“We have become a family”

Kasia joined the Polish Hellmann headquarters in Warsaw in 2017. Until then she never really had anything to do with the logistics sector. Instead, she had quite the fan base in New York, being the lead singer of a local cover band. Warsaw and New York? People often struggle to see the connection at first, until they learn that Kasia was actually born in New York. At the age of six months and right after the fall of communism, her mom moved back to Poland to raise little Kasia in her home country.

But as soon as Kasia finished high school, she made her way back to the “city of dreams”. Juggling multiple jobs at the same time, she spent her free evenings at a karaoke club and people just loved to hear her sing. Then one night, a guy came up to her and said: 

“Wow! You can really sing!” He asked her to join his band as a guest singer. So she followed his invitation and shortly after became the star of the show!

Their Polish-Italian Rock band called “Awangarda” performed countless songs together, not only in the recording studio but also even at concerts in New York City, rocking the audience with songs from the Cranberries, Pink, Lana del Rey and many others. Kasia and her band became local celebrities in their Polish community and were even the supporting act for famous bands and played at charity concerts.

But the fondest memory she has is of New Year’s Eve 2012: More than 400 people dancing and singing along with her performing on stage at the famous NYE Party at Times Square.

Living the rockstar live for quite some years, she felt something was missing though. At her best friend’s wedding back home, she found love and was ready to leave her party days behind, settling down once and for all in Poland. She took up a Front Desk Receptionist position at the Hellmann branch in Warsaw, doing some admin work for the Managing Director of Hellmann Poland, too. When she saw a vacant position in the rail department, she took her chance and applied for it. The Rail Product Director sensed Kasia's potential early on and asked her to join her team.

So in January 2018, she started as Junior Specialist and just 9 months later got promoted to Rail Transport Specialist. She describes her team as “pure girl power”. She and the team hit it off straight away and have grown very close over the years, sharing their love for music and even the same zodiac sign.

One day, when asked to do a presentation, Kasia got nervous and did what she does best: Singing! She performed the presentation as a song, while being supported by her colleague playing the violin.

Shortly before Covid-19 hit, she went on a trip to the States to visit relatives and to perform with her old band. But right before the concert, she didn’t feel right. So, just before she was due to perform, she took a pregnancy test and it confirmed the obvious: “I was pregnant! Oh my god! I forgot all the lyrics, but somehow I pulled through and the concert was a huge success!” she remembers, laughing out loud.

Being pregnant during a pandemic and suffering from bad migraines, she was happy to be able to work from home. When Kornelia was born in November 2020, everything seemed to have finally fallen into place. But then all of the sudden Kasia was left to raise her daughter as a single mom.

She knew she wasn’t alone though and that she had her family to count on. As the saying goes: “It takes a village to raise a child”, she packed her things and moved to the countryside, to a small town 3 hours from Warsaw. Now surrounded by her parents, cousins, uncles and aunts, Kasia and Kornelia have all the support they could ever need.

Her “Hellmann Family” also stepped in and showed just what they are made of. After her one-year baby break Kasia is back to working full-time and her colleagues are giving her all the support she needs, so she can look after little Kornelia too.

“I love my job. My rail team is totally awesome, they all have my back. We have become a family!”

Now that Christmas is drawing closer, Kasia enjoys the cozy family time with her two-year old. She looks forward to teaching her “little troublemaker” all the Christmas carols she sang as a young girl in the church choir, as well as her family’s fusion of festive celebrations that include both Polish and American traditions, such as the Polish meatless 12-dish feast, as well as Santa Claus' visit down the chimney.

Dear Kasia, may this season and all days after, always be full of light, laughter and lots of music for you and your family.