Manuela Rauw
I came into contact with the transport sector early on, as my father had a timber transport company, actually the first timber truck built by Faymonville was my father's. As a child, I was always by his side, and even when I was in school, I always ran home to take a ride with him. On weekends, we fixed lights or changed tires. So the foundations had already been laid. Before I started at Faymonville, I travelled a lot abroad,worked as a tour guide and later on as a manager in various target regions. Unfortunately, my father became ill and I returned home. I wondered what I would do here. There were not many companies that had such interesting and Europe-wide projects as Faymonville. Of course, my advantage was the five languages that I still speak fluently today. So I introduced myself and started 20 years ago as a saleswoman – the first saleswoman in heavy transport worldwide. I looked after dealers all over Europe, in Germany as well as in France, Scandinavia, England and Ireland. I gave training to sales partners, helped at trade fairs, took care of day-to-day business and visited customers. A few years later, I also took over the glass transport sector. This is still the case today, except that I no longer manage France and Germany. In most cases, I do my work by phone or email and generally speaking I’m on the road less often than I was before. The preparation of budgets, the control of day-to-day business and responding to inquiries are an integral part of my everyday life.
In sales, it is important to be able to react quickly to different situations. In my case, it is also an important point to guide and support our dealers. I think that a salesperson needs to speak several languages, since I’m assuming that Faymonville will continue to grow and English will become the dominant language in the company.
When I started back then, I was the first woman in sales at Faymonville, and that was quite a challenge. The customers accepted it very quickly, but in-house, it took a little longer. In the end, my success proved my worth, and my colleagues got used to the idea. Of course, there are sometimes still silly comments, but I no longer pay attention to them myself, because generally men talk like this among themselves. But sometimes it's also fun to tease each other. These days, the situation is different. The next generation to arrive demonstrated significantly more tolerance. I think I was also a bit of a guinea pig, because, in addition to the innovative way of thinking of Alain and Yves, they only had daughters themselves, which, of course, made the succession female. I can only advise any girl who chooses an industry that is not typically female not to be discouraged and to choose her own path. Because a little femininity does a man's world a great deal of good. The important thing is that you work with passion, no matter what you do. Of course, this also applies to the boys. I'm not a fan of the quota rule, where hiring is based on percentages. I believe that there should be equal pay and equal benefits for equal work. Promotions should simply be given to the best. You can only move forward if you hire committed and motivated people, and gender doesn't matter in my opinion. A lot has changed in terms of typical male occupations. For example, we no longer require anyone to be particularly strong in production, on the contrary – we have improved jobs so that work is feasible for everyone. Today, women genuinely have a realistic chance. At Faymonville, a woman can do anything, from welding to business management, if she wants to and has what it takes.
Men and women work in a fundamentally different way. I think that men are more relaxed in their way of working, while women work in a more concentrated and organized way. I am most motivated to work independently, to take on responsibility and to manage various projects. The most fun part of it all to me is finding quick solutions and giving my all to satisfy the customer. What I always liked is the contact with many different nations. In addition, it is always nice to show people our factory and to see their eyes light up. We produce toys for big boys – a real candy shop.
Basically, I wouldn't do anything differently. There have been so many opportunities, and I have met so many different and interesting people – what more could you ask for? In addition, the journey continues, because he who rests, rusts. What I would like to tell young people is that things usually turn out differently than you think. You just have to get involved, grow and evolve.