Let's tell that story

I'm applying for the internship of Seth Godin and I'm absolutely thrilled and excited about it. This page is the reference in my application. Here I want to tell you a few stories about the way I think, what I've done and why I do things the way I'm doing them.

I want to tell you about my career. But not about fancy projects I've done, but what I learned on my way. The biggest lesson I learned while working for a company is that I don't want to work for a company.

In the same way I love to be inspired I want to inspire others. I want to spent my time with things I'm passionate about. I want to create something which makes people smile. I want to make great things happen.

I know that a single person can change everything, but I also know that it's much more fun when you do it together with a bunch of great people.

That's why I asked friends, family, colleagues, bosses and class mates for support.

So, everybody who arrives here who knows me, you can really support me with answering one (or all) of those questions. Share it through a comment under the "What do you think?" section.

- Why do you think I'm the right person for that internship or why do you think I'm not?

- Is there anything you learned from me? Is there anything you find especially remarkable?

Everybody talks about change. Change is more important than ever, because everything around us is changing. It's up to each of us, if we still want to close our eyes and try to hold on to the status quo or if we respond to the change with changing ourselves or if we go even further and start a change.

For a long time a lot of people were still embracing the status quo and simply didn't want to see that everything around them is turning around and upside down. And that's pretty normal, because change is not only a way to discover something new and exciting, but also includes uncertainty about the outcome. Even Bill Gates first wasn't interested in the Internet. And the way you have to go can be uncomfortable.

I believe that more and more people have accepted by now that holding on to the well-known status quo is in fact more dangerous than welcoming something new and different. But as the safety lovers are convinced, we're already facing a new kind of people who might be just as dangerous for a healthy and successful change.

What happens now is that some managers start to change everything they're getting their hands on or at least where they have the controll over. It seems to me that they've read about the big need for people who initiate change, who embrace it and who start leading people into a new direction. There's no doubt, that we need and want you.

But if you think playing a big role in that changing-movement means that you can first run in one direction, then start thinking about the consequences, re-deciding and head off in another direction, you will loose us. You will loose us with every unexplained turn. If we can't see your vision, if we start doubting you've created the right map to show us the exit of the maze, you will loose us. You will loose us, if you just see the big picture, but forget to think about the right way to execute it.

Please, stop changing for changing's sake and start thinking about our shared interests.

We don't need somebody who runs off to change something else when we're facing the first obstacle, we need somebody who overcomes difficulties together with us. We don't need somebody who can just start the change, we need somebody who is willing to go the whole way.

Let's create a vision together and let's start a movement!

We are excited, but we need you to lead us.

How I see the start of my career

Some people might consider my so far career as pretty good, maybe even great. I started as an intern and quickly got promoted twice. Some people who know me better might have thought, why is she not doing something more creative? My mother thought, who hired her for organizing projects?

What I think is that my first job helped me to see more clearly.

I learned how to work with a range of different people, including a gothic punk with a very own way of seeing life, some lovely geeks who gave me insights about the art of programming, CEO's who not always have to be right and truly inspiring team leaders who taught me that telling your opinion is what makes the difference regardless who is sitting around the table.

I found out that I can be way more organized than my mother would ever believe (she still doesn't). I learned that a solid foundation and taking your time to sit down and think before executing saves tons of time and stress.

It helped me to see that everybody is cooking with water.

And most important it helped me in experiencing what I don't want to do for the rest of my life.

That's why I quit my job before having a plan what exactly to do next. I closed the door without having another one opened waiting for me to simply go in. In fact, I was standing in a circle of closed doors, all waiting for me to be opened. But first and hardest I had to make the decision which one to choose.

Choosing has never been easy for me. But having many options available is a great occassion to sit down and start thinking.

I found out that I don't just want to work. I want to touch people emotionally, I want to inspire, I want to learn, I want to have fun, I want to fail and I want to get up and get better. I want to create great marketing concepts, tell stories people like to listen to and I want to make a difference.

I learned that knowing something doesn't make you happy without knowing the exact reason, is enough. Enough to take action, a deep breath and then jump. Take the risk, jump into the insecurity, but stop falling in your day-to-day life, where you're not satisfied.

A typcial Monday morning in the Berliner Underground. It's rush hour before work starts, the train is packed with people.

Some of them are already checking their first emails, shouting in their mobiles or reading the latest news to catch up. Most of them ignore their surroundings and prefer not to look into each others eyes. You see people who mostly have bored, tired or grumpy faces.

But all of a sudden the train starts to wiggle and people are stumbling, tumbling and stepping on each other's feet. And then the set changes and a tiny miracle happens.

One person starts to smile at another and very quickly this smile spreads all over the whole bunch of strangers. In some smiles you can see a glance of embarrasment, because they stepped on the big toe of somebody else. But nobody gets angry about this little mistake. The person with the first smile smoothed the way towards a positive direction and all the others followed this path.

Sometimes a wiggle is necessary to let people start interacting with each other, sometimes a wiggle is the reason why people thighten together and sometimes a wiggle can change a whole scenario.

And if there's a person, who welcomes this change, who starts to lead the people in a direction how to take the wiggle, if there is this person, who starts to smile then the whole scenario can change for the better.

So, why not be that person who shows how to welcome a wiggle with a big smile?

Some random facts about me

* I worked as an au pair in Sheffield, UK for 7 month. I took care of 2 lovely children & met their amazing mum Lisa

* I can finish a big Ben & Jerry's in one go

* I studied in Bali for 7 month. I learned that you don't have to worry so much when you have true friends

* I came to Berlin, because I thought it's too big for me and I fell in love (twice)

* My favorite colour is tourquise

* I had psychology in school and nearly studied it

* I sold donation contracts for a NGO (Save the Children) on the street

* I don't like semicolons

For better user satisfaction, here are the questions again:

- Why do you think I'm the right person for that internship or why do you think I'm not?

- Is there anything you learned from me? Is there anything you find especially remarkable?