Growing up in rural Germany in the 1980s and 90s, advanced math and sciences weren’t really on the table for me. Not because anyone said no outright, but because that’s just how things were. The classes filled up with boys, and girls like me found other paths. Mine led to business management, project management, and HR – and eventually, to immigrating to the United States and building a life and career from the ground up.
What I didn’t expect was that those disciplines, shaped by navigating different cultures and systems, would become my greatest assets in an industry undergoing constant transformation. Nuclear energy didn’t just give me a career, it gave me a global one with meaning. It took me across the world to the UAE, to Barakah, the UAE’s first nuclear power plant, where I spent seven years building the workforce behind the nation’s first reactor. That experience reshaped how I see the world, how I lead, and what I believe is possible.
Today, as automation, machine learning, and AI redefine every sector, I’m more convinced than ever that the human side of energy – the people, the systems, the knowledge – is where the real work lives. This industry didn’t just impact my life. It became my life’s work.