Operational rather than administrative
Maili Wolf has recently moved into her office as the new publishing director of the *Tages-Anzeiger*.
Maili Wolf has just moved into her office as the new publishing director of the Tages-Anzeiger, and was accused of having a brash journalistic style at school. So she thought: What is the best paper where you can live out such a style in a highly professional manner? Maili Wolf ended up at Blick. There she gained her first journalistic experience under Peter Übersax. But everything should have turned out differently: she met the man of her dreams at the age of 20. At least it was her parents' dream son-in-law. The engineer could have continued the family business in the field of building construction and civil engineering and relieved young Maili of all her financial worries. She would have thanked him "with a wreath of well-behaved children". Instead, Wolf began to study - first business administration in St.Gallen, then, because the HSG was "too academic" for her, at the University of Zurich.
Because her parents had canceled her check due to her future plans falling through, she had to finance her studies herself. In addition to her job at Blick, she also sold art. "It was the time when more modern things somehow became fashionable," she remembers.
She came to her dissertation on publishing marketing by chance. Putting on a doctoral hat seemed to make sense to her because she thought it would give her better opportunities as a woman in a male-dominated professional world. The topic of scrutinizing the launch of the magazine "Natur" in Germany from a business management perspective presented itself. The Unilever Group also enticed her with a job offer. "But that didn't suit me," says the woman, who somehow always looked for less conventional paths. Although she was already overqualified, she decided "on instinct" to take a job as a kiosk sales assistant at Ringier. "I just wanted to see how it worked." This turned into a career that lasted at Ringier from 1979 to 1996, from 1990 as a member of the company management for the Magazines Europe division.
In addition to being characterized as a "workhorse", Maili Wolf is also said to have proven qualities as a "trouble shooter". "When the task is difficult, a bit of stress arises, and I like that because then you just have to."
This was also the case when she had a child "completely unexpectedly" at the age of 40. In order to be a good mother to her child, she decided to become self-employed as a freelancer in 1996.
decided to become a business consultant. "Freelancing gives you more freedom in terms of time," she reckoned. Many interesting assignments at home and abroad
have thrown a spanner in the works.
The fact that they are operationally active again after these consulting jobs
Wolf explains why she wanted to do this with the desire to put ideas into practice herself. "I'm more of a doer than a concept writer," she says. She had been aware for some time that such a challenge could take place at daily newspapers or on television. "And at 48, you're still young enough to be able to fit into an organization."
Compared to her best Ringier years, the new publishing director at Tages-Anzeiger is lower down the hierarchy. But hierarchies have "never meant much" to her. Much more important to her is the feeling of having the freedom to come up with new ideas. "I have ideas on how to somehow stop the decline at the Tagi, both in terms of readership and advertising. Ideas! That's all I can say."
A doer without fear or blame: Maili Wolf.
Because her parents had canceled her check due to her future plans falling through, she had to finance her studies herself. In addition to her job at Blick, she also sold art. "It was the time when more modern things somehow became fashionable," she remembers.
She came to her dissertation on publishing marketing by chance. Putting on a doctoral hat seemed to make sense to her because she thought it would give her better opportunities as a woman in a male-dominated professional world. The topic of scrutinizing the launch of the magazine "Natur" in Germany from a business management perspective presented itself. The Unilever Group also enticed her with a job offer. "But that didn't suit me," says the woman, who somehow always looked for less conventional paths. Although she was already overqualified, she decided "on instinct" to take a job as a kiosk sales assistant at Ringier. "I just wanted to see how it worked." This turned into a career that lasted at Ringier from 1979 to 1996, from 1990 as a member of the company management for the Magazines Europe division.
In addition to being characterized as a "workhorse", Maili Wolf is also said to have proven qualities as a "trouble shooter". "When the task is difficult, a bit of stress arises, and I like that because then you just have to."
This was also the case when she had a child "completely unexpectedly" at the age of 40. In order to be a good mother to her child, she decided to become self-employed as a freelancer in 1996.
decided to become a business consultant. "Freelancing gives you more freedom in terms of time," she reckoned. Many interesting assignments at home and abroad
have thrown a spanner in the works.
The fact that they are operationally active again after these consulting jobs
Wolf explains why she wanted to do this with the desire to put ideas into practice herself. "I'm more of a doer than a concept writer," she says. She had been aware for some time that such a challenge could take place at daily newspapers or on television. "And at 48, you're still young enough to be able to fit into an organization."
Compared to her best Ringier years, the new publishing director at Tages-Anzeiger is lower down the hierarchy. But hierarchies have "never meant much" to her. Much more important to her is the feeling of having the freedom to come up with new ideas. "I have ideas on how to somehow stop the decline at the Tagi, both in terms of readership and advertising. Ideas! That's all I can say."
A doer without fear or blame: Maili Wolf.
Andreas Panzeri
