Julia Guenster was transferred to Silicon Valley last year to establish HR Innovation & Digitization for a German Freight Forwarder. She enjoys the atmosphere at HanaHaus and uses the workspace for meetings and workshops. Read in our blog what Julia’s journey to Silicon Valley looked like and why she believes that HanaHaus is a great spot for meetings.
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Name: Julia Guenster
Age: 30
Origin: Essen, Germany
HanaHaus Visitor since: Summer 2016
Job Title: Director HR Innovation & Digitization
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My Job in Silicon Valley is about…
“…scouting trends, screening ideas and building up networks with start-ups, academic institutions and our customers to generate and catalyze transformation. I am working for a German Freight Forwarder called DB Schenker, which has a long history of more than 130 years, so we are looking to learn from the most innovative companies and start-ups on the planet – concentrated here in the Bay Area. We have a big number of customers in the tech industry and part of my job is to build up learning and development collaborations or best practice exchanges with them. Also, I am scouting start-ups who offer solutions that are related to Human Capital Management. Additionally, I am collaborating with universities such as Stanford, UC Berkeley or the California College of the Arts.”
Got to know HanaHaus through…
“…researching co-working spaces in Silicon Valley. HanaHaus convinced me with its ideal location in the Valley and the flexible scheduling model.”
Used to come to HanaHaus because…
“…of different reasons. First, I use it as a meeting space. When I meet with colleagues from our German headquarters, external vendors or start-ups, I usually meet them here in one of the meeting rooms. Also, I like to come here when I am in transit between meetings in Silicon Valley and San Francisco to work on my mails or an upcoming presentations. Additionally, I use the meeting rooms in HanaHaus for workshops. Once we facilitated a design thinking workshop with MBA students, who we were collaborating with us on a use-case.”
My journey to Silicon Valley started…
"…when I got in touch with DB Schenker during my Master studies in sports management at University of Bayreuth, Germany. I did an internship in venue logistics with DB Schenker at the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing and worked at the Soccer World Cup in South Africa in 2010. I moved on to work as a project manager in Global Air Freight at our headquarters in Germany and implemented warehouse management solutions globally. Afterwards I assisted our Board Member for Air & Ocean Freight as chief of staff and came to the Bay Area to work as an account manager for one of our major tech accounts. In November, I took over responsibility for DB Schenker’s HR innovation space.”
HanaHaus is unique because…
“… of its flexibility. I never had an issue booking a meeting room at the time I needed. There are a lot of options you can choose from: You can get private and open work spaces for meetings with two or more people. And when I am on my own, I can always come in and there is a spot available. Also, I like the atmosphere a lot. It’s buzzing so it’s not quite like a library. At the same time, it’s a working atmosphere and you can focus on what you are doing. I think the quietness of a library can sometimes be kind of disturbing. I really like the buzzing atmosphere here.”
The best experience at HanaHaus was...
"…the design thinking workshop that I think we couldn’t have done somewhere else so easily. We didn’t do it in our DB Schenker office as we wanted to have it in a creative environment, not the typical office environment. Conducting it here with a group of 4 other design thinkers worked really well, because you have everything you need - the white boards, moving walls, screens and markers. It’s a great place for a workshop or a creative meeting.”
The favorite spot at Hanahaus…
“…is in front of the Capetown Lounge where you have a great overview of the whole situation.”
In 3 words HanaHaus in 3 is...
“…bright, flexible and inspiring.”
In our new blog series, People of HanaHaus, we present the folks that fill our workspace cafe with life: Start-Uppers, entrepreneurs, artists, founders, innovation managers, students, unicorns, venture capital investors and the people who make HanaHaus unique. We want to learn about their journeys and what brought them to Silicon Valley. We ask them to speak about their current projects and why how they leverage HanaHaus for their business.