Susanne Larsen celebrates 40 years in BEC

“It was a big step for me to even start at BEC.” Sus reminisces, “I was very shy back then – in fact, my hands would start to sweat talking to even 2 or 3 people! But I really had a lot of great colleagues, who took care of me and taught me a lot.” 

At the age of 18 Sus applied for a two-year IT developer training. Although she had little prior knowledge of IT, she was intrigued by the potential opportunities the field could offer. “They told me told there were not many seats in the IT program, but I still managed to get in!” She laughs. Today she is very glad did – taking the 2-year course was the first step in Sus’ 40-year career as a developer in BEC.  

“The education part gave me a little corner of knowledge. However, the on-the-job training and learning I got at BEC was amazing at gaining key knowledge.” explains Sus. 

Since then, over her four decades with the company, Sus has taken many lessons and developed as a person and professional. She muses:  

“If I could talk to my younger self, I would tell her to ‘have more trust in yourself’. I would tell her that ‘You are good enough’. Today I’m very confident – I speak up and say what I mean and speak up for others in my team. My life has made me a new person, and that has helped me trust myself and give me greater confidence.”  

Experience and expertise

Today Susanne wears many hats in her team: business analyst, informal scrum master, subject matter expert. She likes to analyze problems and prepare the Sprints and PI planning. Sus explains, “I like to make sure it is easy for our team, to help them by planning properly. I also like to use my knowledge and experience to help my team and people around.” 

In her sub-team under Payments Essential, Susanne has 2 colleagues in Poland and 6 people in the team in Denmark. Sus shares, “my team is like my other family. And I think this is a widely shared sentiment in BEC. During my career, I needed a close relationship to colleagues to feel confident.” She continues, “If I have a bad day, I have the familiarity to say to my team, ‘I’ve had a bad day, it’s not you, but be aware.’ What’s great about my team is that we are all very experienced professionals, and we’re very good at taking care of each other.” 

Sus’ manager, Peter Graversen, also looks fondly on Sus. He says, “Susanne is a remarkable colleague. With years of experience under her belt, Susanne approaches her work with a level of expertise that inspires confidence. Yet, what truly sets her apart is her genuine care for others. Always considerate and attentive, she fosters a positive atmosphere among the team.”. 

Having previously spent 11 years in Deposits, and 16 years in Cross-boarder Payments, Sus has amassed significant knowledge. In her team Sus engages in knowledge-sharing sessions to distribute the know-how about the big systems (such as domestic clearing and Payment instructions) used in the team. Sus elaborates, “We have had workshops together, where the experts shared what they know. But mostly we knowledge-share in the team daily. As the learnings come in, we share the teachings, too.” 

Being such a knowledgeable person and having benefited from learning from others over the years, Sus explains more on what it takes to grow skills at BEC.  

“Ask, ask, ask.” She explains, “If you want help in BEC, simply reach out and Ask. Don’t feel like you disturb us, better to double-check than break something in the system. We like to take care of the new ones.”  

Outside of work

In a town with 300 people, Susanne lives on an old farm with her husband which offers a lot of space to work on old American cars. Over the years, Susanne and her husband have built up quite a collection – including a Ford from 1930. Sus explains that her and her husband’s ambition is to make a Hot Rod car out of the Ford. They are members of 3 different American car clubs. 

In her spare time, she spends time with her 4 children and 5 grandkids. As well as spending time to renovate the outbuildings on her farm.  

40 years later, Sus continues working in payments, and reflects on the importance of making the best out of changes and opportunities that arise.  

“Change is not always easy, but I think it is better to have the attitude to get the best out of what is happening and help each other to get the best out of change. Even though you can’t always satisfied day-to-day, I think that it is good to remain positive.”  

Congratulations Susanne on your 40 years in BEC! Here’s to all your contributions to BEC so far, and for all to come.