Lisa Kennelly

Cohort: 10
Klarna, Global Product Marketing Strategist

Lisa’s photo is of her celebrating the most important Swedish holiday of Midsommar!

To start, if I approached you at a picnic and asked what you were up and enjoying these days, how would you answer?

I would say I’m keeping quite busy being a parent to 4 kids while also working full time! So right now not much time for hobbies or leisure but I do enjoy cooking, reading, and obsessively following the real estate listings of cabins in the Swedish countryside (we are hoping to buy one in the next year). I also do a lot of coaching and mentoring for startups and founders on the side and that’s something I enjoy quite a bit.

The theme of this newsletter is our global community. You grew up in Washington but have worked overseas now for over a decade. Can you share a bit about your career path and what you’ve learned about the cultural environments of Germany and Sweden?

I moved to Germany in late fall 2013 (after a year in Vancouver, BC) to work at an early stage startup as their first marketing hire. It was a major culture shock but also an incredible time to be in Berlin. Then in 2018 I moved to Stockholm to be the CMO at another startup and I’ve been in Sweden ever since. Both Berlin and Stockholm are distinctively German and Swedish, respectively, yet have strong international and transplant communities. One thing I’ve observed is that while in both places you can certainly “get away” with only speaking English, learning the language and immersing yourself in the culture makes a huge difference in terms of making connections and feeling at home. This is one of the reasons I’ve become an obsessive Eurovision fan since moving here😂!

What are some vignettes from your work life that illuminate cross-cultural observations, and key takeaways? 

I’ve worked with people from many countries and backgrounds and it’s been hugely valuable in that it’s taught me that there are many ways to be in the workplace! For example, Swedes are big on “consensus culture” and you will frequently be in meetings where everyone gets to have a say, very flat hierarchy, sometimes to the point of frustration where I just want to make a decision. On the other hand I sometimes have found that as an American I have more leeway to be direct and straightforward, and in the best work environments that is appreciated.

What advice would you share for someone with international career ambitions?

Practically speaking, find a company that is willing to sponsor your visa 🙂 . But additionally, my best advice would be to think about what perspective you can contribute to a company as someone from a different country or culture. Are they trying to expand to your home country and need your expertise? Why would they hire you and not someone local? 

Finally, what’s a favorite piece of content—anything goes!—you’ve been hooked on lately you think Comm Lead alumni might enjoy? 

I don’t play a lot of video games but I have really been enjoying one called “Is This Seat Taken” which I play on Switch but is available on mobile and other devices. It’s a quirky animated game where you need to arrange all the little people into seats on a bus, boat, in a movie theater, in a classroom based on their specific preferences. It’s a fun logic challenge that helps me chill out.