Ivana Leiseder
@ Trivadis

As a 6-year-old, I ran through the virtual world as a muscle-bound Duke Nukem armed with a ray gun. Yes, I was a rather unusual girl. Instead of Barbies, games were my passion. Inspired by my young father, I spent my childhood playing just about everything that was on the market: from “Myst” to “Prince of Persia”, “Monkey Island” and “Sherlock Holmes” to “Command & Conquer” and “Diablo”. When I was 10, “Bad Mojo” was one of my absolute highlights: there, I could crawl through a gloomy flat as a cockroach ...

For me, computer games were a way to escape into another world. I was born with a severe physical impairment. Because of the pain, I often can't sleep properly. In addition, my family history shaped me. My maternal family comes from Serbia – my grandparents and my mother glued plastic parts together in a factory for decades to give my brother and me a better life. There was often very little in my grandparents' fridge. On top of that came the Balkan wars. All this had a strong influence on me and laid the foundation for wanting to make the most of my life.

This I did first as a learning-obsessed schoolgirl, until I learned in my free subject of computer science how to programme websites. By the time I was 16, I had clients from all over the world, from famous US artists to orchestras from South Africa. At 18, I launched Switzerland's first online music magazine together with a colleague. The media response was huge and opened many doors for me. So, while I was still studying, I got jobs as editor-in-chief and assistant to a professor. At 24, I had already co-authored three management books. One thing led to another. And this list is by no means exhaustive. I also studied different things. First, computer science. But in view of my professional activities, it was too time-consuming for me. So, I dropped out and chose something less demanding: German studies. As long as I got a degree – for my mother's sake.

Even after graduating, I always had at least two jobs simultaneously. For example, I worked as a teacher for trainee nurses for over ten years and at the same time as a PR consultant or communications specialist. In 2020, I finally decided to go full time with Trivadis. A new experience for me who had been "on the go" all my life. But in return, my supervisor let me realise my vision of a value-based, multi-layered brand "off the beaten track" – without compromise. To develop ideas, to make the sometimes complex topics of the IT world accessible, to touch and inspire people with Trivadis, and yes, sometimes also to make them angry: that's the core of my job as head of marketing & communications – although my daily routine is also marked by meetings and deadlines. Sometimes it feels like Tetris on top speed.

Nevertheless, I still have some projects besides work. For example, I am currently writing a book with portraits of people from the Balkans who have found a new home in Switzerland. Also, I am co-founder of a non-profit think tank which advises NPOs in the areas of strategy, digitalisation and image free of charge.

But sure, there are also – admittedly short – phases in which I leave behind the hyperactive switching between tabs and tasks and do normal things like travelling, cooking, meeting friends or watching trashy documentaries about Kanye West. I think it's exactly this connection to my down-to-earth roots – between my mother's "Glückpost" and my father's gangsta rap – and my unwillingness to compromise that make me and my ideas what we are. Someone once summed it up quite nicely: "Ivana is troublesome to the end – the happy end."

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