The People Factor Podcast with Thomas Kohler

Sergej Zimpel is a seasoned HR leader with over a decade of experience spanning startups to large corporations. As co-founder of the Purple Squirrel Society and TA Crunch Berlin, he fosters vibrant HR communities. Sergej is also the host of the podcast “HR Messed You Up, Kid” and a speaker and panelist. Currently, he leads talent acquisition at “Die Autobahn,” driving innovation through strategic recruitment efforts.

Maria is VP People & Culture at Lingoda, the leading online language learning company in Europe. She did an MBA in Leadership People & Organization and is an HR strategist and expert with more than ten years of experience in strategic HR roles in companies of various industries and sizes.

Sabrina has swiftly advanced her career since September 2023, when she became the Chief People & Organization Officer at Bridgemaker, previously serving as Vice President. Her journey includes a significant tenure at heycar holding, where she rose from Senior to Chief People & Culture Officer over four years, showcasing her leadership and strategic thinking in organizational culture. Before her accomplishments at heycar and Bridgemaker, Sabrina honed her expertise in HR and legal matters at Mister Spex, progressing from a Mid-level position to Lead and then to Expert HR Legal over 7.5 years, and initially started her career with two years as a Consultant at Randstad, laying a solid foundation for her remarkable career trajectory.

Marta Bisisi is VP of People at Superside, a fully remote company that provides creative services for the marketing and advertising world. Starting her career at Bain & Company as a management consultant, Marta eventually shifted gears towards what she loves most: working with people. At Superside, she works to make people strategy a factor of long-term competitive advantage and prove how the fully remote model is the way to go for the future of work.

Elliot is leading the EMEA Talent Acquisition team at Uber Eats, Uber Direct, Grocery and Ads, delivering 350+ hires per year. He previously led Executive Recruiting at Uber EMEA and did Executive Search at Egon Zehnder. Elliot has a passion for suits and technology, especially AI.

Jens Bender is an experienced entrepreneur with a successful track-record in building global businesses in the HR SaaS industry. Skilled in business strategy, digitization, start-ups, marketing, and market entry. Business professional with a consulting background and Master’s Degree in business administration, marketing and operations from WHU and HEC Montreal.

Natalie Matalon joined The Stepstone Group in May 2023 as Chief People Officer, drawing on 27 years of business and people transformation experience. Natalie began her career in banking, before switching to human resources over 12 years ago. Since then, she has held a variety of leadership positions in People Strategy, Analytics and Operations for Capital One, Google and Farfetch. Born in Israel, Natalie studied at Cornell University and holds an MBA from London Business School.