To do a Helena

She – the one in the middle of the photo, who can’t act normal and looks like a little troll. Yes, that one. That’s me.

I was the last born of my siblings, but not an “accident”, in a large family. Since I was mostly surrounded by adults, I was a nerdy, precocious girl who could mix gin and tonic, participate in political discussions and read detective novels without pictures before I was 6 years old.

Aha, you may be thinking. “She’s smart.” Nah, not more than anyone else, but what’s there to do when you are mostly alone? Play the clarinet, write poetry and submit songs to the Eurovision Song Contest – that I was convinced would win despite the lyrics mostly being about starving children in Biafra.

My dad always said: You can do anything. Anything you want. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.

So I believed him.

I’m the mother of two girls (just don’t tell them that we look alike or look like sisters, they’ll roll their eyes or kick your butt) and a business owner, probably the first in my family since 1789. Most were farmers, farm workers, servants or maids – not even a single baron or anything like that.

I’ve been married three times (yes, I know, it’s worse than the Hollywood Wives…). The first time because I was too much of a coward to blow it off – it lasted 6 months. The second marriage lasted 23 years, and the last one six.

I have lived abroad several times for a total of seven years, both studying and working – with and without a family. (I was kicked out in the street in Munich when my landlady accused me of stealing her sandwiches – believe me, NOBODY would have wanted to eat those sandwiches – but it was all good, because then I got a job in a church and stayed with the priest and his family instead).

I studied communication and journalism at Stockholm University and Poppius School of Journalism, as well as marketing at IHM Business School – and became…? Well, not a journalist, anyway. I’m too soft, lack the sharp elbows, and I was bored to death the time I was in charge of a staff magazine.

I took a leadership course at Dale Carnegie while I worked for SAS, and immediately knew this was the right thing for me. I went on to work for Dale Carnegie for 13 years, and travelled all over the world. But then my dad died, my mom became blind, and my girls had to repeat a grade in school (They had finally figured out inches and pounds and learned everything about the Civil War and Veterans Day when they had to start to measure in kilos again…)

That’s when I thought: how can I have more time with my children, take care of my mother, and meet more friends, while using everything I’ve learned in my work? So I started Ståhl + Partners AB (I simply didn’t want my tombstone to just say “efficient, energetic and professional…”)

And what would people say about me today? My youngest daughter’s boyfriend says: “Her home is always open to everyone, she connects with people regardless of age and background, she is humble and easygoing, and she has more energy than a wind turbine!”