"I joined RTL Group in mid 2004 after three years with KirchGroup in Munich. There I had witnessed the bankruptcy of one of the biggest media tycoons in the world. What a start into my professional career, sad and interesting at the same time.  
  
All the big media players came along to check if they could take over assets of Leo Kirch. One of them happened to be Elmar Heggen, at that time Head of Strategy of RTL Group. That’s how we met for the first time... one year later I moved to Luxemburg to join his team.
 
Obviously, my first impressions were quite positive in RTL Group, having spent the time before inside a company in liquidation. The thing I appreciated most?  Flat hierarchies, easy access to the management that had no problems to discuss with young fellows….as well as the opportunity to debate over business and football results in three languages! Gradually, my project focus moved eastwards from the UK over Scandinavia to Russia and the Ukraine. My last destination was Turkey where we spend almost a year to evaluate investment opportunities. Unfortunately...we couldn’t finalize the project. However, what will definitely stay of that period is the exciting time and great team spirit we shared.
 
This was also the perfect moment to say “Äddi” to Luxemburg and “Goeden Dag” to Hilversum. In March this year I started as Head of Business Development & Strategy at RTL Nederland. How to get there? I would say it’s always a combination of being mentored and acting on your own initiative to execute such a step into operations (when your boss is happy with you, there is no incentive for him to let you leave!). Timing is definitely key too: Being hired by a young CEO with a lot of ideas, who had been appointed just weeks before, was obviously the ideal constellation for me!”