Meet Hanna Kallankari

Hanna Kallankari, 30, comes from Keminmaa in northern Finland, but she's been living in Helsinki since she was 15. In 2003, she started working as a trainee at MTV Media, and by 2008 she had worked her way up to the position of Acquisitions Executive, acquiring TV programs for various MTV channels. In February, she traveled across the Baltic to Stockholm as a GROW participant to work for Bonnier Group Agency (BGA) with a very different product: books.

At BGA, her work is varied. "I have for instance helped the agents to sell rights abroad - especially to the U.K. and U.S. markets - by gathering sales material, synopses etc. in English," she says. "I've also gone through old sales material and given my comments to try and improve them."

She chose to apply for the position for several reasons. "GROW seemed to offer a great opportunity not only to get to know the publishing business but also the sales side, since BGA sells the book rights abroad," she says. "Besides I get to stay in Stockholm, which I really like."

Despite dealing with very different products, the work is surprisingly alike, Kallankari says: "What BGA and our team back home do is actually quite similar, as in the end it's all about good content and the rights no matter if we're talking about books or TV." Which is not to say there are no differences. "To me books are somehow more intimate and personal than TV and therefore require more time to form your opinion. I'm not sure though if that really is the case or if it's just me!"

Her advice to anyone participating in GROW is to be open and ask a lot of questions. "That's the best way to learn," she says. "And do remember to use this opportunity also to get acquaintedwith a new country, city and culture."