“I want to help others move forward!”

Dagmar Novoszel is head of the Channel and Retail Strategy department at Erste Bank Oesterreich. She has been with Erste since 2004 and has held various positions: retail customer service, commerce and liberal professions, branch management and regional management.

Her motto is: never give up! Dagmar lives in Langenzersdorf with her husband and her daughter Anna.

Dear Dagmar, where do you come from?

I come from a very loving, down-to-earth family with strong women who were great role models for me. I learned early on to tackle things myself, not to wait and to get involved.

Values such as solidarity, appreciation, but also clear rules were very important in my childhood and youth.

Also performance was a very important value that I grew up with. One of our mottos was: Make something of your life, it's in your hands.

In my family, there was never any expectation that I would graduate from secondary school or go to university. That was something I actively took into my own hands. I then studied at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, but I already worked full-time ontop of that. I really enjoyed that. I felt like I didn't have to do it, but wanted to do it. That was very empowering.
 

What has shaped you? 

I grew up very independently and freely. My mother was only 20 when she had me. I started working while I was still at school when I was 15, in the catering trade at the time, and I have always been very independent. Taking responsibility for my life has always been very important to me.  

What is important to you?

There always has to be a meaning to my work. I want to help people make good decisions or take their lives into their own hands.

For me, work makes sense when I can make a contribution that helps others. That is my great mission in life. On the one hand, I want to push topics forward, but above all, I want to help people move forward.

The wish I have for my daughter is very simple, but difficult: I just hope she finds something that fulfils her. No matter what it is. To find this is challenge enough, but that's what I wish for her.
 

How important is Financial Literacy to?

Financial Literacy is incredibly important to me. I don't want women to have to think about things like “Can I afford the hairdresser?” when they retire.

It is really important to me to educate people and to help them – not just myself, but as a bank – to make important financial decisions for their lives, to help them make their dreams come true.

I see this as a very meaningful task. And I also see it as meaningful for the people I work with.
 

Health, Community, Money

These three pillars are incredibly important – staying vital and fit throughout life, maintaining good relationships and being able to act financially independently. This is the basis and I think it should be part of the school curriculum.

What is essential for my health? But also: What does life cost? What will my retirement look like? What is covered and what is not? How do you maintain friendships? How do you deal with conflicts? These three areas of life are fundamental for a happy and balanced life.
 

What is your favourite customer story?

I have been taking care of a single, very wealthy female customer for a very long time, and we are still in contact today. Once she called me and asked me: ‘How do I deal with my children regarding my wealth? Can you help me introduce them to the world of investments?’. I explained to the children how investments work, and when they turned 18, they made their first investment.

Another time, I advised and supported a painting company, and eight years later, they suddenly called me – after I hadn't heard from them in years – to say that they had just transferred the last loan instalment. They wanted to thank me for believing in them and for giving them such good advice. These are great stories that make me happy.
 

What is your relation to Erste Women's Hub?

The Erste Women's Hub's topics are very close to my heart and it is important to me to support the Erste Women's Hub.

I really enjoy supporting and connecting people. I am there.

I think it's really important to have a women's network in the company. There are so many people who benefit from Erste Women's Hub. she invests is THE success story, and the Erste Women's Hub can be very proud of it.

Women often underestimate themselves and have self-doubt, and Erste Women's Hub helps by offering points of contact and the opportunity to take advantage of mentoring. And I am very happy to be a role model and to help others find their way.
 

Where are you heading to?

I am heading into a future that I can and want to help shape. It is important to me to drive things forward in a solution-oriented way.
Here, too, the meaning and the contribution I want to make are very important to me. That's what drives me.

For me, helping to shape the future means more and more to take on a mentoring and coaching role and to help others to live self-determined lives. How can I support others and lead by example? I want to continue to explore this in the future.

Thank you for the interview, dear Dagmar!