Tell us about where you work and what you do there.
At Shopify Plus, my role is Agency Partner Manager in EMEA. I began on the front line, working closely with merchants to reach their business goals both online and offline. I was naturally drawn to the wider ecosystem, supporting more complex brands. Moving into my current partnership role allowed me to continue to support merchants, while empowering agencies of the future.
How would you describe yourself?
I grew up in Poland, raised in two religions — one being Islam (not very popular or well known in Poland), the other being Roman Catholic, which is the most popular religion in the country. Living in a house where we celebrated both religious holidays gave me a great appreciation for different cultures and traditions. I started to appreciate other cultures through travelling, learning foreign languages, reading diverse books, and trying out different cuisines and projects.
I love being adventurous. My bucket list still contains some sizable feats like swimming with sharks, a hot air balloon ride in an exotic location, and learning a traditional dish in each country I go to.
Sport was also always an important part of my life. As a teenager, I won second place in a national dance championship in Poland. I took part in every regional high school sport competition I could find — from table tennis to soccer to basketball and volleyball, my favorite. I play recreational volleyball with a bunch of friends in London every week; let me know if you would like to join us!
What do you think has been your biggest professional success so far?
On the side, I run a series of diverse, women-first commerce events. At first glance, we are a group of women working in commerce, but more broadly we are so much more — working in science, design, and engineering; we are writers, developers, and makers. We’re not only about building a network and elevating our profiles, but we’re also about being purposeful and ensuring that we have support outside of our day-to-day.
At Shopify, we value our ability to thrive on change, and this network helps me to stay on the pulse of our fast-moving industry. I’m proud that I can bring new context and learnings back into the business, my team, and colleagues.
Introducing the first Agency Project Manager Forum was also a big success! In our industry, and especially in partnerships, we tend to focus on ‘’big fish’’ while Shopify Plus was and always will be MERCHANT FIRST. I created an opportunity for agency project and account managers in the UK to learn from each other’s experiences, lessons, and challenges.
Where do you find inspiration?
It is not where, but who. I am inspired by people around me and their creativity. I am in this lucky position where Shopify hires amazing personas and helps many brands in a very creative way. They created this environment where they bring multi-talented groups of people who work in close collaboration together — exchanging knowledge, ideas and shaping the direction for our future — this is what really inspires me to do great every day.
Name an eCommerce brand you admire and why.
Pura Vida. Their story is really inspiring! Pura Vida Bracelets provides full-time jobs to artisans worldwide, and donates millions to charity through products that give back. I love their bracelets!.
We're curating an honoree playlist featuring all of your favorite songs! Name your top three.
Piano — Kygo
everything i wanted — Billie Eilish
#DiesisLive @Etna Volcano, Sicily — Giolì & Assia
What do you geek out over?
I believe the projects I work on are reflections of myself, so I always focus on every little detail and think that every document, even a line of text, is a work of art. No matter if the document is internal or external facing, its design needs to be THE BEST. My eye will always catch mismatched font, color schemes, outdated logos, and imperfect spacing.
What's your guilty pleasure?
Pierogi, warm bread, any type of cheese — there are a lot of guilty pleasures but gluten is not my best friend.
