Helena Axelsson

Helena has switched from working with horses to working with people. Photo: Oskar Omne

I appreciate that wecan be proud and pleased about ouraccomplish-ments.

 How come you were interested in working for Soya Group? 

“I started many years ago, working at our stud farm. I worked there from 1989 until 2006, with a few small breaks. Between 2006 and 2010, I took a human resources degree, but I kept in contact with former co-workers and missed Soya Group. When I had finished my studies, there was an open position here at HR and I slid back.”

Is there a Soya Group spirit?

“Absolutely. Regardless of whether I’m working with horses or shipping, I have always felt the same spirit. You can really tell that the jobs we do are matters of the heart to our owners.”  

What was your first day like?

“I had been travelling for a while and came back home with no job. A friend had worked a season at Menhammar Stuteri and they had an opening for a girl who was on sick leave. I was supposed to stay there for three weeks, but those three weeks haven’t ended yet.”  

What’s the most rewarding project you have worked on?

“Working in shipping, I have been involved in staffing two new vessels. That was both fun and instructive.” 

What are the important factors necessary to succeed within Soya Group?

“I think you should be curious about all our different operations and keep an open mind.” 

What are the biggest changes you have seen during your career at Soya Group?

“My work is concentrated at Wallenius Marine and one of the biggest changes I have seen was when we went from ship ownership to ship management in 2017. Now we’re going back to owning ships again. Another big change is that today we’re better at telling the world what we do. I appreciate that we can be proud and pleased about our accomplishments.”

How important is sustainability in your work?

“It pervades everything we do, from travelling to how we work with food waste here at the office.”   

What cutting-edge technology do you use in your work?

“In my daily work with our vessels I come across many exciting solutions and projects that we are developing on the technical side, such as Oceanbird, and in HR we’re working with digitalisation, among other things, to be more efficient.” 

Meet our other colleagues David Karlsson and Christine Lagergren.