Exclusive Interviews with the New SPOT Nordic Team: Rita Valinhas

From Monte-Abraão to Høje-Taastrup, Rita's path has been shaped by communication, human resources, and an entrepreneurial spirit, always focused on employee experience and organizational development. Between her professional journey and her passion for connecting people, Rita shares her vision for collaboration between Portugal and the Nordic countries, the challenges of emigrating, and her mission at SPOT Nordic. 🚀🌍

▶️ Who are you? Hi! My name is Rita Valinhas and I’m 31 years old. I grew up in Monte Abraão (on the outskirts of Lisbon) with my parents and older brother. I spent much of my childhood at my maternal grandmother’s house in Queluz with my four cousins.

As a teenager, I was exposed to people from various backgrounds—like Angola and Cape Verde—which sparked my interest in their food, dance, and culture (a few semba steps and a good plate of cachupa are a must!). 💃🍛

When I was little, I said I wanted to be a hairdresser or work in a café because I loved chatting with people. I’ve always had a knack for communication and persuasion, so I was torn between studying Human Resources Management or Marketing. I chose HR but learned about marketing and communication through extracurricular projects. 🎤📈

From an early age, I was involved in volunteering and multitasking—I love making things happen and meeting different kinds of people. I organized two editions of a program for new entrepreneurs at Startup Lisboa, facilitated orientation sessions for master’s students at ISCTE, volunteered at music and film festivals, and led a four-person communications team at AIESEC, among other things. 🚀🤝

At 21, I did Erasmus in Austria and traveled solo across Europe, which made me realize that my future would depend entirely on my own drive. After finishing my degree, I worked for a year in strategic HR consulting in Lisbon, and then for three years at ISCTE-IUL as a career advisor for tech and architecture students, supporting about 3,000 students. During this time, I improved my English, got my Cambridge Advanced Certificate, and applied for several master’s programs in Denmark. ✈️📚

I was accepted and moved in August 2018! I completed a master’s in Management of Creative Business Processes at Copenhagen Business School. Between studies, work, freelancing, volunteering, and building a family (I’m a mom to Teodora, 4, and Lucas, 8 months), I can say that becoming fluent in Danish remains one of the biggest challenges.

Even so, I can now communicate at an intermediate level. Looking ahead, I plan to stay in Denmark, where I’m currently seeking a new professional challenge as my maternity leave ends—and, of course, to travel whenever possible to discover new parts of the world. 🌍✈️

▶️ What do you do? I have 10 years of professional experience in communication and human resources. I've worked in public and private companies, startups, and also as a freelancer in both Portugal and Denmark.

Currently, I do career coaching for Portuguese people seeking opportunities in the Nordic countries and organize gastronomic events in Denmark, cooking Portuguese food for groups of 5 to 15 people. 🏢🍽️

I'm passionate about employee experience—from recruitment to offboarding. I’m interested in creating a coordinated, integrated process so that the employee journey is one of professional and personal development. I also love research and hope to pursue a PhD in this area in the future. 🔍💼

▶️ What’s a typical day like? My day starts by getting my older daughter ready for daycare and taking care of my baby. While he naps, I take the opportunity to work on my projects or train at the gym (ideally four times a week). Some days I focus on professional tasks, others are just about caring for my son—it depends on his “mood” too. 🍼💻

I try to balance work and family logistics but also make time to plan personal projects—right now I’m preparing a 16-day trip to Japan in March! 🇯🇵📅

Some days include coffee meetings or sessions with clients, and whenever I can, I like to work in the city for a change of scenery. ☕🏙️

▶️ What do you value most about living in your city and country? I live in the suburbs of Copenhagen, in Høje-Taastrup. I value the ease of biking, the abundance of green spaces, and the proximity to services. Almost everyone speaks English, and there's great diversity and lots of activities for children like parks, events, and libraries. Public transportation works well, and in just 20 minutes by train, I can reach downtown Copenhagen. 🚲🌿

▶️ What do you value in Portugal now that you’re living abroad?The ease of socializing with strangers, the incredible food, the strong sun and long, mild days, being close to family and friends, and a greater cultural mix compared to Denmark. ☀️🍷

▶️ In your opinion, what are the priority areas for collaboration between Portugal and the Nordic countries?I believe collaboration should focus on skills exchange and funding structures, as well as sharing best practices around fund management. It’s also crucial to promote greater exchange between professionals and researchers on joint projects. 🔬💶

▶️ Why did you decide to join SPOT Nordic? I'm one of the co-founders of SPOT Nordic. In 2019, during a dinner with Portuguese friends, I spoke with Joana Vicente about my interest in joining—and that’s how the journey started! 🚀🇵🇹 I’ve always been passionate about connecting people and creating impactful projects. I believe too much energy is lost in bureaucracy, and I want to help make things happen. 💡🤝

▶️ How can you contribute to the SPOT Nordic team? I can help onboard new board members, support and inform our members, and contribute to organizational and administrative tasks. I also want to help recruit participants for events and develop new networking initiatives. 📋📢

▶️ Which SPOT Nordic projects interest you most? I'm especially interested in mapping research collaborations between Portugal and the Nordic countries, along with other scientific diplomacy projects. 🧩📊

▶️ A final message you'd like to share with the world: Pursue what makes sense to you, visualize your goals, and take small steps to reach them. Step by step, progress is possible! 💫🔝

🔗 Rita Valinhas Linkedin Profile

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