The ‘Real You’ is a feature on the European SharePoint Blog which gives you the chance to get to know more about your peers through their experiences, fun facts and the advice they were given to help them strive in the SharePoint World.

Agnes Molnar

 1. Where are you from?
I’m from a small town in mid-Hungary, was born as the first child of my parents (I have a younger brother). My father is locksmith, a very smart man. Mother is seamstress, and they’re divorced since my 20th birthday.

2. Where do you work?
I work as independent, international consultant. Physically, I live in Budapest, Hungary, but work for companies all around the globe.

3. How did you get involved in SharePoint?
Shortly after started my studies at Budapest University of Technologies and Economics, my parents realized they cannot afford it, due to my mother’s illness. So I had to decide if I go back to their small town far-far away or figure out how I can afford my studies. Guess which one I chose?… Yes, I started to work and got self-supporting from my second semester. This was not easy at all but had its benefits, first of all I had much more work experience than any of my class mates at the university.

That time, I started working as a developer, and after a while, got involved to .NET that was brand new then. We started a new project with Microsoft’s fancy new technologies, including something that was called “SharePoint 2001” and had some search API we could use against Exchange mailboxes. Yes, I met SharePoint’s APIs much earlier than its UI! Crazy, isn’t it?

This was a nice and challenging job though, and everyone started to consider me as a SharePoint expert immediately, way too long time before I thought myself so 

And all of my jobs has got more or less SharePoint from this point… By now, I can say I’ve been spending more than 1/3 of my life with SharePoint, even longer than with my husband…

4. What do you do in your spare time?
I have to children in the ages of 4 and 7, I spend most of my non-working time with them. We live in a family house with a backyard and I like spending my “spare” time with gardening there.
Also, as you can guess, I love travelling and taking photos.
Finally, I always have my Kindle with me, but reading is a luxury I can afford not as much as I’d like to. I always read before going to the bed though, but mostly I’m so tired I cannot read more than a few pages. It’s a good “metric” of my exhaust 😉

5. Favourite TV show?
Maybe hard to believe, but I don’t watch TV. For some reason, it doesn’t relax me at all. I spend most of my time with screens, anyway…

6. Favourite Book?
I love Paulo Coelho’s books, my favourite one is Aleph.
I also read books just “accidentally”, for example when I see someone reading a book on the plane or airport. The last one that made a very strong impression on me was Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult despite I don’t like her books anyway

7. Apart from a career in SharePoint what would be your dream job?
I usually say I’ll be a florist if I want to get rid of computers. But I don’t think I really could do that 
My dream job would be something where I can travel by my choice, with my family; where I can use my brain and have to do something creative; but also, where I can relax much more than I can in my current position.
(Funny thing, I just created a doc with “FAT Search” in the title. Maybe it’s time to look for a new job in the fitness business? 😉 )

9. You can invite 3 people, dead or alive to your dinner party. Who would they be and why?
First one is my grandmother, as I missed to visit her the week she died unexpectedly. It was too late then, and I’d like to see her again to say sorry.
The second one is my elementary school math teacher, who introduced me to the computers first (Commodore +4, like a history!). I wanted to be a doctor prior that but she changed my mind and this is why I can be here today 
The third one would be my husband. We spend much less time together than we should, and he cannot come to most of my travels with me. But in this case, I would organize my dinner party to some exclusive place, in the Caribbeans, for example

10. If you were stranded on a tropical island and could only bring 3 things with you what would they be?
My kids always give me a teddy bear or a toy when I travel. The only time when I forget it to take with me was my Ukraine visit last year. I had an accident there… So that, I would bring some toy from my kids, definitely.
The second thing would be my Kindle. Finally, I would have some time to read! And it has 3G, too…
The third thing is my bicycle.

11. What’s the best piece of advice you were ever given?
When I was 17, I made a German-Hungarian dictionary software that was published in a computer magazine. Amongst a lot of very positive feedbacks, I’ve got a call (that time, we haven’t had emails yet…) from a university professor who asked me about my plans. When I told him I’d like to study at a local college he was confused and suggested to think in big and shoot for the best and biggest technology university in Hungary. I got his points and got accepted a year later. I still don’t know who he was though, maybe one of my teachers later?…

12. Have you any advice to give to someone just starting their SharePoint career?
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. A good mentor can really change your life. I mean, you definitely have to learn and work by your own but if you have a good advisor who you can ask when you’re in doubt, you’re much closer to be successful.

13.If you could do one thing to change the world what would it be?
I would make a day containing at least 36 hours

14. If you could choose anyone to be your mentor who would it be?
I’ve been having very good mentors in my life, I’m more than happy with them, really. First of all, my math teachers in both the elementary and high schools. Then a friend at Microsoft, who helped me a lot to become MVP and open to the international world from our small country.
If you think about a “mentor”, he or she should not be in the same expertise than you are. For example, I consider Martin White (Intranet Focus) as a mentor of mine, although he’s not in the SharePoint business at all, moreover likely he’s not aware I nominate him as my mentor  But he teaches and inspires me a lot, we have very meaningful discussions and I am more than thankful for this.

15. If you could share the stage with anyone in SharePoint who would it be?
Last year, Nenad Trajkovski and I made it to be the top speakers of SPC Adriatics, then decided to do a joint session together this year. And it looks like we’ll really make this happen in November, I can’t wait.

Why not check out Agnes Molnar’s ESPC13 conference presentation on ‘10 Things I Like in SharePoint 2013 Search‘ for insighful tips. Download the Free Presentation Now>>

Whether you are relatively new or experienced in SharePoint, we’d like to share your story with the European SharePoint Community. If you are interested in taking part, simply email aoife@sharepointeurope.com.