What connection did you have to water or the sea when you were young?
I grew up in Lübeck and am very attached to the water. However, the sailing course in the Opti was not my thing. My interests lay elsewhere, which is also reflected in my CV.
What does it say?
After leaving school, I went to Hamburg to study fashion and design management. In principle, this is a business degree programme with a focus on fashion. During my studies, I realised that I couldn't identify with the industry. I wanted to make a difference and realised that it would be very difficult or take a long time to make it in the fashion world.
What did you do after university?
I could have jumped in at the deep end at 23 and set up my own brand, but of course that requires experience and a certain initial budget. Instead, I threw myself into a hotel project on the Untertrave in Lübeck. I was responsible for marketing and business development. When one of my father's business partners visited us at the hotel, a new professional perspective opened up.
Yachting!
Jan-Ole Hagen from M Yachts asked me at the end of 2018 if I would like to set up a European location for him in Mallorca. He runs a yacht charter and management company in Hong Kong and thought I would be a good fit for the team. After a week of consideration, I agreed, which involved several months of familiarisation in Hong Kong.
You dared to take the step to Asia.
Not quite. In January, I did an internship at Abeking & Rasmussen in between. My family is one of the shareholders of Abeking & Rasmussen, my great-grandfather was Henry Rasmussen. I was once at the shipyard as a child, but there were no other points of contact. And I have to say that I entered the industry more or less incognito. On the one hand, I wanted to see if the superyacht industry appealed to me, and on the other, I wanted to be perceived as Stina and not as the one who belongs to the owner family. I spent three months at Abeking & Rasmussen in marketing and sales and worked my way through other departments. I really appreciated the family atmosphere at the shipyard, so it was hard for me to leave. But the prospect of Hong Kong, where I had already been for an internship after school, and Mallorca was too tempting. I also wanted to prove myself elsewhere, build up my network and not go for the most obvious option straight away.
What happened at M Yachts?
I settled in well in Hong Kong and enjoyed my job, which also involved looking after charter customers. As Commercial Manager, I also developed the corporate and marketing strategy. In summer 2019, I then moved to Mallorca with a small team. The charter business could have worked well if Corona hadn't arrived in winter. Spain immediately took very strict measures, so we had to cancel our sails and set up an office in Munich.
And that's where Abeking & Rasmussen came into play again.
We quickly started discussions and considered whether it made sense for me to rejoin the company now. As it was not foreseeable how the coronavirus situation would develop, I returned to A&R in 2021, initially as Marketing Manager. I have been Head of Marketing and Sales Management since April 2022.
What is your area of responsibility?
This includes public relations, media planning, organising trade fairs and events, PR and research work and creating content for the website, print products and social media. I also support the sales department with strategy and process optimisation. This includes thinking about which markets we want to play in and which ones we want to develop.
How important is social media for you?
Marketing and sales work hand in hand, although it is not the case that we sell yachts via our social media channels. Nevertheless, it is one of the mainstays that draws customers' attention to us. LinkedIn also plays a major role for us.
How has the market changed?
We are noticing that owners are getting younger and of course they are orienting themselves towards the existing market, which has developed towards yachts over 100 metres. For us, demand is increasingly moving back towards 80-metre projects, with which we can identify very well. The complexity and awareness of sustainable aspects have increased significantly in the construction of yachts. However, there is also a strong interest in the second-hand market, which brings with it enquiries for extensive refits.
How do you advertise yachts about which hardly anything can actually be said and little can be shown?
With our "Celerius" project, we managed to ensure that nothing was made public before the launch. That was the client's wish. We stand for this confidentiality with our name. But we also told him that sooner or later, after the launch, footage of yacht spotters would appear on the internet. If we create content ourselves, we can control it. So we commissioned photographers and filmmakers and revealed details about obvious features. We are eagerly awaiting delivery and hope that we can inspire the owner to show the yacht off Monaco.
What else is under construction?
Good - we don't have a yacht leaving the shipyard every month (laughs). We are currently finalising a yacht project under 100 metres and one over 100 metres in length and are working on various refit orders. We don't just build yachts; this year we will deliver two minesweepers made of non-magnetisable steel. We also have three multi-purpose vessels and other specialised vessels on order.
What advice would you give to career starters who are interested in the yachting industry?
It is important to enter the industry with an open mind and an affinity for yachts. You should also have patience, as this is a traditional industry. Courage is certainly also helpful when starting out. At first, as a career changer, I didn't know how I was going to gain a foothold at all. Young Professionals in Yachting (YPY) helped me a lot. I wouldn't be where I am now without YPY.
How did you find out about the YPY network?
Through my colleague Björn Benecke, that was during my internship at A & R. Shortly afterwards, at the MYBA trade fair in Barcelona, I heard about a sailing trip for all YPY chapters in Croatia, which I spontaneously took part in. I hardly knew any of the 65 people, but after four days I had expanded my network enormously and made many friends.
You are now Vice President of YPY Germany. What goals are you pursuing with the organisation?
We want to further establish the organisation in the industry and motivate and create space for people who are new or want to work in this sector. We will be holding our Superyacht Summit on Pellworm again in mid-June. And we are planning Townhall Summits in the individual shipyards to give young employees a platform who are not represented at trade fairs or other events. We would also like to invite students from neighbouring universities. A kind of open day.
About "Young Professionals in Yachting Germany"
Founded in 2017, the Network platform "Young Professionals in Yachting Germany" supports its members in making contacts within the industry, including at events and get-togethers. Anyone who already works in the yachting industry and is between 20 and 40 years old can join. The association currently has over 100 members from different areas of the large yacht world.
