After finishing high school in Finland, I moved to the USA on a tennis scholarship. I studied finance at the University of Nebraska, completing my bachelor's degree before deciding to return to Europe to continue my studies. I applied to Copenhagen Business School to pursue a master's in finance and that decision turned out to be a defining step – both personally and professionally.

While finalizing my master’s studies, Deloitte Denmark reached out about a consultant position. I had always felt that my background and experience were well suited to an international environment – one where I could build a long career, work across cultures and borders, and keep growing. Deloitte offered precisely that, and when the opportunity came, the decision felt like a natural one.

I joined Deloitte in the fall of 2015 as part of the CFO consulting team. However, my first major engagement was a large-scale international financial crime project, where I worked alongside colleagues from UK and Nordics – and it was that project that sparked my interest in financial crime as a field. Six months after the project ended, I transitioned to the Financial Advisory department and joined the Forensic and Financial Crime team that had just been established.

 I truly enjoyed my work and living in Copenhagen. But after 15 years abroad, 11 of those in Copenhagen, I wanted to return closer to my family. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to continue my Deloitte journey in Finland, and last April I relocated to Helsinki and became part of the local Forensic and Financial Crime team.

Financial crime – proactive and reactive approaches

Now after a year at Deloitte Finland, I want to continue developing as a consultant and deepening my specialized expertise in financial crime. We support clients in two ways: preventatively, by helping them build and strengthen their anti-money laundering (AML) programs, frameworks, controls and monitoring processes; and reactively, by helping them address issues and shortcomings identified through regulatory inspections, respond to regulatory inquiries and navigate remediation steps.

I have been fortunate to been involved in several international large-scale financial crime projects and witness firsthand how some of the world's largest banks build, enhance and transform their AML operations – and compare them to those of Nordic banks. Through that experience, I have developed a strong cross-border understanding of the regulatory environments – spanning the Nordics, the broader EU, and global standards – not just in terms what the regulations say, but how different authorities interpret and apply them in practice. That breadth allows me to draw on best practices from across jurisdictions and bring that perspective to my daily working the Nordic countries, the UK, and the USA.

It is also an exciting time to be working in this field. The regulatory environment is continuously evolving at a rapid pace, for example the incoming EU AML package. At the same time, AI and automation are beginning to change both how analysis is carried out, as well as how preventive processes are designed. The focus is shifting towards making processes and work as efficient as possible, while freeing up experts to focus on interpretation, judgment, and the ability to manage complexity with a risk-based mindset.

Growth happens outside the comfort zone

My background in sport and the experience of living and building a life abroad have been truly instrumental in shaping who I am today. My sport background has taught me discipline, resilience, and the importance of working towards both short and long-term goals.

Living abroad has shaped me just as profoundly. Building a life from scratch, far from home, taught me resilience, independence, and self-reliance. It has also given me the ability to step into others' perspectives, build trust across cultural differences, and stay composed in unfamiliar or high-pressure situations – skills that are invaluable in my work collaborating across borders daily.

The best thing about Deloitte is working with talented, motivated colleagues from different countries and backgrounds and doing meaningful work. This is also a great place to shape your career, because we have many opportunities and active support to enable them. From my experience, team players thrive and succeed best in this environment. An individual player may shine for a moment, but real impact is always a team effort – and it is the people around you that make the difference in the end.