This year’s Ironwoman is an Anexian!
If you ask Anexian Chiara Szolderits about her job at Anexia, it sounds quite ordinary at first: project manager in Software Solutions. But there is more: a disciplined personality with a great passion for cardio , who proves that work and sport can be combined successfully.
From developer to project manager
“I actually came to Anexia accidentally,” she says. A headhunter contacted her via LinkedIn to see if she was interested in changing jobs. After years in software development, she wanted to take a new career path – away from development and towards more organization, coordination and responsibility. “The interview impressed me right from the start.” Since January, she ‘s responsible for coordinating development teams, budgets, deadlines and is the central point of contact for customers.
Sporting success
The most recent sporting success is her participation and first place in the women’s category at this year’s Klagenfurt Ironman, one of the toughest competitions in the world: 3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling and a marathon run (42.2 km). The Anexian was able to complete all of this in just over 9.5 hours. “I would never have thought that before,” she says. After an injury break from dancing, she found her way back to sport via cycling. First a mini triathlon, then other smaller competitions – and finally the Ironman, which she completed for the fourth time this year.
Full-time work and sport? That’s possible!
In addition to her full-time job, she still finds time to train an impressive 15-25 hours a week. Her secret? Structure, flexible working hours and working from home. The day often starts early in the morning with a swimming session. She runs at lunchtime and then goes cycling after work.
“It’s all a question of planning and priorities,” she explains. “The good thing, of course, is that we have flexitime. That makes the whole thing relatively easy.” What few people know, is that she doesn’t earn a cent from the sport – the effort is all out of self-motivation and fun.
She clearly sees similarities between work and cardio. “You need a strong head, determination and have to set clear goals.” As in sport, not everything always goes as planned in project management too. Sometimes things don’t work out the way you want them to, deadlines are postponed or unexpected challenges arise. Then you have to stay focused, find solutions and motivate the team.
The discipline she applies to this and the mental balance of training help her to remain efficient and focused at work too.
She didn’t expect to win the Ironman herself. Her goal was to stay under ten hours – in the end, she came in first place with just over 9:30 hours and 440 female participants (overall 2.300 participants). “I couldn’t believe it myself,” she says. She had the qualification for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii, but turned it down with gratitude. “I do the sport because I enjoy it – not because I want to put myself under pressure.” Nevertheless, she can proudly say that this victory earned her the title of Austrian national champion.
What comes next?
Smaller competitions are planned for this year, such as a half marathon at “Kärnten läuft”. And next year? Perhaps the next Ironman – and the goal of staying under 9:30 hours. In sporting terms, she has just achieved what she always wanted to achieve. She is also not completely uninterested in her second passion, music, and dreams of taking part in a contest or recording her own single.
Chiara impressively demonstrates how professional success and top sporting performance can be combined with a flexible working time model and home office options. We are incredibly proud of our colleague and are keeping our fingers crossed that she will also achieve her next big goal in the coming year.