About Me

Born and raised in Aarhus, Denmark, I went to Elementary School at N.J. Fjordsgades Skole and attended High School at Marselisborg Gymnasium, before moving away from my parents at age 19 in 2002.

For two years I worked as a hospital porter and afterwards I started studying to become an A/V-technician. I quickly found out that the TV business was not really what I wanted to do with my life, and instead I went on a six month backpacking trip through the Far East, visiting Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. It was an extraordinary experience, and since then it’s been clear to me that I want to work in an international company in a position that demands the ability to work in cross cultural environments.

On the basis of this and my interest in both engineering and business, upon returning to Denmark in the spring of 2005 I chose to get a bachelor’s degree in Business Development Engineering at AU-IBT, Herning, Denmark. To do this I had to move from my home town of Aarhus to the much smaller city of Herning, in the middle of Jutland. Herning itself is not the most thrilling city, neither culturally or socially, but luckily AU-IBT and BDE attracts students from all over the country (and most of Europe, actually) so establishing a solid network of very good friends has not been a problem. In 2008 I chose to continue my education with a Master's Degree in Engineering (Technology Based Business Development), also at AU-IBT. During the entire Master's Degree programme I will be working as business development intern in the department of Enterprise Software at APC Denmark, Kolding.

As part of my Master's Degree I will be living in Bangkok, Thailand, during the fall of 2009 to attend courses in international business at Thammasat University's international MBA track. Since my backpacking trip in 2004-2005 I have wanted to go back and now i finally get to try what it is like to live, study and work in a culture that is very different from what I am used to. I am really looking forward to this experience, and I expect it to be very inspirational and educational. I have been fortunate to be able to work on a project in collaboration with APC during my stay, which should also be very interesting. Follow me at my travelblog where I will be chronicling my endavours.

Upon return from the Far East I will finish my education by writing my Master Thesis, also at APC, and hopefully I will be a Civil Engineer in Technology Based Business Development by the summer of 2010. Read more about my education and competencies at this page.

Professionally

My greatest professional strengths are my personal drive, my wish of constant progression, my competitiveness and my communicative skills. I like to lead by example and direct work, and I like to produce results in cooperation with others, by showing the way. At first I can be a bit withdrawn, but once I understand and get an overview of the context I am in I will very often be one of the driving forces of the process. Starting up new things and creating new possibilities for the future is very satisfying to me, and I preferrably use my logic and intuition when making decisions. I love intellectual challenges and thrive in the convergence between academic theory and practical work.

My greatest weakness is my lack of motivation with assignments that do not offer anything new and interesting, and also my lack of motivation towards doing the tiresome operational part of finishing assignments. When under pressure or stressed I can become controlling and dominant, and disregard the emotional needs of both myself and others. I am constantly working to improve in these areas and see it as a very interesting challenge, which is also why I love to receive feedback from my peers in every aspect of my work.

My MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) is ENTJ (Extroverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging) although the J can change into a P (Perceiving) depending on the context.

My Insights Discovery profile sequence is Red, Yellow, Blue, Green with the two first above average.

Spare time

When I am not in school or working I usually do one of the following things: (1) hang out with my friends and family, (2) work out, (3) watch movies, or (4) eat.

I am a very social person and I love (and need) to be around friends and family every day. I rarely need time by myself besides training, so I can often be found somewhere around others engaged in lively discussions or conversations.

I love physical exercise and I have been doing several different sports for the last 5-6 years. I started out running when i was in my late teens when I realized that high school lazyness and partying had really made its mark. Since then I have branched out into spinning (I am a certified indoor biking instructor), road cycling, swimming and weigth training. Today exercise is one of my primary sources of energy and I preferraly engage in it more or less every day of the week.

Since I was very young I have had an interest in movies and I still like to watch and discuss them with anyone interested. My interest is based in severaql areas; of course I love a good story that has a message and is able to touch me in some way, but I am also extremely fascinated with the technical aspects of movie making. To imagine and complete a production as vast as a Hollywood blockbuster has to be an ominous undertaking, and the organizing, management and leadership needed to make such an immense collaborative effort has to be bar none one of the most impressive feats I know of. On top of this I love movies that tell their story in several layers and levels of abstraction, which is often intellectually satisfying to me. And of course I would never watch either an American Pie movie or a romantic comedy unless it was to please another person!

Food. I love food, and as a consequence I eat a lot. I love to try out new dishes or foods from other countries, and when I have the time I like to cook delicious dishes for myself and other persons, but with my limited amount of free time this happens a bit too rarely. If you want to make friends with me, just cook me a good (and large) meal and I will be sold!