What is your function at Henkel?
I’m an Assistant Brand Manager in our Diversified Markets Division.

How did you get to work with Henkel?
I received my undergraduate degree in chemical engineering in 2002. After graduating I started working for Dial as a technician and later was promoted to scientist. Afterwards I went back to school to get my master’s degree in business administration and once I completed my MBA I applied for a marketing position.

What distinguishes Henkel from others?
To me, No.1 would be the culture and the people. Even when I first applied at Henkel what was eye-catching for me were the culture and the people I was talking to. Everybody is very friendly and nice to work with. In addition, through the purchase of Dial by Henkel more opportunities have opened up. There is a lot of room for personal growth.

Did you have personal responsibility from the first day on?
Before I took over this position I started out in R&D. At that time they were redoing the organizational structure. So I got the chance to work on different projects I was in charge of.

For which projects did you work in the past?
When I was in R&D I worked for a project for a couple of years that required me to do some of the marketing functions because we didn’t have a marketing person on the project team. Due to my experience I managed the R&D side where I worked on formulation. Working on the science side meaning researching technologies I was also doing a lot of consumer insight work at the same time to see how it fits with our brands. That project itself helped me to decide that I want to go into marketing and also gave me opportunities to make experiences that I needed in addition to getting my degree for going into marketing.

Did you have a mentor?
I did have one from the technology side who was a manager because it was my goal to get into management on a technology side until I decided to go into marketing management. He really helped me to get to the point where I am  today. Currently I don’t have a formal mentor.