Raisa Turcanu

I attribute my success to resilience. I'm very resilient and not easily demotivated. If I know something is not working out, I just haven't found the right way to do it yet. I'm also ambitious and want to get better every day, to feel like I'm evolving. I compare myself to the previous version of myself, not just yesterday, but looking at where I was last year or the year before. I want to see some type of progress, whether it's through my career, my business, my relationships, or my philosophy on life. I want to realize that I've gotten more mature, more emotionally intelligent, and that I have better connections with people.

The best career advice I've received is 'this too shall pass.' It's more about acceptance and understanding that no matter how hard or how easy something can be, there's always going to be a flip side of it. If I apply this strictly professionally, it's about being resilient and moving through the situation, not expecting that something will just pass on its own, but accepting it and doing the best with it.

I would first break a myth: if you do like accounting, I don't think it's boring at all. My advice would be to have discipline to learn something new and to not give up. You're always going to have people that are smarter than you, and if you are the smartest people in the room, then you are in the wrong room. Learn as much as you can and surround yourself with people that are in positions that you'd want to get, so find yourself a mentor. Just be disciplined. I think discipline is the key, not so much talent or anything else. It's just having the drive and willingness to do it, and knowing that it's going to get better.

I think artificial intelligence can be both a challenge and an opportunity. If you learn to work with it, it can be beneficial, but at the same time, artificial intelligence works as good as you know your field. If you would just rely on it, I think it's still prone to make a lot of mistakes. I would recommend learning the process and learning to apply AI to fit it better to your needs. You don't have to use software just because it's offering AI. I always take it step by step and actually verify the work.

In my work, the best value that I have is the environment and the team that I work with. I am very lucky to be in a team where everyone is pulling their weight and will respect the fence and be professional at the same time. I appreciate that camaraderie, that feeling of camaraderie. In my personal life, the most important values are respect and honesty.