Head of Sales, Europe
"In my 27 years with Air Partner, there hasn't been a single boring day for me."
In 1997 I joined what was then Air London as a Junior Commercial Broker, after 2 years as Cabin Crew with the Bournemouth-based BAC1-11 operator European Aviation Air Charter.
Growing up in a village by the Baltic Sea in East Germany, I had always dreamt of travelling the world. As a pupil I even applied to work as a stewardess at ‘Interflug’. They told me I was too young and lived too far away from its base in Berlin Schönefeld. I then studied languages, Russian and English, as well as Teacher Studies at Rostock University and spent a semester at the University of Dnepropetrovsk / Ukraine.
In 1993 I migrated to London and found my dream job as Cabin Crew. There I met the brokers accompanying charter flights and, when the opportunity came up, joined Air Partner as a Junior Commercial Jet Broker. I passed the interview on the basis that with the company’s expansion into Europe, my language skills might come in handy and indeed they did.
Shortly after the foundation of Air Partner Cologne, in 2000 I was asked to assist with the training and operation of the Broker team in Germany, which later set me up for a full time role as Company Coach in charge of the broker training, followed by stepping into management.
I love travelling, studying languages and being exposed to different cultures. My various roles allowed me to turn my hobby into a profession, initially travelling as a broker on chartered aircraft to many destinations.
In later years I had the privilege of living and working in some of the most exciting cities of the world, like Dubai, Cologne, Milan, Paris, passing my experience on to the younger generation, assisting and getting to know our amazing team members on a personal level and seeing them grow.
After rebuilding Private Jets and sending them onto a growth trajectory, the last 5 years allowed me to build a solid Private Jets Germany team, tripling the income in that time. The same young people I took on initially are now at the helm with enough experience to run the business themselves, some of them having become young parents and returning successfully into the team. Combining this level of business and personal success has made me immensely proud of them.
Aviation itself is an exciting industry, not one day is the same and the world of geopolitics, big business and celebrities is our everyday life. Air Partner has given me the opportunity to work internationally, broaden my horizons and see places I would not otherwise have seen.
Naturally, the work required dedication and led to many long hours, but it has been a very rewarding journey with a treasure trove of experiences and adventures. As the company has grown, I’ve approached each challenge with a sense of pace and initiative that has been rewarded. I’ve enjoyed the freedom to make my own decisions knowing that I had a great framework and the full support of the company behind me when the going got tough.
I’ve seen the business grow from Air London, a small UK-based charter business to Air Partner, a global aviation solutions group, and I’ve gone from being one of the only foreigners to being part of a multi-cultural workplace with the drive and determination to become even more welcoming and diverse.
