Work-life balance, prioritising family, and humble efficiency at the office – Finland just works for Hannah

When Hannah Lewis and her husband Andy took three months off work in 2016 to travel the world for their honeymoon, little did they know they were planting the seeds for the next stage of their life together – on the other side of the world.

Stories of Finland beguiling visitors are frequent – yet, what first made an impression on the newlyweds when they touched down in Finland, exhausted after a long-haul flight, is not of the everyday variety.

“The bathroom at Helsinki Airport had this beautiful forest scenery on the walls and forest music playing,” Hannah recalls with a laugh. “I was like, this is so nice.”

From there, the couple’s time in Helsinki only became more memorable. Stepping out onto the streets, the city was abuzz with the festivities of Restaurant Day and the energy continued unabated the next day with Finland playing Russia in the Ice Hockey World Championship.

“I just loved how easy it was to get around,” Hannah recalls. “I wondered, ‘How is this a capital city?’ We were able to see and do so much in such a small space.”

After eventually returning to reality in Sydney, the couple was gripped with the urge to live abroad. Hannah felt it was now or never – even after she had just given birth to their daughter.

“All the best life decisions are made when you’re four weeks postpartum – sleep-deprived, losing your mind,” she jokes.

That’s when Helsinki came back into focus.

Hannah’s passion for travel had already sparked an interest in working in aviation and, despite not speaking Finnish, she applied for a role at Finnairas a lead designer, new business and innovation. Needless to say, she landed the job and ended up accepting it over a job offer she had also received in Abu Dhabi.

“I decided on Finland because of the work-life balance, and it felt more aligned to what I like and value.” 

Soon after, the couple relocated here – with their six-and-a-half-month-old daughter in tow.

You had a successful professional career in Australia before you moved to Finland. What were your impressions of the work culture here when you arrived?

On my first day at Finnair, I met with the Chief Digital Officer. This was my boss’s boss’s boss, but it was just so casual, which I really liked because in Australia people get very nervous around super senior people. It just feels a bit more hierarchical there.

It was also really cool that it’s not frowned upon if you have to leave work a bit early to do something for your kids. Whereas, in Australia, it’s kind of a ‘arrive early, leave late’ kind of thing – make sure you’re seen being there for a long time. 

The coffee and lunch breaks were a big shock to me, too. Of course, I could take my lunch break if I wanted to in Sydney, but usually there’s so much work to be done that if I wasn’t catching up with a friend for lunch or something like that, I would just eat at my desk. 

Here, the attitude is, no, you deserve a lunch break. It’s a communal thing, which I thought was quite surprising too – and no one’s talking about work. So, it’s a proper break, which again feels like common sense, but it just wasn’t my normal.

And then there’s the coffee drinking consumption. After about the second week of working here I couldn’t sleep, even though I was tired. I was drinking eight cups a day. In between every meeting it was coffee, coffee, coffee – and I’m usually a one cup a day person. I was just a jittering mess.

Australians can have sometimes have a strict office dress code. How did you encounter the Finnish attitude to this?
When I got to work, there were guys in navy blue suits with pocket squares and side parts, and then there were people in death metal shirts with beards down to their bellies. It was so bizarre, but I just loved it. Especially working in corporate Australia, where you have to wear certain things to be taken seriously.

Here, I can’t imagine anyone criticising what anyone wears, because if you’re doing your work well, it doesn’t matter. I love that it’s more about the content of your expertise or the work you do rather than your physical appearance, which is just common sense.

Facilitating workshops has been a significant part of your work. How did you adapt here?

In Finland it is a totally different game. In Australia, I had to use my facilitation skills to wrap conversations up to manage the bigger personalities that want to take up a lot of time sharing their ideas. I’d have to make the sessions quite long to fit in all the talking. Whereas it was like the reverse of that here – people don’t really want to share their ideas openly unless you specifically ask them. 

That was quite a big shock because initially I thought I’m really bad at this. 

However, I love that people only want to share ideas when they really believe in them. I have also loved working with Finns because there isn’t this competitiveness of “I have to get my idea across,” or “I have to do these long monologues, so my boss sees that I’m contributing.”

I think there’s this trust in Finnish society that permeates through work where it’s okay to maybe not contribute in a meeting if you don’t have anything to say on that topic and let those talk that have the expertise. And I think there’s this trust that people are doing their job the best way that they can, and you don’t need to show off or promote yourself or compete with your coworkers. 

So, I think although it was a bit of culture shock at the beginning, what I realised is that it’s just quite a strength in the working culture here that there’s not a lot of noise both literally and metaphorically. People just add value and commentary where they feel like it’s needed from them rather than just doing it for the sake of doing it. 

How has that impacted your own behaviour?

Just learning to be comfortable with silence has been key, because I think it’s my natural inclination that when things go quiet, I’m going to start filling the space with words. 

It’s just giving Finns – or anyone – time to collect their thoughts and to speak English. So, I started letting quiet descend and giving everyone a moment and not being the first to talk because someone will always say something.

I just needed to adjust my level of comfort. It’s not an awkward silence – it’s just a silence. 

Many newcomers to Finland comment on their perceived directness of the Finnish communication style. How have you encountered that?

I love it. I had a meeting recently where I scheduled an hour and a half because I thought, well, I wanted to show what I’d done, get feedback, and then make adjustments. I figured it needed to be a longer meeting. It was done in 30 minutes. Just like that.

It was just so direct and easy to understand. There was no drawn-out discussion, no unnecessary philosophising. But it did take some getting used to because you often get this “Oh wow, fantastic!” kind of reaction from Aussies. I don’t think it’s fake enthusiasm, but it’s just a bit over-exaggerated, I think. And I’m guilty of it too.

I have learned to temper that a little bit, to come across more authentically. Because, really, is the PowerPoint slide that fantastic? [laughs]

I have learned that, in Finland, people’s directness just makes working much more efficient. And I think what all of us want more of is time. Having worked in America and Australia, there’s a lot of time taken up with meetings, emails, and just generally verbose communication.

Indeed, after first living in Finland for four years you then moved to the US. However, due to challenges such as maintaining work-life balance there, you and your family eventually returned to Finland. Why is that?

Australia was an obvious choice after America – Andy’s from Melbourne, and I’m from Brisbane. We lived in Sydney for a long time but have family in different places. So, there wasn’t a clear destination for us there.

Andy also really wanted to start his own business. So, I thought, I’d like to go back to Finland. We thought, let’s try it. I mean, we don’t have citizenship, and we don’t have an EU passport, but the startup ecosystem here is great. Also, we have friends here and we like it – it ticked a lot of boxes.

That’s how we ended up back here. Andy got the startup visa. It was super lucky because it was a bit of a long shot – his startup is not a tech startup, so, it’s not the typical profile you’d see. It’s a social impact startup.

I’ve since started my own business too, as a design and innovation leader. I’m still interested in more permanent jobs – but I’m keeping all my options open. 

What was that process like?

Starting my own business here has been really interesting. Firstly, I did some research – what do I need to do to get started? There were free webinars offered by agencies, such as ‘Starting a Business in Finland.’ I found all that really helpful. In other countries, it would probably require money to find an advisor to guide you through it, but here, people are so open about sharing information.

I spoke to a few people who had done it themselves. A big part of it actually has been networking, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how open and willing people are to meet with me – sometimes a total stranger or someone who’s a distant connection through an old colleague or something. I had this idea of Finnish introversion and that sort of thing.

The actual process of setting up my company was simple – I went onto the Vero (tax administration) website, filled out a form, and a week later, I had a business ID. That was it. It cost nothing. Even that alone is incredible. It’s been amazing to explore entrepreneurship here.

How else has life been since you got back to Finland?

Moving to a place where your values align makes a big difference. It just felt right. It made me realise how much I love living here. I knew that the first time, but being able to walk the streets, feel safe, and have political discussions... that’s something I didn’t realise I was missing.

Coming here made me realise that the quality of life in Finland is perfect in so many ways. The education my kids are getting is great, the food is good, and it’s easy to get around. You have access to free healthcare. All the fundamental stuff is there. Plus, there’s access to nature.

As a couple who has integrated here in English with your two children – how was the experience been getting your kids set up at daycare?

The process was amazing because the state takes responsibility to help families with their childcare. In the privatised model, you’d be waiting on a list for a year. I still think it’s amazing that the attitude here is that every kid should have the right to good care. That’s something that makes sense, but it’s quite progressive globally.

Searching for bilingual childcare was also easy. It was just a matter of waiting for the academic year to open up spots. I love the childcare the kids go to. They’re doing tennis tomorrow. They’ve done ice skating. A couple of months ago, I saw a photo of my son next to a horse, and I thought, What? Where are they? Then I realised I hadn’t read the email!

Right now, we’re in the process of applying for my daughter’s school, and that’s been eye-opening too. The options available are incredible. I just thought, Finland has a great education system, so I’ll be happy with anything because I know it’s good. But then I found out there are bilingual schools, English-speaking schools where she’ll learn Finnish and Spanish, and that the local public school has an enriched English programme with extra Spanish and English lessons. That’s more options than we have in Australia.

Wow, I thought I was getting the gold standard, but now it feels like platinum standard. Everything’s in English, too. I think, especially in America, a lot of systems – tax, education etc – are designed to serve people but often work against them. They’re overcomplicated, difficult, and not very user-friendly. But here, everything’s been quite easy. I’m not usually good with forms and admin – if I can say that, then that’s saying something.

How do you enjoy your free time here?
I love so much about Helsinki. I love the museum card, and I go to a museum at least once a week. I love eating out. Some of my favourite restaurants are Elm near Kaivopuisto, which is really nice, and Goose Pasta Bar. Oh, and Via Tribunali for pizza. We are almost part of the furniture there. We love it. It’s so good.

As for hobbies, I find exercising outdoors so easy to do. My family and I are always on our bikes. It’s really safe with bike paths everywhere. I love that it’s flat – it’s just so easy to get everywhere.

I also just love that for a capital city, it’s so compact. You can have a Saturday where you run around the lake, visit a really good art museum, eat excellent food, and go to the beach – all in one day. I think that’s pretty special. You can be in the forest or at the beach, all within 20 minutes.

You share many of your observations about life in Helsinki on Instagram. What do you learn from people’s comments?

I did a post the other day about how embarrassed I am that I hugged and kissed people here when greeting them, which is so common in Australia.

In the comments, half the people exclaimed, ‘I can’t believe you did that; I’m embarrassed for you.’ But then the other half said, ‘I think it’s nice, you should keep doing it – maybe just not the kissing.’

It’s like this two-way street: I’m sharing what I’m doing and thinking, but then people are sharing back. It’s cool. I’m learning too, and I might keep the hugs up… maybe!

It’s just a bit of fun. And I also learn a lot from others – I’m really interested in how people live their lives. So, maybe some people will be interested in what Helsinki is like as well. I think it’s one of the most underrated cities, and I love sharing why I love it.