Same same, but different: We getpressis share a vision – while also being a colorful bunch who don’t always agree. That can lead to friction, but even more so to fruitful exchange and creativity. And we love that. In today’s Team Thursday, we’re once again introducing you to three team members in an interview: Lena, Maria, and Sofía.

Like a rock band taking the world’s stages by storm, Lena (Marketing Lead), Maria (Trainee People & Recruiting), and Sofía (Junior Team Lead & Junior PR Manager) are making their way into the PR Hall of Fame. As a Rubik’s Cube champion, pub quiz creator, and language whiz, they create plenty of fun and impressive moments not only within the team but outside of work, too.

In the interview, you’ll find out why Maria is the team’s feel-good manager, what Sofía learned from bad advice, and why Lena identifies most with octopuses. The three also share their achievements and learnings, as well as their favorite lunches. Curious?

Meet: Lena Stober

[she/her]

Role: Growth Manager (current role: Marketing Lead)

Your working style as an emoji: 🤹🏼‍♀️

Your hidden talent: Solving a Rubik’s Cube in 40 seconds #nerdstuff

Favorite lunch: At work, I’m always happiest when I bring something I’ve cooked myself (sadly, that still doesn’t happen often enough).

getpress in three words: teamlove, fast-paced, innovative

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Lena, forget the title in your email signature for a moment. What would your role be called if it accurately captured everything you do at getpress?

Girl Friday. Whether it’s managing all our marketing channels, organizing our webinars, taking the minutes at management meetings, being the go-to person for tech and Excel questions, or – due to a lack of suitably qualified personnel – playing wannabe IT specialist.

You’ll regularly find me talking to LinkedIn or Meta support, where they respond to my highly technical questions with: “That’s probably something your developer should handle.” And I then have to reply: “I am the developer. Shoot.”

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What has been your biggest milestone at getpress so far?

I’ve had quite a few milestones: my first hire through active sourcing back when I was in Recruiting, setting up the Academy Sales Pipeline, and taking on responsibility for my first team member (shoutout to Linda #teamlove).

But the most significant one is probably taking sole responsibility for all of getpress’s marketing channels. I struggled with it for quite some time, but ultimately grew enormously in the process. In February, for example, I organized our first major webinar, which was really cool.

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What has been your biggest fail – and what did you learn from it?

My last major fail was having to postpone the date of our first webinar because I underestimated how much lead time is needed when working with external speakers.

Lesson learned: Clarify everything that’s outside your control first (and preferably yesterday rather than tomorrow).

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Looking ahead: What does the industry need right now, and what contribution would you like to make?

When I was working in Sales, I felt that there wasn’t enough dialogue between journalists and PR professionals. That’s why we’re now regularly hosting webinars with journalists and open Q&A sessions. The next one is coming soon… #staytuned

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Imagine getpress were a group of animals: Which one would you be, and why?

I’m pretty fascinated by octopuses: rather shy, very good at multitasking, and a little bit clever – so it kind of fits… in a way 😂.

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Meet: Maria-Katharina Märsche

[she/her]

Role: Trainee People & Recruiting

Your working style as an emoji: 🔋

Your hidden talent: Creating pub quizzes 🤓

Favorite lunch: Udon noodles

getpress in three words: full of positive energy

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Maria, forget the title in your email signature for a moment. What would your role be called if it accurately captured everything you do at getpress?

Team Happiness Manager

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What has been your biggest milestone at getpress so far?

Every person we get to welcome to the team is a success and a little milestone. On a personal level, it was probably the first recruiting interviews I got to conduct myself at getpress :)

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What has been your biggest fail – and what did you learn from it?

Maybe not my biggest fail, but definitely one that was immediately noticeable: I ordered a gift for a team member to the office address instead of her home address. 😄

What did I learn from it? After a long day, double-check even the simplest tasks.

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Looking ahead: What does the industry need right now, and what contribution would you like to make?

I can only answer this from a People perspective: The industry needs to help employees build resilience to stress and create working conditions that allow people to stay healthy while working in PR in the long term. I think we’re already on a good path at getpress, but of course, we can always challenge ourselves and improve. I want to help create an environment where everyone at getpress can say: “I enjoy my job and feel good doing it!” :)

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Imagine getpress were a group of animals: Which one would you be, and why?

🦒 – because I like to keep an overview.

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Meet: Sofía Katsikis

[she/her]

Role: Junior Team Lead & Junior PR Manager

Your working style as an emoji: 🐝

Your hidden talent: I speak six languages

Favorite lunch: Thai curry in Kreuzberg when I’m in Berlin, otherwise always fries!

getpress in three words: speed, innovation, character

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Sofía, forget the title in your email signature for a moment. What would your role be called if it accurately captured everything you do at getpress?

That’s an interesting question, especially considering the startup bubble we operate in. I’d say my job description would include:

• Making phone calls, making phone calls, making phone calls
• Being creative: developing ideas, writing pitches & content
• Always supporting our clients with advice and guidance when it comes to communication
• Hitting my targets – after all, we don’t promise clippings for nothing ;)
• International outreach to English-language media
• Funding rounds
• Weekly check-ins with trainees and working students on my team
• Team planning with my team lead Hanna
• Basically everything the PR heart desires. And always a little bit more, because there’s always something new to learn – otherwise it would get boring

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What has been your biggest milestone at getpress so far?

I’m always proud when someone on my team or I manage to tackle a big challenge. Whether it’s successfully handling a funding round and getting it placed in major media outlets or someone confidently handling a client meeting on their own – it doesn’t really matter.

Looking back, though, there’s one thing I’m particularly proud of: A year ago, I went to a startup event on my own and met some incredibly interesting people. I also got to learn a lot from other PR professionals and journalists. I’m really glad I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and did something like that entirely on my own. These days, I actually really enjoy going to all kinds of events by myself. :)

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What has been your biggest fail – and what did you learn from it?

Good question. There have been quite a few smaller fails over time, but one in particular has stuck with me. Last year, I applied a few tips a journalist had given me when doing international outreach. However, the response from the journalist I offered an interview to left a lot to be desired – she felt pretty offended by my approach. The moral of the story: Always listen to advice, but at the end of the day, not all journalists are the same, and personalized outreach is always the way to go.

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Looking ahead: What does the industry need right now, and what contribution would you like to make?

I’d love for people to know more about PR (and how it differs from other fields). That’s why I see it as my job to educate the people around me about PR, media relations, and everything else that falls under the PR umbrella.

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Imagine getpress were a group of animals: Which one would you be, and why?

I immediately passed this question on to my team and got two answers:

One was a turkey, because it’s an inside joke at getpress and we always use filters in our meetings. Feel free to guess which one is my favorite filter ;)

In terms of my working style, I’d probably be a little bee (even though I’m actually really scared of bees). I’ll quote my lovely colleague Ajla here – and admittedly, it made me blush a little: “I think you’re a bee because you’re super hardworking and you bring sweetness wherever you go.”

Do you have another question for Lena, Maria, or Sofía? Drop it in the comments on LinkedIn.