Sabine Scheunert’s big career breakthrough came when her son had just turned 1 and she got a call from Citroën, asking her if she wanted to move to China as the first female CEO of an OEM there. She said yes. “It gave me a lot of empowerment, a lot of trust,” she told me in this podcast. „I really tried to feel as empowered, as positive in my personal life. And you know that a baby is not as easy to steer and to manage as most probably a lot of big projects!”

She has been juggling parenting her son and managing her incredibly successful career ever since. She’s now VP at Mercedes-Benz, running Digital & IT sales and marketing globally. At the same time, I love how she says that her parental leave was “never-ending, because I will be always the mother of my son. And since he is born I try to combine family and career in the most positive way that I can.”

Now an executive herself, she tries to support women in the technology sector. Role models help, she says. She strongly believes that a bigger focus on digital education in Germany would help too. But there are also things that we can all do: 

⭐️ if you’re a parent – know that parenthood has boosted your skillset, have confidence, and go for those leadership positions! 

⭐️ if you’re a manger – don’t be afraid to recruit new parents into leadership positions. Sabine says that taking that CEO position even though „combining private life and career was clearly a particular challenge at that time, was one of the best decisions.” 

👉 At MyCollective we keep hearing this: that a big career opportunity during or right after parental leave can really be life-changing – and it’s something that parents will still tell us about years later, as an example of how supportive their management was. 

Either way, go for it! 🙌

Speaker: Sabine Scheunert, VP Digital & IT Sales/Marketing @Mercedes-Benz Cars 

Sabine is not speaking on behalf of Mercedes-Benz in this podcast and all opinions are her own.  

Interviewer: Dr. Ricarda Engelmeier – Founder @MyCollective

Music: sponsored by @Michaelkadelbach

Picture: Sabine Scheunert / Mercedes-Benz

Graphic & Production: MyCollective

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