MANUELA KNOLL
Deputy store manager, head of the textiles
- Age: 39
- Job: Deputy store manager, head of the textiles department at the Ischgl Zentrum store
I started out in winter 2009 as a part-timer in sales. And I’ve been able to develop personally ever since – in 2011 I did additional training in visual merchandising and decorating, the graduate program I am now doing alongside my job. I’m making the most of everything the Academy has to offer. My crucial change moment along that learning curve was an amazing coaching session with Elisabeth Rendl (Academy and HR Development): I told her that I lacked personal contacts in the decoration function, and she then put me on the trainee program. Today, I think I’m in exactly the right position with exactly the right people. I can say: To date I’ve really achieved everything at Bründl that I’ve wanted to achieve.
CHRISTOPHER SCHADEN
- Age: 36
- Job: Mentor for apprentices and sales expert
I was living in Styria with my family when the phone rang, and my life changed. My girlfriend and I had been together for a year when she was offered a job in Zell am See. A different town, a different state, a long way away from me. We didn’t know how things would go. That same hour, my phone rang. I was sitting on the windowsill in my apartment, and I took the call. “Welcome to the team,” the voice at the other end said – meaning I’d been accepted for a job in Pinzgau. Which made one thing abundantly clear: We would relocate together. A little later, I left home and my friends, moved to a new state, and started a new life. And we never looked back. My girlfriend and I have since married, and we have a son. If I hadn’t taken that decisive call, none of it would have happened.
BIANCA „BIBI“ GRILL
- Age: 38
- Job: Deputy Store Manager, Charly Kahr Schladming
I started out at Bründl in a ski rental team and immediately felt at home. My curiosity has always helped me move forwards. I simply feel the need to learn new things all the time. Which is why, for me, all of life is a constant process of change. What really bowled me over was the moment when Elisabeth Rendl said to me how much potential she saw in me. So I went on the trainee program and then on the management development program. And I’ve just finished the “Train the Trainer” program, because I want to share my knowledge with others at the Academy. Thanks to Bründl, I’ve developed as a person and as a store manager, bid farewell to perfectionism, and said hello to lived authenticity!
STEPHANIE TÖLTSCH
- Age: 39
- Job: Human Resources Marketing
More or less coinciding with the first lockdown, I learned that I was pregnant. That was a massive personal change, and I did not know what it would spell for my job on the HR team. We then jointly decided to try out the home office idea. The change also involved me moving back from Kaprun to Upper Austria, where we have great support for our baby. For me, everything is now marvelously balanced. I’m extremely happy, as I truly love my job. The cool thing at Bründl is that you do your own thing and can bring your own ideas to bear. It’s a real gift that with a baby I can still work in a wellfunctioning system.
ROSHINI „ROSHI“ SPIELBICHLER
- Age: 24
- Job: Sales expert at the Kaprun flagship store
When hunting to find the right place for myself in professional life, on a friend’s recommendation I landed up at Bründl in Ischgl in winter 2018. I temped there for two years during the high seasons, and then I spied a job vacancy ad for the flagship store and immediately applied. When I got the job, it was a truly magical moment for me personally. My job here in the sports and leisure shoe section is the one I’ve always dreamed of. For me, the greatest thing about working at Bründl is when my customers leave the shop with a smile on their faces. That said, there’s another change, too: I’m now happily in a partnership! The two together, my job and my relationship, have rounded my life out. I’m now where I’ve always wanted to be.
WALTER SÜSS
- Age: 29
- Job: Workshop staff member
The letter that changed my life came in a blue envelope. I first thought it was a ticket for a driving offense. The envelope didn’t contain a ticket but a notice of termination. My boss back then didn’t give me notice in person, but sent it by registered mail, even though I’d worked for him for almost ten years. I was nevertheless happy to receive it, as when I read it, I knew inside: Now something new will happen. A little later, I signed on with Bründl Sports. I love my new job and I’ve never regretted the “life change”. I’ve kept the letter to this day, because in every crisis there’s an opportunity.
