Hiba Larsson is the first official Swedish Board Member for the Australian Business Council of Sweden. She spent 5 years in Australia, and on her return to Sweden in 2020 she was keen to stay involved with the Australian community. We did a flash 5-question interview to find out what bonds her to Australia and her impression of the Aussie culture.
What was your original inspiration for moving to Australia?
I was one of those love refugees, haha. It was also an opportunity to embark on a life changing adventure, how could I turn it down?
So you fell in love with our people, and thereafter our country. As a Swede, what is your overall impression of the Australian country and culture?
Having spent four years in the UK prior to moving to Australia, I was expecting it to be quite similar. To my surprise, I felt it was more like Sweden (!): people really value life balance, friends & family, being out in nature and have, similar to Sweden, an incredible food scene. I have to admit though, the coffee is slightly better in Aus.
Starting from scratch, not knowing anyone professionally, I was positively overwhelmed by people’s willingness to support and connect. I also found it incredibly refreshing with the Aussie directness and no-nonsense mentality.
Overall, it was an incredible experience that I’ll always be grateful for.
When you returned to Sweden you wanted to keep a connection to Australia. How did you find the ABCS?
I had a few dealings with the former Australian Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner in the UK who introduced me to the ABCS and I turned up at one of the events having been ‘homesick’ and missing the Aussie banter. Not only did it cure my Aussie social craving but it also turned out to be a great network professionally meeting people in my area of profession.
After a year of Membership I was asked to join the Board.
You have an incredibly interesting and purpose-driven profession within the Agriculture sector. Please tell us a bit more about your professional background.
I started off working in finance but after being given the book ‘Feeding Freenzy’ by the cofounder for the company I was working for, which painted quite a daunting picture of the world’s future food supply/demand imbalance,. it elicited an incredible journey of discovering agriculture and I decided to devote my career within that field.
Over the years I’ve had the great opportunity of combining my experience in finance and working directly with farmers, and am now dedicated to working on opportunities focused on sustainable food production, including in Australia.
Finally, we have to ask: What is your favorite thing about Australia/Australians?
It’s like asking a mother who her favorite child is, too many things...and I think we’ve run out of time for this interview. You’ll have to ask me at our next ABC event!
If you work with Agriculture and you’d like to connect with Hiba you can find her on LinkedIn or come along and meet her and other ABCS Members in person at the next ABCS Event.