Women in Big Data is spotlighting amazing women

Heading up a brand new department in Data and Analytics at Vodafone Germany, namely “Digital Finance and Innovation”, Corinna Block shares her nontraditional journey into data, proving to our network that you can move into the fascinating world of data at any stage throughout your career!

I am 39 years old. I have two boys: Emil (9 years old), Anton (6 years old), whom I really love and who keep me pretty busy!

When I want to relax or have to think about something I go running—my biggest passion is running any distance: 10km, half marathon, marathon—where I can relax, think about everything and where I often have my best ideas! This is the time for me where I can be with only myself!

Most of the time I have a lot of stamina, and I love giving fitness courses (at the moment via Video).

On holiday, I enjoy hiking in the mountains and I like being in the nature. As I have also a lot of thoughts in my mind and like to share my experiences. I enjoy writing for my own blog or on social media platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram. Maybe sometimes I am doing too much, but this gives me a lot of energy. I am not good in taking a rest or a break 😉

I started heading the up a new team, “Digital Finance & Innovations,” in Data & Analytics in October 2020, in Finance & Strategy Vodafone Germany. This is really a new challenge for me because I have to set up a quite new team and made my first steps as a manager. But I really enjoy this time because I love challenges and I love learning new things. At the moment I have the feeling that I never learnt so much about myself as I did in the past year. In preparation for this new role, I worked hard on myself and I still receive new insights of myself (and this process is still ongoing). I can say that I am on a journey where I inspect and adapt myself nearly every day. This is often hard and sometimes frustrating, but most of the time it makes me happy, it motivates me and it gives me energy for what I do!

My journey into data has been rather nontraditional – I have been working for Vodafone for more than 20 years. I started in September 2000 with commercial training.  I passed my final exam of commercial training with distinction and received a sponsorship at IHK Düsseldorf in order to do further training programs. I soon recognized that I need and seek more input, and decided to start my studies in “European Business Administration” via distance learning, as I did not want to give up my job at Vodafone. I studied between 2005 and 2008, which were really difficult years as I had hardly any free time: I learned, joined Workshops in HH or wrote exams in Cologne while others enjoyed holidays or nice weekends.

During my studies I always followed my career at Vodafone and my studies; distance learning was highly appreciated

I have worked in various departments in Finance and had different roles: SOX Compliance, Decision Support for Controlling, Internal Audit, Finance Operations.

What motivates me –I enjoy working with teams who are diverse and have different point of views and are really motivated to change things in a good direction.

I am passionate about my tasks as I am really convinced that we are doing the right thing.

I am authentic: I am convinced of what I do. I put energy in things where I see a chance. I invest time where I am in with my heart. I share time with people that give me purpose, hope and courage.

People who inspire me and give me new ideas really motivate me, and when I can, I try to inspire people or help them to find good solutions for their life or job.

And finally, discovering new things about myself or improving myself with the support of my coach, by reading good books or participating in trainings/workshops.

What bothers me – People who always look back and see problems everywhere.

Meetings where people constantly talk, but at the end nothing happens or changes.

When people plan with too many big steps, which results in complex challenges where no one is courageous enough to take the first step.

Quote that I live by – “Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.” (John Lennon)

This is how I experience my life: I always have had targets and dreams and plans, but most of the time things happen without you even noticing. Then you have two possibilities: you can be resistant or you can take the new situation and make the best out of it. This is often difficult to learn, but if you at some point look back, you always see that these things have given you the possibility to change. That’s why I am also convinced that in everything that happens in life, you can find a purpose. Also bad things that occur have led me to something good, or I learned something from that and I was then able to change it into something good.

Message you’d like to share with an awesome community of 17000+ women worldwide….

– Be open – our possibilities are so unlimited today. Don’t give up without giving it a try!

– Be curious and courageous regardless of your age. There is always a way and there is always the chance for change!