“Don’t think too much and don’t just talk, just do it”

“Is it worth taking a risk to achieve your goals?”: This was the motto of the second female expert talk by Oberösterreichische Versicherung, which took place on Thursday evening on the occasion of the “Upper Austria Ladies”tennis tournament in the Linz Design Center. The hosts of the evening, Upper Austrian Executive Director Kathrin Kühtreiber-Leitner, together with women’s officer and deputy governor Christine Haberlander, welcomed numerous representatives from politics and business to the audience and five women on the podium, who spoke about their careers and challenges.

Sandra Reichel, tournament director of the Upper Austria Ladies, showed courage to change: she ended her professional career at the age of 25 and became the youngest tournament director on the women’s tour at the time. She penetrated a male domain: “My advice to anyone in a similar situation is not to think too much and not just talk. Make it easy.” Pia Beinkofer describes her management style as “friendly but determined”: She is a member of the management of the tile dealer Beinkofer and had to develop her position: “The employees have known me since I was little. Suddenly I was in a different position. Employees feel competence, then trust comes.” Your tip: “Get out of the comfort zone.”

Fight against the pig dog

The trained kindergarten teacher Gertrude Schatzdorfer-Wölfel, as one of two daughters, had to take over the family metalworking company Schatzdorfer in Zipf: “As a woman, I was not trusted. I had to constantly prove myself, also to my father.” In 2006, she recruited the first three women to work in what had previously been a male-dominated company. Today, a quarter of the employees are women, and with daughter Marlene, the next female generation is already working in the management.

The editor-in-chief of OÖN, Susanne Dickstein, emphasized the importance of solidarity and mutual support: “That makes it a lot easier.” It is important to promote young journalistic talents, regardless of whether they are male or female: “But promoting women gives a special satisfaction.”

Barbara Schett, Linz tournament ambassador and former number 7 in the world tennis rankings, started playing at the age of six and was out and about for up to eleven months a year: “Overcoming your weaker self during training was not always easy.” Today, the mother of a 13-year-old son commutes between Austria and Australia, is actively supported by her husband and advises women to remain curious and not to shy away from change.

Kühdriver-Leitner encouraged the audience to jump in at the deep end. Haberlander campaigned for solidarity among women and described women who volunteered in whatever form as “encouragers”.