Welcome to TEAM TALKS! Our new blog series catching up with a different member of the SPRT team each week! Enjoy…
This week I (Aimée-Blog writer at SPRT) sat down with another member of SPRT, Stefan our Head of Marketing to chat about him, Berlin and how he came to join the best startup in the city!?
So, let’s start off with a bit about you. For everyone that doesn’t know you already tell us, who is the guy behind the marketing strategy?!?
‘Alrighty…So I was born in a little town in north Bavaria called Würzburg (where the grumpy people live).[He said that not us!] I’m the Head of Marketing and take care of anything related to marketing, most often in strategic ways, I also talk to potential partners about our marketing strategy and try to keep the machine running! Therefore sometimes I even have to design SPRT stickers or clean our office!?’
Haha sounds like you’re a jack of all trades! So what can you tell us about your character? Time for some shameless self-promo right!? Go for it!
‘Phew, well that’s tricky ?I can be very passionate about things which amaze me, even small things. I like to learn and try to understand everything when it comes to data and insights about target group behaviour. I really love to find out problems to solve in a very analytical way. Sometimes I can be a smart aleck. *Face palm*’
Maybe, but we’re very grateful for it! What do you get up to when you’re not being our marketing fairy? You love music and photography right?
‘My passions? Hmmm, well I guess my passion for music started back when a friend asked me to play guitar in his band, I grabbed my father’s old Fender Jazzmaster and began to practice. That was 14 years ago!
My love for photography and then videography started a couple of years ago. I like to keep things and save them to enjoy even if the moment has passed. I like also the feelings and emotions, my passions spark in others.
I feel really passionately about my work too. Most people think, marketing is a super fancy and annoying, useless thing which everyone does but no one really needs. [Again…he said it not us!] My approach is to ensure a long lasting value for people, even beyond marketing. Marketing tries to make the process of finding things easier for people, in business strategy or team-building it is to solve problems to make people’s lives easier.’
Well, it definitely sounds like you’re busy enough! Is there anything you’re working towards right now?
‘Actually, I’m trying to finally complete an entire LP with various songs (electro, folk, ambient)! I also spend a lot of time producing yoga-videos for my wife who is a yoga instructor and the book I’m reading is “Reconciliation with the inner child”. (It’s always good to know what your inner child needs ?)’
Haha it sure is! So let’s move onto Berin, when did you move here and why?
‘I moved to Berlin on 1st September 2014, 05:36 pm (Haha I know this time because as I parked my car I looked at the clock accidentally and I have never forgotten!). My plan was to do a business development internship at Amorelie, but I switched pretty early to a digital agency and stayed there for two years where I learned a lot about project management, online marketing, and website conception. After that, I decided to work freelance in marketing and business development because I thought I could do it more efficiently than big agencies which have to focus more on paying their employees than doing good marketing.’
Sounds like a great journey to today! So when you’re not building up your marketing career or making LP’s what do you do if you are ever free? What’s your go-to Sunday spot?
‘Oh, I like this question. There are several! The first thing which comes into my mind is the Vabali Spa, but I like to go there really really early when most Berliners are still sleeping. I also like to go for a brunch at Father Carpenter or Zeit für Brot. The cinnamon rolls are the f*cking best sh!t in town.?’
I know right! So Berlin really does feel like your city?
‘I love Berlin for the fact that you think you know it so well and then you accidentally take an alternative route on your way home and discover a whole new world.’
Definitely! So what about sport, would you consider yourself sporty? What part does sport play in your life?
‘When I was younger, I did a lot of sports. I like skiing and I ranked 3rd at the Bavarian championships in artist cycling.
Now I often do mostly yoga to calm my mind and align my body. I like to bring body, mind and soul back together and re-integrate it after a normal work-life day, which normally separates these three.’
Wow! I never knew! So just to finish off quickly what 3 things would be your desert island picks?
‘I would pick my acoustic guitar, a comfortable meditation pillow and something to write with so I don’t have to remember everything!’
