“A consultant is a growth enabler” – Minna’s career story

*Minna answering tough audience questions at the Rocket Webinar in December 2024, alongside her rocket scientist colleagues Joona Olkkola and Kari Hirvi on the left.*

A consultant and a full stack developer, Minna Wahlroos doesn’t settle for programming solutions as requested: she helps clients build growth. In her projects, she has focused on driving business growth for her clients. What makes Minna’s career as a rocket scientist the perfect fit for her?

With 2020 coming to an end, Minna Wahlroos began to consider whether switching to Rakettitiede could be the next logical step in her career. Although she enjoyed her job as a consultant, she found herself intrigued by the new moon winds at Rakettitiede.

“At that point in my career, I wanted more responsibility. Rakettitiede offered that, since here consultants take greater ownership of their work and actions. I appreciated the fact that the client could give me direct feedback, allowing me to adjust my performance right away,” Minna says.

At the beginning of 2021, Minna finally got to don the moon suit as rocket scientist #44.

The ability to influence the types of assignments she gets involved in has been one of the biggest factors shaping Minna’s career. “It’s important to me that my skills support the client’s business development as effectively as possible. I enjoy being able to rely on my strengths and to influence the assignments I take on,” Minna says.

Could running a business have been a viable option as well?

Simply, ‘yes’. When Minna was exploring her career options, starting her own business was one of the paths she considered. “Ultimately, Rakettitiede’s salary model managed to win me over, and I decided to continue as a consultant. The model is fair, and Rakettitiede supports me in finding assignments. If I had my own business, I would have to allocate a lot of time for sales and marketing, which would take away from client work. Now, I still get to be involved in the sales processes, but they are supported by Rakettitiede,” she explains.

At Rakettitiede, Minna has been able to influence which gigs she takes on. “It’s incredibly empowering and liberating. As an expert, I truly value being listened to,” Minna says.

The role of a consultant is not limited to code

*End-to-end software solutions are Minna’s speciality, covering everything from user-friendly interfaces to highly technical data processing systems.*

At Rakettitiede, consultants are far from being stuck in a coding dungeon, endlessly pushing the same button. Instead, they get to leverage software development to help clients bulldoze obstacles to growth.

“I am motivated by being able to contribute to expanding my client’s business. My interest is piqued when I recognise the client’s potential and see how my skills can drive their success,” Minna explains.

In her role as a consultant, Minna has been able to tap into her strengths: her quick ability to learn and adaptability to different environments. “As a consultant, I get to work in various corporate cultures. To provide genuinely useful solutions, I need to quickly adapt and understand the big picture. Ideally, I get to work with the head of business and validate the output with them – something that really requires the skill to identify the right solutions for each client’s unique needs,” she says.

As a full stack developer, Minna’s expertise lies in end-to-end software solutions.

“I’ve primarily focused on developing systems that help the client expand their current operations. This expansion often involves internationalising products and growing the customer base through various integrations. It can also mean enabling new capabilities for the existing team,” Minna explains.

Exploring Minna’s project portfolio

Revamping an old product suite

Duration: 1 year

The gig? “I had the main responsibility for designing and building integrations with the team in the revamp of an old product suite.”

Challenges? “The web-based, high-traffic product processed a lot of analytics. We had to rebuild the backend from scratch. I addition, I designed and built more complex data integrations and monitoring systems.”

Technologies used? “We used modern asynchronous Python microservices on AWS infrastructure. Additionally, we implemented serverless solutions built as separate entities to handle integrations and data pipelines.”

Learning points? “My main takeaway was gaining an understanding of the technical aspects of this high-traffic, security-critical business domain. Additionally, I had the chance to deepen my knowledge about modern Python solutions. The best parts of the assignment were working with a solid team of experienced developers and the opportunity to pave the technical way for the client’s own developers and maintenance team.”

Modernising and internationalising a product suite

Duration: 2 years

The gig? “The client needed to modernise their product offering to make it more maintainable and functional with today’s technology. I started as a UI designer, but after some early successes, my role quickly expanded to full stack developer, working alongside the client’s own team.”

Challenges? “Our initial aim was to complete the first version within a tight schedule. When we succeeded, the task expanded to internationalising the product, which brought new challenges and opportunities in its wake.”

Technologies used? “The technologies were based on AWS infrastructure covering multiple continents with microservices running in Kubernetes clusters. The infrastructure included various tools from Terraform to Helm charts and Dockerfiles. The backend languages included both NodeJS and Python, depending on the context, since data analytics utilised certain Python-specific features, and the entire organisation used ReactJS as the front-end technology.”

Learning points? “I learnt a lot. I had never been involved in internationalising a product previously designed for a limited geography. Describing the transformation of a completely local product into a global one as a ‘wow’ experience wouldn’t be too far off. The team operated across multiple time zones and was absolutely fantastic. We learned about the challenges of internationalising a technical product together.”

Core principles: ensuring security and delivering genuine client benefits

Minna’s assignments have centred on enabling business growth for the client, with a core principle guiding her work: security. “Security is a top priority for me. Leveraging my knowledge and expertise, I make sure that everything I do is as secure as it can be,” Minna explains.

Where do you find the greatest success in your work? “I definitely feel motivated when the solutions I develop provide concrete benefits and allow my clients to grow through technology,” Minna says.