected for a study trip in Lisbon.
Since that day Helen has been engaged in many of the CLS activities. She is now joining the CLS community as an individual member. A warm welcome to Helen Savmyr!
The first time I visited Portugal was when we went to the Azores in 2006 and celebrated my father-in-law's 75th birthday. Me and my husband, Kenny, fell in love with the island and its people. We have since visited the Azores 7 times. A few years later we went to Praia Del Rey for a week of golf. This was the start of our dream of moving to Portugal, as soon as we could start downsizing and retiring.
It then took until 2021 before we could visit Portugal again. This depends on several career choices I made. First, I got the opportunity to become site manager within Volvo Cars in Olofström, later CEO of McNeil in Helsingborg, then site manager and VP, Volvo AB in India and finally SVP in Bangkok for Volvo AB's operational activities in APAC.
Both when I lived in India and Thailand, I experienced great connections with the Chamber of Commerce. In Thailand, I was engaged as a Board Member. I believe that the Chamber of Commerce and Business Sweden are two important actors for Swedish companies operating abroad.
Me and my husband, really got a taste of living abroad after 3.5 years in India, Bangalore, and 5 years in Thailand, Bangkok. When there was an opportunity to move to Portugal, the decision was very easy despite the ongoing pandemic. We visited Portugal in the fall of 2021 and travelled around for a couple of weeks, finding Cascais, Lagos and Lisbon as interesting places to settle down. Finally, we chose Lisbon, and we now live in Santos, a choice we have never regretted.
Today, I partly work with the association Dot Connected where I am one of the founders. It is a cross-generational female network for mothers and daughters. Last year we had a meeting in Portugal where, among other things, we had the opportunity to visit CLS.
Furthermore, I am writing a book after I have participated in a writer's training. It is a fiction from my experiences in India. I am also an advisor to leaders, and, above all, I am an expert in operational excellence. I would like to say that I am a factory and logistics geek after having been a site manager on five different occasions in three different industries: Chemical, pharmaceutical, and automotive.
I hold a Master of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and for nearly 40 years I have been an operational leader in various positions from supervisor to CEO. I also have experiences from being an executive advisor and board member including chairman throughout my career.
My interest in people and different cultures has been an essential asset during my journey to build industrial operational excellence through value-driven leadership. A high-performance culture built via believing in people and including diverse competencies has been proven to be a success.
I know that a balance in life between work, family, and leisure creates both efficiency and job satisfaction. In my spare time, I like to combine trips, golfing with my family and friends. End the day with a good dinner and a lot of laughter. Sometimes I just need to be alone with a good movie or an interesting book.
