CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Martina Reuter

Steve Jobs often cited the proverb "Love what you do," yet its origin is typically traced to Confucius. The phrase is a constant companion in both my work and personal life.

My career at Marc O'Polo

During my sabbatical from Lufthansa in the summer of 2012, I saw the sign "Temporary help wanted" in the window of the Marc O'Polo Store in Neuss. One week later, I started working at the company. Shortly afterwards, the retail business took over the shop, and my supervisor Diana asked me if I would like to stay on at Marc O'Polo as a part-time employee until the end of my sabbatical. Those three months led to a career. After starting as a temp, I worked as a sales assistant for one year, then as an assistant store manager with store responsibility for two years and then as a store manager. My career then progressed from Process & Competence Store Manager to District Store Manager and finally to Junior Retail Manager, my current position since September 2021.

What I learned at Marc O'Polo

I’ve always pursued my chosen activities with great passion, whether "selling" something or inspiring people. At Marc O'Polo, I could apply this quality. In addition, during my career I have learned to communicate more clearly and transparently, as well as to make my goals tangible and achievable. My passion for fashion and the joy I experience when working with people—to encourage as well as challenge, to develop myself and others, to be a driver for change—has grown and deepened during my time at Marc O'Polo.

My biggest challenge at Marc O'Polo

One of my biggest challenges was adapting to my frequent role changes within the team. Over the years, I have transitioned from a colleague to a manager. Each new role was always exciting and challenging, as was being recognised in the each position by my colleagues and by myself. I’ve been working with Marc O'Polo for almost 10 years and have never felt like I was standing still.

How I deal with new tasks

There is always something new; challenges for myself, for my team and for our entire company. But unfamiliar and different points of view always present new perspectives. I believe you never stop learning and you can always develop further. With this outlook, you can find opportunities anywhere and change things as well as move them forward.

Peter Hainzl

"Constant change has become part of my DNA."

My development at Marc O'Polo

I began my career as a trainee in IT Application Management at Marc O'Polo after responding to a job advertisement. Since then, I’ve worked in a variety of IT areas and positions, ranging from Junior Application Manager to Senior Technical Project Manager Digital Intelligence, which is my current position. I am responsible for the technical conception of CRs and projects, the internal and external management of development, for technical project management and for IT architecture.

I drive digital innovations

I've been able to progress steadily throughout my career. Not only on the technical side, where I now lead my own projects and help drive innovation, but also on the professional side, where I have continually developed and specialised myself through training and working with new technologies. I’ve always been interested in technical innovations, both personally and professionally, and I’m grateful for the fact that I can contribute my own interests and explore these topics at Marc O'Polo. For example, I’ve become very familiar with the topic of cloud solutions over the last few years, and I can now share this expertise throughout the company. In addition, I get to work on many exciting projects that continually push me, such as the current SAP project. Of course, the team also plays an important role. After all, you can only achieve success with a well-functioning team. I have a lot of fun working with my colleagues every day, because we all have the same goal in mind and strive to achieve the best results together.

My biggest challenge at Marc O'Polo

When I reflect on the biggest challenges I’ve faced over the years, I think of my transition from Application Manager in IT to Project Manager in Digital. We had just founded the first digital team at Marc O'Polo, and this was the first time I had worked according to an agile approach. In addition, my responsibilities increased. But over time, I familiarised myself with the role and added my own experience. The cyberattack was also a big challenge during that period. We had to establish new processes from scratch and digitally map them into software. In just three days, we developed a warehouse software to ship our products. These days, challenges and obstacles appear all the time, but finding solutions is a part of my work.

I am part of the change

Even after eight years, I still feel like I can make a difference. Marc O'Polo is a company that is constantly changing: Old structures fall as new ones are introduced, in both a professional and a technical sense. And it’s a pleasure to be a part of this evolution.