First time I left Sweden I was one year old (there’s a picture of me naked on the beach in Timmendorfer Strand, in northern Geramny), my parents had separated. Came back, left again when I was three (I remember seeing where my mother had hidden the Easter eggs after driving around the block), my parents had divorced. Mom remarried to Jack, the best father in the world (even though he was a workaholic), taught me gobs about all the important things, even though I didn’t get most of it until much later. And the adventure began; we lived in England (Felixstowe 1 yr.), Spain (Madrid 4 yrs.), USA (Libertyville, outside Chicago 2 yrs.), Italy (Diano Marina, Liguria 1 yr.), Thailand (Bangkok 1 yr), back to Italy (same, 1 yr), back to Thailand (same, 1 yr), Spain (Mallorca 2 yrs), USA (San Antonio 1 yr), back to Spain (same, 1 yr), etc. etc. You get the picture. I met and then married Kathrin in 1984 (so we’re celebrating our silver wedding anniversary this year), moved to San Diego, two years later moved back to Spain for 4 yrs, then to Austria for 6 yrs (managing our company in Hong Kong long-distance – lots of air miles), and what we thought would be the final move to Sweden in 1997. I had lived in eight (8) countries, done business in 5, travelled to more than 30, and was about to turn 40. I wanted to be normal. But what is normal? It took a few more years to realize that I was who I was. But who was I?
In 1998, after the Asian Tiger economy crashed in 97′ (one month after our move to Sweden) and consequent liquidation of our Hong Kong company, I was looking for a job, applied to several, didn’t get any until one of the companies who had turned me down called and asked if I would be interested in starting up their operations in South and Central America. Thus started a love affair with Brazil. The family moved there in 2000 (then back to Sweden in 2002) and we have been spending time there on-and-off ever since, and look forward to continue developing the bridge between Europe and South America.
Today, 2009, after 9 countries, business in 6, on 4 continents, I’m still trying to make some sense of it all. Working with leadership, communication, and sustainability is a wonderful school. And I feel very privileged to be attending this school of life with a wonderful family and many friends, not to mention the incredible people I meet along the way, sometimes sharing the same path for a stretch on the same road we are building together. Where will it lead?
