Working across the Asia-Pacific region means spending a considerable amount of time on the move – between countries, customers, exhibitions, factories, and airports. My workplace therefore changes occasionally faster than most people change their desktop wallpaper. Today, a customer meeting in Singapore. Tomorrow, a factory visit in China. And the day after that, the exciting question: “Which city did I wake up in again?” Over time, you learn to adapt to many things – different cultures, languages, food, time zones, and, of course, the fine art of saying “Good morning” convincingly despite jet lag. Travel has given me more than just a very full calendar. It has also given me a much broader perspective on people and markets. Every region works a little differently – and that is exactly what makes it so interesting. So my office is sometimes a meeting room, sometimes a factory floor, and sometimes simply an airplane seat. As long as the Wi-Fi and coffee are working, I’m good.

During my university years, the swimming pool was my sporting home. I competed in university competitions and was fortunate enough to become a national swimming champion. Back then, the goal was simple: get from A to B as fast as possible. Today, the course is a little more complicated – and there are usually no starting blocks. Instead, there are plenty of markets, projects, and sales targets. The competitive spirit, however, never really disappeared. I still work out regularly and follow a disciplined routine – weekly plans, goals, consistency. You could say my inner coach never actually resigned. For balance, there is golf and singing – two hobbies that, incidentally, also require a surprising amount of patience. With golf, it is usually the ball. With singing, perhaps the neighbours. And despite all the ambition, my biggest motivation remains my family. They are what drives me most – far more than any medal or any number on a sales report.

Give me a new market, a customer who has never heard of Nexus, or an application that makes everyone raise their eyebrows and say, “That could be difficult” – and you have my attention. Because that is exactly where things get interesting. I genuinely enjoy turning an initial “This will be difficult” into a step-by-step “This works.” At the beginning, there may be nothing more than an idea, a conversation, and a lot of question marks. Then come discussions, tests, technical solutions, perhaps a few detours – and hopefully far fewer question marks. For me, the best moment is therefore not necessarily the signature on an order. It is the moment when the Nexus system is finally running successfully at the customer’s factory and you think: “Well, look at that. Who would have thought?” Maybe that is what motivates me most: I don’t see challenges as stop signs. I see them more as invitations. And as you may have guessed, I’m not very good at turning down an invitation.