Boersen, 26 May, 2005
Life should be sensible – and for Karina M. Carlsen it is synonymous with a busy life. She turns foreign cultures and the unknown with a twist for her own advantage, and she does so by being a Danish entrepreneur.
Globalization
Karina M. Carlsen spent her childhood in Armenia, youth and the first part of adulthood in Moscow, Kiev (Ukraine) and Vilnius (Lithuania) and it is already four years as she moved to Denmark; this all formed a base for her newly established consultancy company Go East consulting. She truly had the European experience and understanding from an early age.
“I grew up with three cultures in my home, and I have learned to think in Russian at a very young age even though I was Armenian. It is rather natural for me to see differences in distinct cultures,” says Karina M. Carlsen, who at the same time has learned to be open to the unknown. “I have learned to be mobile and flexible, and this has helped me a lot. Without this experience I would not be capable of integrating myself in Denmark so easily”.
It is 7 years ago now, at the Danish embassy in Lithuania, an engineer and commercial journalist, Karina M. Carlsen, met her Danish husband. Three years later, the couple decided to move to Denmark, and Karina M. Carlsen´s two children from the former marriage followed too. “I do not want to sit and be bored, so I work all the time. It was rather awkward to stay at home alone in the beginning, when my husband was at work, and children were at school, so I quickly learned to speak Danish,” says Karina M. Carlsen, who after one and a half years´ intensive language course could speak one more language.
Thesis worth 13- mark
In addition to this story, Karina M. Carlsen has mentioned, that the best way to get to know Denmark better was going through educational system, so therefore she chose to spend two years at market economist programme at Niels Brock. After three months of internship at Novozymes, she was offered a half year’s employment at business development, where she conducted a research on Russian cosmetic’s market for Novozymes´ new product. A part of work for Novozymes became a final thesis at Niels Brock, which has been evaluated for a 13-mark.
“It is perhaps so that I am a foreigner, but this is not my weak point, but my strength. The Danish society and business environment can exploit us, foreigners, much better by involving us into different projects which are addressed to the countries we know so well,” she says. This is exactly the mind set she is running the one-person enterprise Go East consulting, which can step in with knowledge and experience when Danish companies wish to trade with or want to go to Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia and Moldova.
“We hear a lot of negative things about instability and political conditions in Eastern Europe, but there is no other way to go with the current globalization processes. We need to go that way if we want to keep our life style in Europe and not allow Asian countries to take a lead. In regard to this, I provide my services and can reduce the mistakes companies often make when they enter Eastern European markets”.
Karina M. Carlsen does not consider Eksportrådet as a rival, but rather as a partner that has a feet on juridical and practical issues while her strong side is experience and cultural expertise.
Rising living standards
She believes that discussion about globalization and outsourcing of work places is often mistaken, she does not consider globalization to be a threat for Danish labour, but rather, the right way for creating value in both Denmark and producer countries.
“I feel that I contribute to rising living standards not only in Denmark but also in East European countries.”
Go East consulting is a half year old and already has a number of clients on its list, but Karina M. Carlsen is constantly seeking for potential customers. “Out of 10 phone calls to Danish companies I get to set up two meetings,” says Karina M. Carlsen, who, in the long run, hopes to have a possibility to employ up to five persons and open an office in one of the East European countries.
Gro Høyer Thielst
