Facing death, new perspective on work and life

Six years ago, Kerstin Duhme’s life nearly came to an abrupt end. She was preparing to hike the Aconcagua, a nearly 7,000-metre high mountain in Argentina, when a massive storm pummelled her camp. Stones hurtled down from the mountain and rained on to their tents, gusts of wind tossed equipment high in the air and Duhme and her fellow climbers could barely see anything around them.

“It looked like a war zone,” she said.

When the storm finally subsided, gas bottles, stoves and just about everything else was strewn about camp, destroyed; fortunately nobody was hurt. Duhme didn’t want to climb the mountain after that — “it doesn’t want us and I shouldn’t be here,” she recalls thinking. But two hours later she steadied her nerves and made the trek.

It was a life-changing experience in more ways than one. When Duhme got back to work, she felt more relaxed, more appreciative of her life.

 “When I came back I wondered why do people get so upset about the little things in their lives? It helped me gain some perspective,” she said.

Duhme, 50, is as dedicated to her work as she is to her yearly hiking excursions to some of the most challenging terrains in the world. As a Brussels-based senior managing director at FTI Consulting, a global business advisory firm, she works with some of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies, including Total, Stat Oil, Exxon and Chevron.

Before joining the company in 2003, she worked for Elisabeth Schroedter, a German Green Party Member of the European Parliament for eight years. “The possibilities are quite limited” in government life, she said. “You either become a member of parliament yourself and I didn’t want to become a politician so I quit.”

Work, she says, is one of her greatest passions in life so don’t bother to ask about work-life balance. “I don’t like that word,” she said. To Duhme, it’s just “life balance”. She makes no pretence about achieving equilibrium between office and home hours — everything she does, whether it’s stay late at work or spend time training for her expeditions, is done with the same energy.

Long days, often 12 hours, are the norm. When clients from other parts of Europe and the US come to town, she works even longer hours, hosting dinners and often discussing business until midnight. She also travels constantly around Europe, leaving town at least once each week for a day or two. In early June she travelled to Germany, Paris and London within four days.

“This isn’t for everyone,” Duhme said. “I like to be in the office later, after everyone leaves, so I can work through emails. Then I don’t go home feeling stressed.”

Her schedule gets even more complicated when she’s training for an expedition, most aggressively during the four weeks prior to what is typically an annual trip. In these cases, she’ll train one or two hours before work and she’ll try and go to bed earlier every night. “That’s my balance,” she said.

Still, Duhme admits that it’s difficult to have a social life. “To have my own social life and my job is quite demanding,” she said. She has a boyfriend, who is a professional mountain guide, helicopter pilot and entrepreneur who was on 2014’s expedition to the North Pole, but he lives in Switzerland. They only see each other every three or four weeks, but that’s fine with Duhme.

“Being with someone for 24 hours, seven days a week is not me,” she said. “It’s important that he (lives) there and I know he feels the same about me.”

Typically, Duhme is up at 06:30 and arrives at the office by 08:00. Her day is an endless stream of meetings.

“It can be exhausting,” she said.

On one busy day in June, Duhme had a lunch meeting with a colleague from the US and drinks with a client at 18:00. Arriving home around 21:00, Duhme had to pack for a trip to London. She was leaving the next day after work.

“I hate packing even though I travel so much,” she said. “What’s the weather going to be?” As for sleep? That comes by midnight.

After a full day of work and a train ride to London the next day, Duhme has to meet a colleague for dinner at 19:00.

“I have no regrets,” she said of her hectic schedule. “I’m very lucky.”

Editor’s Note: This article has been changed to correct the profession and location of Kerstin Duhme’s boyfriend.