For Sonya Figueredo, finding a work-life balance means not getting bogged down. She always tries to do whatever she is doing with dedication namely be a lawyer, be a mother, be a captain. This is her strategy for a happy life.
"There are moments in life that define you. And you will know at that moment that life has just taken a turn. You will realise at once: my life has taken a new direction. There are a number of such key moments in my life. Never do I have a better presence of mind, never clearer, than in these moments."
I moved to Geneva with my family when I was 14. At that time we were living in Bulgaria by the sea. Ever since we left, I have had this attraction to water; water means home to me. It was actually a logical step to go to the water at some point. We live in a village, we want to be part of the community, that is why we joined the sailing club. The harbour here is a meeting place; our friends are here and our children are also learning to sail.
Captain. I like that picture. I try to keep on top of things, to determine my course. That is what I like about my job too, when I succeed in being in control of a situation, when I can set the direction, when it becomes clear that a strategy has the desired effect. To sail along or to ride on a motorboat? No. I want to sail or steer the motorboat. So I enrolled in the appropriate courses, learned the theory of sailing, took the exams, and recognised in boating a new challenge. One that is mine and mine alone.
«Boating is a new challenge for me. One that is mine and mine alone.»
I used to paraglide; with paragliding, if you don't keep control you are lost. With the birth of my daughter, I got to know a kind of fear that was completely foreign to me until then: I don’t like losing my footing. Figuratively as well as literally. And so I turned back to the water.
For me, finding a work-life balance means not getting bogged down. I always try to do whatever I am doing 100 per cent – be it with my two children, with my family or at work. I am never just there, I am always present. I think this goal is my strategy for a happy life.
At the end of the day, in the middle of the lake, that is my favourite moment, my favourite place. Absolute peace, the glassy water, this infinite beauty around you. When the stress of everyday life gets the better of me, I escape to my "Bulle de Calme", my bubble of calm. I put myself in that state on the water, it rocks a bit, I am all in the moment, very much myself – I am zen."
Sonya Figueredo
joined Walder Wyss in Geneva as a tax lawyer in October 2019. She comes from a family of doctors – her mother a doctor, her father a doctor, her brother a doctor – and was actually supposed to become a doctor as well. She enrolled to study medicine at the University of Geneva. After a sleepless night, she went back to the enrolment office, had her name deleted from the list of medical students and enrolled to study law; she was charting her own course.