Jonas Rex, First of the ‚Erstis’, Says Goodbye

Those who know me, know that I can’t pass up this play on words. However, the obvious association with the 2nd book of Moses is fortunately limited to the departure for new shores – I neither have to “save a people” nor flee from a Pharaoh 😊

After (almost) 10 years at Erste Lesung and its predecessor Wenning Services, an era is coming to an end for me – and I dare say also for Erste Lesung. When I joined Christian Wenning in October 2012, besides him and me there was an intern, an office on Friedrichstraße (Berlin) and a small office space in Brussels that we never used because Christian’s flat in Brussels was simply more convenient as a base of operations. It had a start-up feeling with regular business trips, long evenings and festive endings to the week. Now, 10 years later, Erste Lesung has a team of over 20, offices in Berlin, Brussels and Paris and colleagues who join our calls from Vienna, Oslo and Hamburg.

For me, despite all the ups and downs, these years were above all a time of learning and empowerment. I was quickly allowed to work closely with the clients, was quickly allowed to take on responsibility and was given a lot of freedom to try things out at an early stage. Above all, however, I was also allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. What others may learn as case-studies in business school was my everyday life. I was able to experience the development of a company up close and personally and, to give myself some credit, contributed my share to the success of this development. From the support of an independent consultant to a GmbH (German form of Ltd), from client work to personnel responsibility, from the creative to the financial. These were exciting times with great colleagues and, above all, a great boss, both personally and professionally, from whom I was able to learn a lot and to whom I owe a lot. So, as I set off for new shores after almost a decade, I look back with gratitude and wish all current and former “Erstis” all the best! Thank you for an interaction and loyalty among colleagues that is certainly unparalleled! Thank you for this wild rollercoaster ride!