✨ Emelie ✨

Hi Emelie, thank you for taking your time talking to me today! Short intro round: who are you and what do you do at HelloBetter?

My name is Emelie. I work as a Senior Key Account Manager in the Market Access & Medical Affairs team within Business Development. My primary areas of expertise include communication with public and private health insurances, and DiGA price negotiations. Interestingly, I hold a master’s degree in psychology - talk about non-obvious career choices 😉.

How did you join HelloBetter?

I joined HelloBetter in July 2022, although I've been familiar with the company for some time. In my previous role at one of Germany's largest public health insurances, I managed selective contracts with HelloBetter. The company's vision, course quality, and friendly staff appealed to me immensely. When a position at HelloBetter became available, it perfectly aligned with my desire for a career change. And as they say, the rest is history.

You mentioned your psychology degree. Does your role at HelloBetter relate to your background in any way?

In fact, the other day I was just thinking about how much more I am using the knowledge I acquired during my studies since I work at HelloBetter. Although I don’t coach patients or work in the research team, the understanding of psychological principles and theories is important for my job, e.g. when pitching our products to potential partner insurances. Comprehending how psychological research is done, what certain statistical indicators mean, or what an effect size is, is again crucial for leading the price negotiations for our DiGAs. So all in all, I am using my “psychology toolbox” on a daily basis.

What’s one thing you’ve learned here that you didn’t expect when you joined?

That the clocks really are ticking differently in a start-up in comparison to the “rest of the world”. I knew, that the work environment at HelloBetter would be more dynamic than what I was used to from my previous job in an enterprise similar to a public institution. But just how fast-changing it would be, came as a surprise. In the beginning, it was quite a challenge for me to adapt to this different pace. But two years in, I enjoy the flexibility that comes with it and also the opportunity to always learn something new.

What’s your favorite aspect of working at HelloBetter?

Honestly - the team. Of course, I am super hooked by our vision of making psychological help available to everyone. But that vision only comes to life due to this group of passionate, knowledgeable, empathic and incredibly fun people. It’s a delight to work with each and every one of them.

How do you embrace HelloBetter’s remote-first culture: are you a remote bird or an office tiger?

Since I moved back to Berlin, definitely and office tiger - I usually go to the office three times a week, minimum. Before that, I lived in the west of Germany and was working remotely almost 100% of the time. I am grateful that I was able to join HelloBetter due to the remote-first option, but working from home entirely is not my preferred setup. Also, I do love the chats at the coffee machine and the team lunches at the office in Berlin Mitte.

Can you be flexible with your working time in your team? How does your work schedule look like?

Hm, so I am working full-time and part of my job is to be in touch with external partners, who usually have a typical nine-to-five schedule. Therefore, I also stick to this rather traditional timeline. But I appreciate that I can for example have a 2-hour break or a doctor’s appointment in the middle of the day and then just work a bit longer in the evening.

Describe a project or accomplishment you're particularly proud of during your time at HelloBetter.

I am super happy and proud to have been part of two of our working groups so far. Working groups work on company-wide initiatives that are focused on adding value to our company culture and that foster cross-team collaboration. The first working group I was part of, wrote the Mental Health Guides for employees and managers. These are collections of resources to foster mental health at the work place and are a great asset. Working groups are an amazing way to interact with colleagues from all over the company and to actively shape the way we work together at HelloBetter.

Three words to describe the HelloBetter team:

Super dedicated, highly competent and genuinely lovely - sorry, not 3 words exactly 😄

What’s the most unexpected benefit or perk you've discovered while working at HelloBetter?

The subsidy for Urban Sports Club! When I started out at HB, I lived in Wuppertal and USC was not a thing there. But here in Berlin it is the best way to do all kinds of sports and try out new activities. Many of the studios are also located close to the office. So if you fancy a quick yoga break during lunch or an after-work sweat session on a spinning bike - knock yourself out!

What’s your go-to productivity hack?

Although I love being at the office, sometimes it can get a bit noisy when lots of people are around. A good pair of headphones and some focus music help me keep concentrated and productive. For the music I use an app called Brain FM, which was actually a recommendation by HelloBetter’s productivity pro Marvin. You can chose music according to the state of mind you want to get into, e.g. focus, creativity or relaxation and the suggested music then has the right rhythm and stimulates your brain waves in this way.

If you could switch roles with anyone in the HelloBetter team for a day, who would it be and why?

I think I would like to switch with one of our frontend or backend engineers - only if this switch came along with all the knowledge though 😅 Everything that goes on “behind the scenes” is such a mystery to me and I would love to understand more of it: How does the code work? What happens, when a tech request is posted? How is a request translated into an actual feature? All this is just magic to me.

What would you tell someone considering a career in your team?

In the Market Access & Medical Affairs team, we cover all the steps of market access: coming up with strategies, finding the right partners, preparing new market entries, closing contracts, and representing and spreading our products in the best possible way. Therefore, we are a bunch of people with different backgrounds and experiences, all owning our area of expertise yet all striving to learn from one another. This diversity is enriching and valuable and we are always happy to welcome new colleagues with fresh perspectives into our team! Also, within Business Development, we have the BEST team events 😍 (Karaoke, Axe throwing, Arcade games - just to mention a few)

Who should I interview next in your opinion and why?

Hm, coming from the Business Development part of the company, I would suggest to interview someone from the Therapeutic Services or Support Team next. They are right at the heart of the operation: Talking to our users on a daily level and receiving the most direct and most relevant feedback.

Thank you Emelie for joining us today!

Emelie's story is just a small glimpse into the amazing and talented people we have here at HelloBetter. We can't wait to share more about our team with you. And who knows? Maybe you'll even decide to join us on this wonderful journey!

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