Tyler Brebberman, TAP 2007, now managing set up of German office

My participation in the Transatlantic-Program in 2007 has been very beneficial to my career and understanding German business and culture in general. When I applied to take part in the program I was very excited to have a chance to work in Germany and see what business life is like on the other side of the broad ocean separating these two continents. I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by when the program started. The Transatlantic-Program’s German business seminar and my subsequent internship in Hamburg helped prepare me for the career I am in today.

In December of 2007 I was offered a part time position to help an International Account Manager at QOMO HiteVision LLC based out of Detroit, MI with cultural understanding and sales in the German speaking market in Europe. QOMO HiteVision is the exclusive world-wide distributor of the educational based Audio-Visual products from the company HiteVision in China. During this time I was able to give competent cultural and German business advice based on my experiences in Germany the summer before. During business trips to Germany, I knew how to conduct myself accordingly thanks to the help of the Transatlantic-Program.

Things have developed with the QOMO HiteVision since then and the International Account Manager, for which I was working, has moved on to bigger and better things in the company. After this I took my experience with German business and proposed the creation of a branch office in Germany. Luckily this proposal was accepted and I am now managing the process of setting up the German office in Hamburg under the name of QOMO HiteVision Europe GmbH. Without the understanding of the German official system, which I had in part received from visiting numerous German governmental agencies during the TAP’s business seminar and asking as many questions as I could during my internship in Hamburg, it is doubtful that I would have had the confidence or ability to make such a proposal and follow through with it.

Now the branch office here is in the starting phase and it’s up to me to assure its prosperity through hard-work and dedication. But I will always have my previous experiences, not to mention a wealth of knowledgeable network contacts from the TAP alumni, which I can draw upon to continue to motivate me towards success.