'How did you get into your current position?' - A personal story to motivate all the young people out there

People keep asking me how I have managed to be in my current position at my age - and in a group of companies with more than 4,500 employees globally to which I have no family roots. What's more, I'm always told by admirers: You're not normal or you're different from the average. That's why I want to write this article as an incentive to all the young people out there and encourage you to go your own way and not bend yourself to achieve something. If you are sincere, honest and authentic and pursue your goals, new doors will open up for you. After all, who is normal and isn't the beauty of life that each of us is unique and has very different strengths and weaknesses? I think so, because it's a wonderful way to learn from others and share your experiences.

?

I can't give you a single answer to the question of how I became Managing Director of a corporate venture within the NETZSCH Group , as there are many factors involved, but I can share my story and my motto with you. My motto: 'Winners are losers who stand up one more time.'

?

Let's go back around 11 years when I was working as a research assistant at Project Group for Functional Lightweight Design at the Fraunhofer ICT (now: Fraunhofer IGCV ) after completing my degree in physics. From the beginning, I was focused on thermo-physical and chemical material analysis and the transfer from laboratory knowledge to production. Surprise: The data from the laboratory cannot be transferred 1:1 to production, the influence factors and the snapshot from the lab do not allow this. So the way went merely through sensors in the molding tool, in order to be able to characterize the material behavior in-mold and in real time. To this end, I stumbled at the potentially best opportunity to date and the most advanced sensor of dielectric technology for industrial manufacturing. At the time, there were still obstacles to overcome, especially the use of dielectric sensors in the processing of plastics with electrically conductive fillers, such as carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs). There were approaches, but no solution available. At that time, young and relatively new in the field, I contacted a professor who, as an author, had probably written the most comprehensive literary work on dielectrics. In a conversation with the gentleman, whose name I do not want to mention here, I introduced my concept and got the answer: 'Don’t follow this, it will not work and it is a barrel without ground.' I cannot say whether this statement was made on the basis of his assessment that I would not be able to make it possible or because of his lack of vision. Nevertheless, that time I thought about whether I should continue to follow my ideas or whether it is actually possible. I have decided to put the statement aside and follow my conviction.

Therefore, I would like say to all young people with visions and great ideas: 'Don't surround yourself with people who radiate negativity on you.' These people are not important for your further journey.

But I experienced not only the statement of the dielectric expert, but also a circle of people within the NETZSCH Group who shared my views and supported me. After two years of cooperation between Fraunhofer and Netzsch, I was offered the opportunity in 2016 to continue to pursue my objectives in the business unit Analyzing & Testing ( NETZSCH Analyzing & Testing ) of the NETZSCH Group. The journey was incredibly exciting and started with a two-year focus on research and development and the completion of my PhD by May 2018. I was further promoted by the management after proven positive results and was allowed to work as Business Field Manager Process Analytics. There, I was acting globally as a service and sales support, with the clear goal of boosting sales in the field of dielectrics while at the same time being strongly connected to the R&D team to implement the customer requirements. Over the years, we have worked with fantastic customers around the world, experienced a lot of support, learned a lot and can definitely say: 'As a team we have taught the expert better and have gone much further'. Due to the strategic orientation of the NETZSCH Group and the enormous potential of combining sensor data, material science, expert knowledge and machine data through artificial intelligence approaches to enable self-regulating systems, in summer 2021 NETZSCH Process Intelligence GmbH was founded. The target is clear: Revolutionize the plastics industry with the implementation and distribution of the above mentioned combined in plug&play solutions. Again, I was promoted – now by the NETZSCH Group management - and took the next step towards my current position as Managing Director of a Corporate Venture.

What the story doesn’t tell you so far: It is not always a smooth way. I struggled from time to time. I failed several times, sometimes it was a hard hit. Due to the clash of extremely different experiences, views and personality profiles, I had such enormous arguments with a few of my superiors that I sometimes feared losing my job while others supported me. And due to my very young age at the time, it was difficult to deal with this and to eliminate the emotional level from the equation. I first had to learn how to do this. And even though I've always enjoyed being on stage and am a good networker, I also developed my communication skills through coaching. You often say things that seem completely normal to you, but offend and hurt the person on the other side. It's not a shame if something like this happens, but you have to own up to possible mistakes afterwards and learn from them.

I have never ceased to follow my conviction, which I have repeatedly challenged with potential customers and experienced people in the plastics industry. While doing so, many new supporters showed up and new doors have opened up.

As a conclusion to all the young guns out there: Follow your convictions, stay true to yourself, be authentic, stay away from negative people, be courageous and look positively to the future. If you constantly work on your goals and yourself and support and encourage other people around you, the rest will take care of itself. Don't compare yourself to others, but learn from others when they do something better than you. Create a better version of yourself every day.