News

HAPPY NEW YEAR

It has been a while since the last post of news. Since March 2020 almost all my time has been allocated to various projects for VUMI Group & affiliates. It started as a single project to upgrade the global network for VUMI’s insured outside of the Americas but over the past almost 3 years, it turned into several projects at VIP Universal Medical Insurance (VUMI) and Epic Health Solutions. My various tasks and projects have been handed over to the bunch of talented people in Toronto, Miami, Panama, Guayaquil and throughout LATAM.

The projects allowed me to have a good insight into the world of high-end IPMI with both services done in-house as well as through outsourcing TPAs depending on product lines. I was also involved in upgrading the assistance services to VUMI’s own travel insurances.

One of the most rewarding tasks was being able to take the idea of opening the fantastic Latam network of medical facilities to business partners, today known as Epic Latam. The process from idea to concept, product design, beta test, strategy, goto-market, signing clients and implementation not to forget the launch with the übercool VUMI Marketing department has been a fantastic journey I am incredibly proud of.

Now from 2023 I resume the work as an independent advisor to the industry for several companies and organizations.

 

 

November 8 marks the 30 year anniversary for a bug bite. I got bitten by the travel bug.

A few months earlier I had graduated with my diploma and was a few months in to the first real paid job. I was a production controller for a leading Danish fashion brand and my role was to be the link between the design team in Denmark and the factories in Hong Kong and China.

On this date 30 years ago I boarded the Thai Airways Boeing 747-300 in Copenhagen, found my seat at the window in row 52 and headed out for my first long haul flight. My first flight on my own and only my 7th take-off in total in my life. 17-18 hours later I arrived in Hong Kong. A quick shower and off to the first lunch – of course with chop sticks. To this day, Cantonese food is one of my favorite and after probably 50 visits to Hong Kong there will always be a special place in my heart for Hong Kong.

I had 3 days of training in the role in Hong Kong with a Danish colleague and after that I was on my own for 4 weeks in the local office. No social media, no streaming services. Just a daily fax to colleagues in HQ and a weekly call to my mum to let her know I was OK. The owner Klaus Helmersen insisted that I made that call once a week from the office to her. I learned a lot from him.

To me it was nothing special at the age of 24 to have such a responsibility on my own as I was prepared for it – and I didn’t know what I may have lacked of knowledge – I just did it. When I was not in the office or in factories or in China I walked around in so many areas in Hong Kong, to learn, to see, to explore. I was curious and still I am curious. The first many years of travelling opened my eyes for the world, how different we are and why that is good.

Many jobs and a couple of career jumps later, that desire to explore the world, to nourish my appetite and curiosity is still there. I am not done with travelling the world. I am not done with exploring cultures and interact with people. My work is on a global scale, so I can continue to travel the world and keep my eyes open.

The travel bug bite and the “venom” left in me is one of the important things that has helped to shape my career and develop me to the person I am today.

Thank You Dear Travel Bug – go and bites as many as you can.

Last week I had the privilege of helping a client with an onsite audit of their new set-up for medical assistance. The company has already an excellent track record for road side assistance and it is a natural step for them to build on their experience and develop the global medical assistance for their existing clients.

It was a true pleasure to see how the organization had carefully developed systems, trained staff. The audit took place 3 weeks prior to the go-live date. No critical issues were discovered. The audit report gave recommendations on what to adjust prior to launch and what to consider in the following 3-6 months. It will be very interesting to see how this company grows their business in medical assistance for European clients and I am honored to have been chosen to help them with my experience.

I was invited to share my experience and thoughts on business travel in front of 350+ travel managers and industry providers at the NBTS 2019 in Copenhagen. It was a huge privilege to be on the stage with representatives of Lego, Ikea and SAS to discuss how business travelers think and what is important to us.

This year it is 30 years since I started the first job, the first business trip and I have truly enjoyed it ever since and still do. The fact that some are interested in hearing what an old road warrior has to say about this is great.

My Talent Cloud in a professional setting with a group of clients.

Thank You to all I have met in 2018.

Your support, your input, your challenges to me and your way of interacting with me is immensely rewarding.

The biggest Thank You is to those of you who I now refer to as my clients. Thank You for trusting in me and giving me the opportunity to show how I put the words in the Talent Cloud into action and to value for you.

Several components in the leadership development part of the MBA journey made me realize, what is important for me. This led to a career change I had not imagined at the beginning of the year, but here I am as the owner of my own business.

It is not because it is my own business it makes me happy. It is because what I do in my own business makes me happy. The way I work with my clients where I do exactly what my “Indicator Talent Cloud” has illustrated to me 2 years ago motivates me.

It is incredibly rewarding to be allowed to work with organizations, who let me encourage, optimize, improve and enhance based on my experience. Looking at my Talent Cloud again, I realize this shows extremely well what I do and what I love to do with organizations.

3 months after launching my own business and having 30+ meetings in 3 days at a recent conference my calendar is pretty booked for several months and with more in the pipeline. It is an amazing start of a new career.

My very best Season’s Greetings and wishes for a Happy New Year to all.

Celebration at Børsen in Copenhagen where we – the Executive MBA Class of 2018 – received our diplomas. It has a been a fantastic journey with this group. #Learnwiththebest

Today marks the end of a 2½ year journey. I presented my final MBA assignment for the professor and censor at AVT Business School. I have now officially passed all classes and earned my executive MBA. I got compliments for the research carried out and how it was applied in the report and recommendations. Starting next week, some of the respondents from the insurance companies will see me for an in-depth presentation of the research results.

 

 

One of the last tasks in our Leadership Excellence Track at ATV Business School was to select 3 cards, which would illustrate experiences from the past.

These were my cards which I used in the assignment for this class.  The first card is something I experience more than once while working at SOS International. The 2nd card I think we have all experienced and learned from. The 3rd card has been of fantastic personal value and it is my goal in business life to pass it on.

The topic for the class  was an interesting challenge to write from 2025 and reflect on how we have developed at that time.