From academia to practice - Hanna Hellenbroich-Schrader (HR Management actori) in conversation with Dr Nora Pähler vor der Holte about her career in consulting.

 

You have been working at actori since July 2019, starting as a Senior Consultant, before that you were a research assistant at the Chair of Marketing and Media in Münster. How did it come about that you applied directly to actori during your doctorate ‘How Digitalisation Challenges the Marketing of Filmed Entertainment?
What considerations did you make at the time - and would an academic career have been an alternative for you?
I became aware of actori by chance. As a research assistant, I was in charge of the ‘Circle of Excellence in Marketing’ student support programme at our department. One of the students told me about an internship he was doing in a cultural consultancy. I thought it was exciting and the student was really enthusiastic about his internship afterwards. I was in the final stages of my dissertation and spontaneously applied. The student at the time is now one of our project managers and therefore my colleague Franziskus Linsmann.
I actually considered an academic career. I've always enjoyed research, especially working with data. I also really liked the people - there were just so many bright minds around me, which inspired and motivated me. Unfortunately, the employment conditions in science are still very difficult, and this was also increasingly discussed under #ichbinhanna in 2021. The environment is particularly difficult for women - partly because male networks still have a major influence on appointments to professorships - but also because the time in which you lay the essential foundations for a successful career in science coincides with the time when many women start a family and reconciling work and family life is still a challenge. I decided against it for these reasons, among others. But my time at university really shaped me and my approach to things.

The next step followed a year later: a promotion to project manager. What specifically did this change for you - both in terms of content and in your role as a manager? Were there things that were particularly challenging for you?
I was suddenly given a new kind of responsibility. I suddenly had to have the answers to the questions that I had just before and now had to guide others. That was quite a challenge. It was really helpful that Frank and Maurice trusted me with the role and supported me. It was also very important for me to be able to ask my colleagues anything, even if I didn't know what I was doing. This way of dealing with each other and turning the complementary skills we have here in the team into a real asset is one of actori's strengths for me.

And that's not all, as of this year you are now taking over the expansion and further development of actori's Organisation & Digitalisation division as an Associate Partner. Can you already outline where the journey for actori is going, or what you would like to focus on?
I am very pleased that I will be able to help shape these two areas for actori in the future. We have lots of ideas on how to develop these topics further and what we can focus on - we will now discuss exactly what and how we will do this in the respective teams.

In addition to your responsible position, you have now also become a mother. How do you organise your day-to-day work to successfully combine child and career? Are there any principles or methods that help you in particular?
If I knew the magic formula for this, I could probably earn a lot of money with it. It probably doesn't exist, but there are certainly things that can help make it work better. For me, both parents taking on equal responsibility is an important aspect - my husband and I both work part-time, which makes a lot of things easier. We also have a good family network that supports us. Last but not least, actori is also an important (success) factor here - here I am trusted to be able to manage both well - no obstacles are put in my way, but bridges are built.
Unfortunately, I keep realising that this work-life balance, which works well for me, is still far from the norm in our society and that it is often women who (have to) take a back seat. I would like to see both politicians and companies create better framework conditions for working mothers (and fathers) in the future and for families to share the care work more fairly.

Your academic background combines management methods with creative and cultural products. To what extent have you been able to integrate this knowledge into your consultancy work - and what new perspectives does it bring to your current working environment?
Ikea once had an advertising slogan: ‘Why a shopping trolley can also be a good table’. Sounds irritating at first, but I think it sums it up well. An interdisciplinary view of topics can often help to achieve the best results - roles that work well for a shopping trolley can also be functional for a table. Art and culture follow different rules to commercial organisations - but many of the principles and methods can still be applicable to cultural institutions. I believe that it can only help to broaden your perspective and think outside the box - then you can learn a lot.

Finally, a personal question: As someone with a deep understanding of film and media, what has been your cinema or theatre highlight of the last two years and why?
My son is almost exactly two years old - so I've spent the last two years watching series and films at home. One of my highlights was Squid Game - the first season was a bit longer ago - but the second only came out at the end of last year. The series excited me as a film and series researcher because it has a new kind of aesthetic - and at the same time references many artistic works. Personally, I find the series a successful allegory of our society and it has kept me busy for a long time. And in my view, that is what makes successful cultural and creative products: they touch and engage people, they trigger feelings in us and bring us into a dialogue with ourselves and the world we live in.

 

 

Team