ADVISOR TO THE BOARD

Zodiac sign: Capricorn
Favourite colour: Blue
Favourite school subject: Sports, Biology
What I wanted to be when I grew up: Challenging tasks that are fun to do

What I’ve become:

Goal achieved. After studying law and doing my legal traineeship in Hamburg, I became assistant to Mark Wössner, CEO of Bertelsmann. I spent 21 years in this great company and had a good time with diverse and very different demands: building up the private radio sector in UFA with, among others, Radio Hamburg, Antenne Bayern, RUFA. After the first acquisition of the TV rights to the German Soccer League by a private company, development of the sports rights and marketing business and foundation of UFA Sports. In addition to the national and international TV and marketing rights to football clubs and associations, we acquired and distributed the TV rights to the Wimbledon and US Open tennis tournaments in Europe for many years. With a great team, I was responsible for an exciting and very successful business for 10 years. Then the Bertelsmann Executive Board asked me to take over the EXPO 2000 project as the Executive Board’s authorized representative. This resulted in the Bertelsmann pavilion “Planet m,” a highlight of the EXPO in Hanover. I then took over Bertelsmann’s worldwide corporate communications as Bertelsmann Executive Board member. After five years in this role, I parted company with Bertelsmann on amicable terms. I then spent four years in charge of marketing and communications at what was then Europe’s largest private bank. Fortunately, I left the bank in time before the necessary takeover by Deutsche Bank. This was followed by collaborations with agencies, but especially the development of my own projects focusing on the communicative positioning of companies, board members and executives, as well as crisis communications.