Mikkel Lauridsen

What inspired you to work abroad in 2024, and how did that align with your role at Creative Force?

At the end of 2023, I found myself in a position where I could spend some time outside of Denmark, and I wanted to take advantage of that freedom to visit some of the other locations where Creative Force has offices. I didn’t want to take an extended break from work, so we identified an opportunity to combine executing some key work priorities with my personal goal of traveling the East Coast of the U.S. and spending extended time in Asia.

It’s pretty rare for a company to support an employee in this way, especially when it comes to accommodating a personal desire to spend time outside their home country. I’m incredibly grateful for that support.

What did you aim to achieve during your time in Boston, and do you feel you met those goals?

From a business perspective, we set clear objectives for my time in Boston. My primary focus was working with our Sales leadership to consolidate and align financial reporting and develop our forecasting capabilities based on sales processes and pipelines.

In early 2024, we had also just onboarded new financial planning and budgeting software. Being in Boston allowed me to integrate everything into that system while collaborating closely with the team. The six-hour time difference between Denmark and Boston is typically a challenge, so being in the same time zone made it much easier to have those casual, in-the-moment conversations with colleagues. It also gave me the chance to get to know the East Coast team better and gain a deeper understanding of our Sales operations.

You also spent time in Vietnam. What were the goals for that trip?

After Boston, I flew directly to Vietnam to spend time with members of my team in our Hanoi office.

The objectives for my time in Vietnam were different from those in Boston. It was less about setting up processes and more about transferring knowledge. For example, I focused on sharing insights about the software we’d implemented, reviewing workflows, and refining internal processes with the team. It was also a great opportunity to spend time with colleagues I work with daily but only have a few overlapping work hours with.

Spending three months in Vietnam gave me a better understanding of the culture and how the team operates day-to-day. While it wasn’t my first time visiting, the extended stay added so much critical context about the culture and the individual personalities of the team—insights you can’t always get through online communication. I left feeling like we were in an even better position to operate effectively as a team, and I hope my colleagues felt the same way.

What’s your take on balancing international work travel with your responsibilities at home?

For me, it was relatively easy because I had a lot of support and flexibility from the company. In Boston, I knew what I needed to achieve, and my manager trusted me to deliver. We had weekly check-ins to discuss progress, but otherwise, I had the freedom to explore Boston and the U.S. in my downtime. I even took weekend trips to New York and did a road trip through Maine before heading to Vietnam.

In Vietnam, it was a similar experience. I explored Hanoi, which is an incredible city, and traveled around Asia on extended weekends. These opportunities are a major perk of working at Creative Force. It’s rare to find a company that not only offers but supports the chance to combine meaningful work with personal travel experiences.

With colleagues and customers spread across the globe, it’s not uncommon to visit a location for work and then take on a few personal days for your own travel. It’s one of the most rewarding aspects of my time here, and I’m incredibly grateful for it.

Do you have a favorite travel memory from last year?

If we’re talking about personal experiences, Japan was the highlight. After a short work trip to Hanoi in early 2024, I visited Japan, and it’s an amazing place for solo travelers. You can sit down for ramen or enjoy a drink at a local bar and feel completely comfortable. The food, the culture, and the overall experience were absolutely incredible.

Would you do it again?

Absolutely. That said, after six months away, it felt like the right time to return and reconnect with the rhythm of working closely with my colleagues in Denmark. But I’d definitely love to spend a year working with colleagues somewhere else in the future.