MARC BIENEMANN, JAGUAR LAND ROVER BENELUX

Marc Bienemann is an atypical car salesman. His first part-time job was in a pigsty, he actually wanted to become a bicycle repairman and eventually became director of Jaguar Land Rover Benelux. Who helped this man into the saddle? Text: Susan Poeder
Portrait photo: Rahi Rezvani
Stand photo: Good Folk

What was your very first job?

“The first job I did was when I was about 15 or 16 and I started working in a pigsty for 25 guilders a day. Really get started with a skewer and a high-pressure sprayer. That work experience taught me that if you want to earn money, you have to work hard for it.”

What advice would you give to your 18 year old self?

“I would say: try to become who you are as much as possible. At 18 you are still influenced by your environment. So try to listen to your feelings as much as possible. Do you do what you do for yourself, because it makes you happy, or do you do it for someone else?”

How did you end up in your current job?

Bienemann studied Commercial Economics and did an internship at Volkswagen in Germany during his studies. The fact that he already started working in the automotive industry did not mean that this was the path he had in mind. “The Volkswagen manager then offered me a job, but I didn't like it,” Bienemann explains. “I thought the marketing in the car industry was far too old-fashioned. I applied for a job at Unilever because I thought that's where it all happened. In the end that didn't work out for him and I then got an offer at Rover Group in the Netherlands. I accepted that.”

Who has been your wheelbarrow?

“I later started working in England where I worked for 5 years. There was someone on the board of directors at the time: Matthew Taylor. Today he is CEO of the Bekaert Group. He was the one who said: 'You have to do something different' and he recommended me to become director of Jaguar Land Rover Benelux.”

What is your greatest passion in your work?

“To realize ideas from customers, the company but also from the employees. This could, for example, be the development of a new product. But I also love seeing how employees come up with an idea and then see it become reality. That really makes me excited.”