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helped people take us seriously.
But a lot has changed since
then. The travel market has
moved online, which is great
for us. There’s more protection
for the consumer. Ironically
the financial crisis actually
helped us. The 4–5-star hotels
were badly hit and so they were
glad to be able to use agencies
like Animod to generate a
sideline income. The end
consumer also saves money
when they buy one of our hotel
vouchers. In 2009, our sales
turnover was €7.2m and the
following year it went up 120%
to €16m. We definitely didn’t
expect that when we began.
WHAT KIND OF PROFESSIONAL
BACKGROUND DO YOU HAVE AND
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE
YOUNG BUSINESS PEOPLE WHO ARE
STARTING OUT?
I trained as a multilingual
secretary and then I worked for a
transport company for a few
years, and I actually became
self-employed through the
garage auction. We just gave
300% and took the bull by the
horns, and I think that was the
right way to do it. Sometimes
just doing something is the best
way to find out if it works.
www.animod.de
Mattias Ekström
is a racing
driver and two-time champion of
the German Touring Car
Masters (DTM). We wanted to
find out how you get that fast.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO RACING?
I come from a family of
motorsport drivers. My father
was a fan of rally cars and when
I was 14, I got interested in
go-kart racing. A little while
later I got into touring-car
racing and competed in the
Swedish Autosport Awards.
I won the competition and
got the chance to begin racing in
set up an onsite kindergarten at
Greenville, which will be run by
trained kindergarten staff. All
ages are welcome at the festival.
www.greenvillefestival.com
IraHielscher
is the founder and
owner of AnimodGmbH, a
company that has revolutionised
the hotel industry with its hotel
and travel vouchers. We asked
Hielscher how she did it.
HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE
IDEA OF AUCTIONING OFF HOTEL
VOUCHERS?
It was a coincidence, actually.
Around 10 years ago, when eBay
was just taking off, my husband
and I experimented with
auctioning stuff.
We began by selling old junk
from the garage on eBay, and
when we’d finished, we began
looking for a way of selling via
the site without paying a lot of
postage costs. One evening we
were walking through Cologne
and we saw this dark hotel, with
hardly any of the lights on. It
then occurred to us that you
could auction off nights in
hotels.
HOW DID THE HOTELS INITIALLY
RESPOND?
They were still very sceptical
about it back then, because the
idea wasn’t as common as it is
now. We cheekily phoned a few
4–5-star hotels – we didn’t bother
with any under that level – and
luckily, one agreed to let us do a
trial auction of 10 nights. It was a
big success and that’s how
Animod began.
YOU NOW HAVE OVER 800
INTERNATIONAL HOTELS ON YOUR
BOOKS. WHAT’S THE SECRET OF
YOUR SUCCESS?
We’ve been running an online
shop since 2006 and we also
had our first stand at the ITB
fair in the same year. That
C A R E E R S
seriously. But in my experience,
if you get a win and a place in
the top three during the first
three races, you’re in with a
chance of winning the title. I’d
like to be one of the top three in
the first three races, because
then you know that you’re a
potential winner.
DO YOU LIKE WHAT YOU DO?
The average racing driver
dreams of driving the Formula 1
big brands like Ferrari. But I
think Audi will always be the
best four-wheel drive in the
world.
WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST GOAL?
The highlight of my career
would be to win 10 racing
weekends in a row. Ten
weekends – that’s the whole
championship. And that’s why
winning all those races in a row
is my biggest goal.
Upcoming DTM races:
Highlightrennen Norisring
(29 June – 1 July), Showevent
München (14–15 July), Nürburgring
(17–19 August), Oschersleben
(14–16 September), Hockenheim –
Finale (19–21 October)
a professional team. That
completely changed my career.
Over the following years, I raced
in the Swedish Touring Car
Championship and won with
Audi in 1999.
They sawmy potential and
asked me to drive for Audi in the
German Touring Car Masters
(DTM), which is what I’ve been
doing ever since.
HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO STAY
CALM BEFORE A RACE?
If you work in a team, everything
becomes a routine. I’ve got a lot
of routines, which I stick to,
because that’s the best way for
me to stay calm. Some people
say that you should put your left
shoe on before your right. I
always tell them that I put my
underpants on before I put on
my driving gear.
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE UPCOM-
ING DTM SEASON HOLDS IN STORE?
In spring we do our homework.
Summer is like the first day at
school, with exams. Everyone
wants to get good grades,
everyone wants an A. Each year
everyone reminds you that you
shouldn’t take the first tests too
Mattias Ekström ist zweimaliger Sieger
der Deutschen Tourenwagen Masters
Mattias Ekström perches on ‘the best
four-wheel drive in the world’