From Waitressing to 150+ Projects in 17 Countries: A Manifesto on Never Giving Up

In high school, I had already decided what I wanted to be: a management consultant.

Constantly a different sector, constantly a different problem. One day automotive, the next day retail. Learning, understanding, and solving from scratch every single time.,

That was the absolute dream for me.

But it seems life learns your plans before you do.

The First Major Hurdle

I was preparing for the university entrance exams. Anyone who grew up in Turkey knows that this period is a battle in itself. But my battle went far beyond test prep books.

During that time, I lost my uncle, who was a father figure to me. Before I could even find the chance to mourn his loss, I underwent a massive surgery with a 95% risk of paralysis. Loss on one side, surgery on another, exams on yet another.

I managed to get into Koç University's Sociology department with a 50% scholarship.

But I had already made my decision. If there was no path from this department to consulting, I would pave it myself. My initial plan was clear: transition to Economics.

Taking the First Steps into the Workforce

My mother was experiencing financial difficulties in her business life. I wanted to do something to support her. When I first started university, I began working as a waitress on weekends at Karafırın in Altunizade. In the summer of 2013, I started waitressing at Le Méridien in Etiler.

Le Meridien Team

With the money I earned there, I went to India with AIESEC and taught English.

India, New Delhi

I earned my pocket money by mentoring at Koç University. I sold party tickets and earned commissions on them.

Garipçe

Your Career Truly Begins When You Refuse to Take "No" for an Answer

I had applied to the Strategy department at Boyner through a friend's recommendation. However, even though I was taking Economics courses, I was still officially in the Sociology department. Because of this, they didn't accept me.

I followed Boyner's job postings closely; I had set my mind on working there. I kept in touch with HR, and when a new position opened up for the HR-Performance team, I immediately emailed them and was called in for an interview. I was evaluated again, but they decided an engineer would be a better fit. Once again, I didn't cut off communication and sent an email asking for feedback. The dear Tuğçe ADALI directed me to another team, and I did a 9-month internship in the Training team led by Esra Eseroğlu Günay.

At Boyner, with the guidance of the lovely Canan Bayrakdar, I joined the "Renkli Kampüs" program, co-founded by Arzu Gunesli. It was an exhausting period: 3 days a week at Boyner Buyuk Magazacilik A.S., 2 days at school, and 1 day volunteering with Renkli Kampüs.

Then, an internship at EY, one of the consulting firms I wanted so badly-this is a whole different story. Normally, I wouldn't have been able to get in there. My CV said "Sociology," and consulting firms didn't send interview invites to those who are studying Sociology major.

But there was the wonderful Pinar Gokpinar, one of the founders of Renkli Kampüs. With her support, I was called for an interview. She cracked the door open, and I walked through. I passed the exams and started a 3-month internship. I have never forgotten what Pınar did for me. Sometimes you don't need to make a giant leap to change someone's life. Sometimes, just leaving a door slightly ajar is enough. The person will handle the rest. During the internship, I learned Excel shortcuts with ilkan ilhan and pushed the limits of Excel. I have felt his support throughout my entire career.

Ünlü & Co: The Turning Point of My Career

In 2017, I started an HR internship at Ünlü & Co. On paper, it looked like "just another internship." But this internship changed the trajectory of my entire career. At that time, my transition to Economics was still ongoing. The transfers were getting harder every year. With "Sociology" on my CV, no consulting firm took me seriously. Every application was a rejection. Right at that moment, two women changed my life.

My manager, Banu Öksün.

One day she turned to me and said: "Yes, you've always worked in HR, but what you actually do here is more important. You've always dealt with numbers, built dashboards. You need to talk about these." This sentence might seem simple. But in that moment, it was an epiphany for me. Those words showed me that I am actually someone who works with data, measures processes, and tells stories with numbers.

The label was different, but the work I did was completely different. When she asked me for a dashboard, I wanted to go beyond Excel, and that's how I first learned Power BI. What a dashboard is, how to visualize data, how numbers tell a story- it all comes from that period. You could say the passion for technology that lies at the heart of Parlon today sprouted from a seed planted back then.

And Sibel Gülseven.

One evening after work, we were in a minibus in Istanbul traffic. Sibel turned to me and said: "You can do it. I believe in you." That single sentence in that minibus. So simple, so short.

But during such a heavy period, it felt so light yet so powerful. My self-confidence was resurrected with that sentence. Sometimes believing in someone makes them believe in themselves. Sibel did that that day. And that day, I made my decision: No matter the cost, I would carve out this career path myself.

Finally, The Door Opens

By the time school finished, my CV finally said Economics. The fruit of years of struggle. But the world had changed in those years. When I was in high school, no one knew about the consulting industry. When they asked "What are you going to be?" and I said "Management consultant," people gave me blank stares. But when I was in university, suddenly everyone wanted consulting. The sector had become popular. And firms were now preferring engineering graduates.

I had tried to erase the sociology stigma for years. And now, they were saying economics was "not enough." Still, I applied to all the consulting firms. All of them. One by one.

PwC called me for an Audit position. In the interview, I was very clear: "I don't want audit, I want consulting." My case-solving success and written exam results must have been impressive enough, because they directed me to a consulting interview. I passed those interviews too. The year is 2017. A fresh graduate, Nur, starts her career in financial consulting at PwC.

The decision I made in high school had finally become a reality 6-7 years later, after overcoming countless obstacles.

From Endless VLOOKUP Loops to Power BI & Power Platform Solutions

Financial consulting at PwC. Due diligence. Trial balance checks. Hours of manual Excel work. Copy-paste. VLOOKUP.

Copy-paste again. And then there was me, finding all of this unnecessary. I tried to shorten these processes with Power BI. The first reaction was prejudice. "What is this? Why are you bothering? It's just Excel, do it and move on." But I kept going. First a small report. Then a slightly bigger one.

Eventually, someone noticed: This is both faster and more accurate. Prejudice gave way to curiosity, and curiosity gave way to acceptance. That's how my Power BI journey began. But the impatient Nur made a new decision after 1 year: Abroad. I am going to do my Master's.

400 Euros, One Suitcase, and Barcelona

I received about a 90% scholarship from the CEMS program. But dormitories were quite expensive at the time, and I lived in Üsküdar. A 4-hour daily commute from Üsküdar to Sarıyer wasn't for me.

I got my suitcase and made a plan to live in the library. During that period, I became the CEMS Program President and also an assistant to a faculty member. Through all this, and with the help of the wonderful Didem Özgür Özden, I was able to stay in one of Koç University's dorms without needing to resort to the library plan.

For the second semester, I set off for Barcelona with 400 Euros in my pocket. But before I even left, I had already secured a job there. I had my acceptance letter in hand.

Everything was ready. Everything.

Except a bank account.

When I arrived in Barcelona, I had a job acceptance letter, but no bank would open an account for me. I went to the first bank, "no." Second bank, "no." Third, fourth, fifth. Always the same answer.

I was going to receive a salary, but I had no account for it to be deposited into.

I didn't give up. Right then, it hit me: Around that time, I had received a scholarship from a European Union project at a university in Norway, and they needed to make a payment to me, which also required a bank account.

I used this as leverage. I contacted the officials at the school in Norway and explained the situation. They emailed the bank. With an official European Union project reference, a bank account was finally opened.

The 1 year I spent in Barcelona became one of the most productive periods of my life. My journey, which started with Power BI, expanded towards Azure, Power Apps, and SQL with the support of my dear manager Daniel Remenyfy.

Daniel trusted me, put me in big projects, and allowed me to make mistakes. I learned from those mistakes. The projects were beautiful. But I was terribly homesick. I missed my mother, my grandmother, my sister, my nephew - I missed my family. I made the decision to return to Turkey.

The Pandemic Era and a Surprise Call from Paris

I started my consulting career at KPMG. Right around that time, the pandemic broke out. We were locked in our homes. And about a year later, at a time I least expected, a call came from Paris. Nexans. Transformation Leader position. Initially, I was told I would be responsible for 2 countries. But shortly after, my teammate quit. And suddenly, 2 countries became 8 countries. 8 countries.

Different time zones, different cultures, different expectations, different systems. There were times I had meetings with Peru or Chile at midnight.

My manager Yann Duclot was very important to me during this process. With his "work hard, play hard" philosophy, we caught an incredible rhythm. We deployed a massive Power Platform project across 16 countries with only 1 week of development time. The best period of my career. Number one by far. I grew immensely during that time, both professionally and personally.

More Than a Consultant: Laurence Collins and a Boundary-Pushing Vision

Then our paths crossed with Digiworkz in London. And I met the best consultant I've ever encountered in my career: Laurence Collins . I still haven't fully figured out how Laurence's mind works. He takes a topic, spins it around, presents it to you from a completely different angle, and you say, "Yes, absolutely." I learned how to tell stories from him. How do you explain a technical solution to a human being? How do you turn data into emotion? How do you transform a presentation into a journey? We still work together on a project basis. He is one of the people I love working with the most because I learn something new on every project. His vision is vast. Working with him means constantly growing.

The Birth of Parlon & Empowering with Power Platform

Transformation Leader Nur, responsible for 8 countries in Paris. Digital Solution Developer Nur in London.

At 27, I founded my first company, Nur Masoud.

At 28, I founded Parlon.

Founding your own company isn't about freedom. It's about responsibility. You decide everything, but you also bear the consequences of everything. But I love this responsibility. Because now, I am drawing the path myself. Just like how I drew the path from Sociology to Economics at Koç University.

We Are Today

I am 32 years old.

I have completed over 150 projects in 17 different countries. I have an amazing team of 10 people. I have a company operating out of Istanbul and London.

Looking back, I see that nothing progressed in a straight line. Transitioning from Sociology to Economics took years. Transitioning from waitressing to consulting took years. Going abroad with 400 Euros took courage. Getting no bank to open an account took patience. Taking on the responsibility of 8 countries took shoulders. Founding my own company took faith.

But at every step, at every crossroad, there were the right people at the right time. Pınar cracked the door open. Banu held the mirror up to me. Sibel said "you can do it" in a minibus. Didem solved the dorm issue. Daniel trusted me and put me on big projects. With Yann, we deployed an app for 16 countries in 1 week. Laurence taught me how to tell a story. The contribution of each one of them is a piece of this story. I haven't forgotten any of them.

And most importantly: I never gave up anywhere. Every time I heard a "no," I knocked on the next door. Every time I saw a wall, I climbed over it or walked around it. Sometimes I was fast, sometimes slow.

But I never stopped.

Today, as we drive digital transformation with Parlon, we are not just building software and Power Platform systems; we are clearing the bottlenecks in processes that people call "impossible," just like I cleared the obstacles on my own path.

Looking back, I realize that neither the initial "Sociology" label on my CV was an obstacle, nor were the 400 Euros in my pocket a deficiency. They were all training exercises that built the reflexes I use today to solve complex problems in seconds.

My journey is still ongoing. Now our goal with Parlon is to make more people in more geographies say, "There is another way." If you are currently standing in front of a wall and everyone is telling you to "turn back," look again. Maybe that wall is there for you to step on so you can see further.

Don't give up.

Because the story begins exactly where you say, "It's over."