The ambitious Maria Marinova has been a part of the TSD Software team for more than 7 years. In the beginning, she started as a junior QA analyst at the main office of TSD in the IT field. Due to her quick progress, she became a software developer. Maria is currently a key figure in the eDiscovery-focused business line of TSD. She is working as a Business Development Lead.

Maria Marinova, Business Development Lead, TSD Software

Meet Maria Marinova, а Business Development Lead in the eDiscovery line of TSD Software, part of TSD Group. She has been part of the TSD team for over 7 years and has walked a long way on her career path in the company. Maria started as a junior QA analyst at the main office of TSD in Troyan without any previous experience in the IT field. However, she quickly picked up speed and started to get herself trained as a software developer. Building up vast technical skills as well as rich industry-specific expertise, Maria assumed a position in the Business Development department of the company.

In her opinion, women’s appearance does not affect their professional success. She thinks that being positive, open-minded and approaching business contacts with a smile will always help in our communication. Maria is quite ambitious and some time ago she used to find it really challenging to separate her professional life from her personal life. She is very thankful to her partner for being so supportive all the time. For the past couple of years, she has been trying to find the balance and now she dedicates more time to activities, weekend trips, and personal time. This is helping her personal life and also makes her more productive at work.

Outside the IT industry when Maria is not working on developing new business ideas, she enjoys reading thriller books, experimenting in the kitchen, climbing high peaks, and visiting various beautiful places in Bulgaria and abroad. Those are the things that get Maria re-charged with energy and enthusiasm for marking further achievements in her career. Today, with many successful projects behind her back, Maria proudly takes the position of a Business Development Lead, being a key responsible figure in the eDiscovery-focused business line of TSD and leading efficient communication with some of the global clients of the company. Maria’s colleagues have praised her with a “diploma” for being a “Restless Hard Worker” due to her inspiring dedication to her profession.

​​“I think that being positive and open and approaching your business  contacts with a smile will always help in your communication, but this is applicable to any person, no matter the gender”

Favourite clothes?

Casual clothes and activewear.

High heels or flat shoes?

Low shoes.

Which typical female quality or household responsibility does not apply to you?

I am not into using makeup every day.

What is THE thing that you must have in your bag when going out?

Right now, it is a bottle of disinfectant, but usually, it is my perfume.

Favourite lipstick colour?

Rose.

Can you share something specific about you that we can’t find on LinkedIn?

I like travelling and one of the main things that I like to do when I’m on a trip is to try the local cuisine. I enjoy trying food from all around the world, and I also love cooking them.

“I am quite ambitious, so I used to find it hard to separate my professional life from my personal life.”

Have you encountered any challenges in your career in connection to being a woman?

I don’t think any of the challenges I have had in my career are related to the fact that I am a woman.

Do you know how many women work in your position?

I don’t have the statistics for that, but I believe there are a lot of bright women in similar positions to mine.

Read More Inspiring Stories for Women in Tech in WRTech here.

What policy does your company follow in terms of promoting diversity?

TSD has always supported and promoted diversity in any of its aspects. For example, the company has welcomed a significant number of employees, both in technical and non-technical positions, no matter their background in terms of education or previous working experience. What the company actually considers important is the motivation, personal qualities, and attitude of the employees, and this approach has proven to be quite successful within TSD.

Do your male colleagues treat you differently?

Definitely not.

Do you think that a woman’s appearance and charm affect her professional success? (For example: does it make communication easier?)

No. In my opinion, women’s appearance does not affect their professional success. I think that being positive and open and approaching business contacts with a smile will always help in communication, but this applies to any person, no matter the gender.

How do you combine personal and professional life? Do you have any rules that you follow?

I am quite ambitious, and some time ago, I used to find it hard to separate my professional life from my personal life. I’m very thankful to my partner for being so supportive all the time. For the past couple of years, I’ve been trying to find the balance. Now I dedicate more and more time to different activities, weekend trips, personal time, and this is helping my personal life, but I’m also more productive in my work.

“I like travelling and one of the main things that I like to do when I’m on a trip is to try the local cuisine.”

Which sources do you follow and can you recommend some of them to our audience? (example: podcasts, pages, influencers, vloggers, etc.).

Since my work is mainly focused on software solutions in the legal sector, I’m very interested in the events happening around that industry. I attend events such as Legalweek and Relativity Fest. Before the pandemic, I was able to at- tend on-site, but currently, people have the opportunity to participate online, which I consider very helpful. I’m interested in all the changes happening in the legal world, so I read a lot of articles from various sources, but as a brief example, I would mention law.com, edrm. net, etc. I follow the news in the field from any sources available. In terms of my interests outside of my job, lately, I’ve been very keen on a healthy lifestyle, so I have subscribed to several YouTube channels related to the topic. I also love stand-up comedy and enjoy watching performances of comedians from Bulgaria and around the globe.

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