Just one conversation can make or break an entire career. Take Annika Bizon. She is one of Samsung’s most influential U.K. executives right now. As vice president across the U.K. and Ireland, the 47-year-old is helping steer one of the world’s biggest technology brands through the AI boom. She also sits on Meta’s advisory board. And it all traces back to a chance encounter with a client.
Bizon’s work ethic began long before the smartphone era.
“At sixteen, my parents made it clear, if I wanted spending money, I had to earn it,” Bizon, VP of Product and Marketing for Mobile Experience at Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland, tells Fortune. It spurred her to get a job at two local shoe shops on the weekend—one selling high end footwear, the other more every day wear. “By the time summer rolled around, I’d earned enough trust that the owners left me in charge of running both,” she adds.
