I arrived in Melbourne from Colombia with two suitcases and a plan: find work doing something I already knew how to do. About eleven days later, I understood that the plan would have to change.
Before Australia, I had spent years in inline speed skating and won seven world titles. Sport had taught me discipline, how to work under pressure and how to keep going when progress was slow. But arriving in a new country meant learning how things worked here while trying to earn a living.
That was difficult to accept. I knew what I could do, but I still had to find someone willing to give me a chance.
The work that opened a door
My plan did not lead me to my first opportunity. Warehouse work did. It was a different kind of physical challenge, and I had a great deal to learn: how a shift ran, what a team needed from one another and how much a business depended on people showing up ready to work.
I did not know then that those shifts would help shape Sipena Logistics. I was focused on the work in front of me. Over time, I began to understand warehousing and logistics from the floor: the pressure of a container waiting to be unloaded, the importance of a reliable crew and the difference that good service makes to a client.
What those first 90 days taught me
When you move countries, your experience comes with you. What changes is that you have to find a way to put it to work in a new place.
My first 90 days in Melbourne taught me to take an opportunity seriously even when it looked different from the one I had imagined. I could learn on the job, meet people and adjust my direction as I went.
That is still how I approach a new challenge. Start with the door that opens. Do the work well. Then see where it can take you.