“Dance to remember, cycle to reflect, coach to feel connected, and work to inspire and create change."

Who am I? I’m not sure I’d ever be able to answer that question completely. As a child I was a fan of Erik Zabel, always wanted to win the Tour de France and become a world champion in cycling. Later the target shifted to the Olympic Games and my team and I representing Germany came fifth in Rio 2016 in track cycling. 

Back then I was a cyclist, a sports soldier, a sports fan and a student in International Management, before becoming a boyfriend, moving to Berlin to be with my partner and training as a Design Thinker. I have called myself yogi, DJ, cycling coach, nature addict and wannabe chef, as well as ex-boyfriend, lover of Berlin and its people, festival organizer, friend and Olympian. That’s all me, and I feel that many other labels would apply to me too. 
 
I discovered in my last position how much I love working with people, inspiring them and helping them experience their full potential, professionally and personally. So, the role of consultant appealed to me as did the opportunity to work as Agile Coach and Scrum Master. However, I wanted something closer to the customer and working with a team over longer periods, to explore profound connections with the client and their operational systems.

Capco seemed to be the perfect place to offer both the opportunity to discover financial services as a new field and strengthen my consulting skills. The open and honest communication in the interviewing process, the first people I met within this process, and the easy-going attitude even at the highest levels on my first project made me feel connected straight away.

Being relatively new to Capco, there hasn’t been a long-term project that turned my life around so far. However, the experiences I gained over a short period of time have been profound and intense, from discovering complex structures of teams of 45+ people working on customer projects to figuring out my role and how to contribute to the team’s and client’s success. 

Honestly speaking, the questions about myself at work, my role and contribution have been the ingredient I needed to grow further. Discovering what it really means to work on a project and understanding project management in theory and practice has been the highlight so far, and I’m sure there’ll be many more highlights in the future. 

Coming back to that first question of ‘Who am I?’, I think the answer for me is in the question ‘Who do I want to be?’. Applying user-centricity to myself and asking myself ‘What do I want to tell my grandchildren about what I did with my life?’ guides my actions today. 

Additionally, I see parallels in DJ-ing and life in general. You need to give your crowd – and yourself - moments to remember and moments to reflect, you want to have a huge variety of emotions and to have breaks, you want the highest peaks, and, finally, continuity. 

I want to dance to remember, cycle to reflect, organize events to feel alive, help and coach others to feel connected, break free while hiking in new areas and feel myself and the continuity of life in my weekly yoga sessions. At work, I want to inspire, to be inclusive and to create change, as I do, for example, through participating in Capco’s Pride community.