Gears of Comodule-Brit Vaga, the Head of Supply Chain & Factory, dedicated to keeping the micromobility show on the road
Did you know that ‘Vaga’ means ‘silent’ in Estonian? We find it hard to describe her that way. She can hold down our Factory castle, do a kick-flip while being tossed in the air by her dance crew, feed the pigs in her grandparent's farm, and solve the most complicated math puzzles. We even find it hard to believe she’s human, as she tends to be related to Superman from planet Krypton.
Who is Brit?
She is from the Estonian summer capital Pärnu. When she was little, she had a lot of kids her age on the street her family lived. So the neighborhood kids used to play a lot outside, ride around with bikes, play hide & seek and do all kinds of fun things and trouble together. During summertime, she spent a lot of time in the countryside on her grandparents' farm. There she got up early with her grandfather to feed the pigs, collect the chickens’ eggs and take the cows out to the field.
‘I value that I have had a chance to grow up away from the city buzz, play in nature and spend a lot of time with different animals,’ she says.
This is why, when she was still in kindergarten, she wanted to become a vet, because of the love for the animals. Of course, as it is common for children that age, the opinions about future career choices tended to vary: ‘When I started going to school, I wanted to become a teacher, because my mother is also a teacher. At first, I wanted to become a primary classes teacher, afterward either maths or chemistry teacher.’
What does Brit do at Comodule?
Brit is the Head of Supply Chain & Factory, taking care of business with sophisticated attention to detail and helping us to keep the micromobility show on the road.
Did it seem natural coming to work in this field?
During the last years of secondary school, her thoughts about her future profession changed.
‘Since my strengths during school years were maths, chemistry, and biology, I thought that my profession should also include those subjects. I thought about becoming a gene technologist or a doctor. Because genetics seemed like a future thing I chose this and went to study gene technology at TalTech University.
After half a year of studying, I realized that it’s not for me. I didn’t want to become a scientist and wanted to do something more social and interactive. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I just started to learn about different subjects to find out what I want to do. In the end, I chose between supply chain management and civil engineering. I chose the first one. It was a really tough decision to go over to a totally different field, but I now understand how right it was – I really love my specialty and I would choose it all over again if I’d have to,’ Brit explains.
‘Before joining Comodule I was working in big multinational corporations. I learned a lot there, but having just finished my Master’s studies, I felt this kind of drive to do something important in a smaller company, where I would feel the contribution of my work more directly. In 2018 when the kick-scooter boom had started I was traveling in the US and rode around with the shared electric kick-scooters. I loved the idea of shared mobility and thought that we should have something similar at home. I then found out that a small Estonian start-up Comodule is creating technology for that. Soon after, I knew I wanted to be a part of this company - and here I am.’
And we love to have you here, Brit!
Any hobbies?
Throughout her school years, she was dancing in Pärnu Waf Dance School.
‘We were learning and performing show-dance, contemporary and hip-hop dance. But the most important thing next to the fun dance classes and competitions was that I managed to get best friends for life through dancing there. We have this group of friends from those times with whom we still meet now and then, gather all together at least once a year and take a trip to someplace in Estonia for a couple of days to spend some time together.’
But that’s not all! She also spent a lot of time in Pärnu Theater Endla where she was performing in a play “Boyband”. Fun fact: she performed there in 40 shows in total!
‘When I moved to Tallinn to go to university, I joined the TalTech cheerleading group. So in most of the evenings during university, I was either in dance classes or performing in TalTech basketball or volleyball games as a cheerleader.’
‘Since I am a small girl then very soon after joining TalTech cheerleaders I became a ‘flyer’ which means that I was the one on the other’s hands, tossed up to the air to do all kinds of tricks there. Also, we took part in national and international cheerleading competitions. It was a fun period of time where I again managed to get very good friends for life,’ she describes her life as a dancer.
How do you normally commute to work?
No, unfortunately, she does not do splits and back-flips on her way to work…
‘Since I live from a nice bike ride away from our Co-Factory, I use my bike or take Tuul, the shared e-scooter service here in Estonia. The bike ride gives a refreshing start to the day. I like that I can ride there using smaller roads and not having to go through bigger traffic. I have used a car when the weather is not good, but try to avoid it as much as I can. ‘
Where do you see the micromobility industry growing in the future?
‘I believe that micromobility will become a more and more popular way of moving all over the world year by year. We already see it happening. It is especially important in crowded cities where pollution is a huge problem. Micromobility enables flexible, fast, and environmentally friendly ways of commuting. I especially believe in shared mobility, because owning something is so inefficient and people realize it more and more. It is so comfortable to pick up a kick-scooter or an e-bike wherever I want and leave it wherever I want.'