27 JANUARY 2023

With an extensive background in recruitment and HR, most recently as HR Business Partner at Nouryon, Matilda Bolin joined Mycorena in November as HR Manager. Even though she’s only been with the company for a couple of months, she says it feels longer.

- From an HR perspective, there was an excellent plan for the onboarding process, and the company has been welcoming. We have many different kinds of people, nationalities and ages, but it is easy to become a part of the group. I believe it’s the involvement and commitment that brings people together. Like everyone feels that they are part of something meaningful and that what they do matters. That’s probably also the best part of my job, the people.

 

In terms of her role, she’s excited to apply her experience to evolve with the company.

- Being a young company, my department is relatively new. Much of my work involves defining what we do and how we should do it. Our mission is to help create conditions for everyone to reach their full potential and goals. There must be room for personal development.

 

Matilda sees many similarities between her current role and her previous one, even though there’s little likeness between the companies. 

-  Many things are the same because the foundation is still people. The purpose is still to help and develop to reach the business goals through the people we hire. So that part is the same. Then, of course, there are many differences with this being a start-up. So much of the work right now is about building and establishing proficient structures and processes rather than simply maintaining the existing system, which often is the case at a large corporation.

 

She does, however, not consider going from a large company to a smaller one as a downside.

- When I started at my previous company, we were 55 000 people. Of course, it’s an entirely different story from being 60 people, but it motivates me because, in many ways, you are closer to everything. For example, you can sit at lunch and hear about what happened in production or what R&D is doing, which is exciting.

 

Mycorena being a start-up, was a determining factor in her choice to join the company.

- I have always wanted to try working at a start-up, which maybe is odd because it’s such a theoretical concept of what it means, but what drew me in was the quick-paced, agile, and building something from the start. It’s both inspiring and challenging to be a part of doing things in a way that will help us reach our business goals, and that is what attracted me to start-ups in general.

 

But it wasn’t always obvious that she would take the step; initially, she hesitated as she enjoyed her job at Nouryon. But, in the end, Matilda felt she resonated well with the company and its values.

- What drew me to Mycorena is that I genuinely believe in the business. We need a transition in the way we eat. I simply don’t believe the world can sustain the way we consume meat, and I think it’s cool to work for a company where I am the end customer and thoroughly believe in the business goals.

 

She describes herself as a value-driven person with firm principles. For example, she doesn’t eat meat even though she loves it and doesn’t fly. It creates issues sometimes, as she considers herself a small-scale foodie with particular cravings.

- I get very niche cravings. If I crave something, I’m not content with anything; it must be from a specific place. It’s a bit of a pain because my favourite ice cream is in Cannes, and it’s pretty tricky to take the bike there.

 

Not flying does complicate certain things, such as getting to her dream travel destination Tokyo. But, she is not opposed to new experiences. Even though she has a lot of previous experience working in tech, coming to Mycorena and the world of FoodTech has been an entirely different experience.

- As someone who isn’t a chemist or engineer, I like that the products are easier to grasp for me. It’s great that we can take part in and see all the innovation happening and that we work to increase inclusivity across the departments. I believe this builds the company culture in that everyone is included and allowed to be. The desire for innovation and new solutions is tangible throughout the company.

 

The people in tech are also what’s kept her around the tech environment for most of her career.

- Initially, I got into tech by chance, but I got hooked. The thing that kept me around was the passionate people. Being talented and specialised creates a specific drive. You can work with people who are the best at what they do. Our amazing people will build something truly extraordinary.

 

Fun fact:

Matilda has ‘kind of’ started a basketball team despite having no background in basketball.

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