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EP 28: Tim Bravo - leading Lamborghini's Communications by leveraging his multicultural heritage
43 Plays1 month ago
Tim Bravo, Director of Communications at Automobili Lamborghini, joins John Stech, host of The Auto Ethnographer, to discuss how his mixed German-Spanish heritage boosted his career opportunities. Tim has worked with an enviable list of automotive brands from SEAT to Porsche to Bugatti and, ultimately, to Lamborghini.
He was born in Germany but he moved with his family to Barcelona at an early age. Although his father is of Spanish descent, Spanish was not spoken in the household. Tim took things into his own hands and learned both Spanish and Catalan on the streets of Barcelona through his friends even as he attended a German school.
Sixteen years after having returned to Germany to finish his primary school education and university, fate brought him back to Barcelona. A fortuitous connection to the SEAT Communications Department led to a job offer and several years working with the iconic Spanish brand owned by the Volkswagen Group.
Fate took another twist that brought Tim to Porsche’s communications group in the brand’s Stuttgart home. But soon thereafter, the company leveraged Tim’s communications expertise and language skills in Porsche Cars Latin America, based in Miami. From here he would manage brand communications across South and Central America plus the Caribbean.
Still in the Volkswagen Group’s orbit, Tim’s next stop was in France with the super-premium Bugatti brand which then led directly to Sant’ Agata, Italy and his current role with Lamborghini.
Through all of this Tim approached life with humility and authenticity, never diverging from his own upbringing and persona. He views life and fate in a clear, open-eyed manner, always knowing that curveballs will be thrown. And he is ready for them.
In this podcast Tim shares the story of his upbringing in two countries, his heritage, his career, and his approach to life lived in cultures not his own. It is informative and deeply inspiring.
To learn more about the Auto Ethnographer and for links to all podcast platforms, follow the link to the homepage. https://www.auto-ethnographer.com
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Transcript
Introduction to The Auto Ethnographer
00:00:00
Speaker
In life, it's I found it true that you either win or you learn. So you you don't you don't lose. Hello and welcome to the Auto Ethnographer. I'm John Steck, your host on this journey. We travel the globe to bring you stories about culture and the global automotive industry.
00:00:15
Speaker
Fasten your seatbelt and let's get started. Welcome to this week's episode of the Autoethnographer.
Tim Bravo's Iconic Career in Automotive
00:00:22
Speaker
Today's guest is someone who's been behind the scenes and frankly, in the front of the scenes on some of the world's most iconic automotive brands, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Porsche, and Seat.
00:00:36
Speaker
and whose career reads like a best of compilation in cross-cultural communications. That person is Tim Bravo, a communications powerhouse whose career spans continents, cultures, and some of the most iconic automotive brands in the world.
00:00:53
Speaker
Currently, he serves as the director of communications for Lamborghini, probably one of the most desirable automotive brands on the planet. Born and raised in Germany, but also in Spain,
00:01:05
Speaker
Tim's professional journey has taken him from public broadcasting to corporate boardrooms with pivotal roles at SEAT in Barcelona and Porsche Latin America in Miami.
00:01:16
Speaker
His fluency in Spanish and deep intercultural insight have made him a trusted voice in shaping brand narratives across Europe and the Americas, indeed the world. But Tim isn't just a master of messaging.
00:01:28
Speaker
He's a storyteller who understands emotional power behind luxury, speed, and heritage. And today, he's here to tell his story.
Cultural Influences and Perspectives
00:01:38
Speaker
Hi, John. Thank you so much for your for your very kind introduction. i'm I'm never sure if I deserve such nice and kind words, and but I hope i'll I'll be able to live up to your introduction now in this in this podcast. I'm very excited to be your guest today.
00:01:54
Speaker
Oh, great. it's It's really great to have you here. And as we discussed a little bit before hitting the record button, I think you you have a lot of great stories to tell. Let's some maybe start fairly early. Let's go to the beginning and and really growing up between cultures. so You grew up partially in Germany, partially in Barcelona, attending a German school there.
00:02:19
Speaker
And that's already a cultural mix. What was that like? And how did that ah calculate in with your family heritage? German, Spanish?
00:02:31
Speaker
Yes. I consider myself very privileged because I ah buy by birth, basically, I came into an intercultural ah surrounding, um my mother being German. I was born in Germany, but also my father was born in Germany, being a Spanish ah child to two Spanish immigrants.
00:02:51
Speaker
um But it's not just the two cultures, German and Spanish. So one a bit more Nordic, one a little bit more warm and the Southern.
00:03:02
Speaker
ah That gave me two perspectives. It's also that my Spanish grandparents were hardworking, working class ah immigrants from Spain that went to Germany in search for a better life for themselves, but even more for their children and grandchildren than later on.
00:03:18
Speaker
ah while my German grandparents were in an entrepreneurial family. So my grandfather was leading the the family's company. And ah so also this gave me two different kinds of perspectives.
00:03:31
Speaker
This way, in a very natural way, I learned something that I found to be true in so many situations later on in life, that there's not one truth. There's your truth, my truth, and sometimes the the the real um um exercise that you have to do is finding balance in harmonizing different points of view and learning that ah thing from a different angle looks differently.
00:03:56
Speaker
i I fully understand that ah that observation. um my My background is a little bit different as an immigrant from Germany to the United States, um but I opened my eyes relatively early in life to the differences in cultures between between people.
00:04:14
Speaker
Now, you said that you spent some of your primary school in Spain, in Barcelona. How did that feel moving from Germany? Was that the time of your your eye opening?
00:04:28
Speaker
Yes, it was. It was kind of a little bit of culture shock, even though I am half Spanish. It was a culture shock to me because until the age of six, when I moved to Spain for the job of my father, um I did not speak any Spanish. That's why also my parents decided to put me in a German school. But they decided luckily to reside not in the Esplugas de Llobregat, which would be the place of the the district in Barcelona where most expats, so German or English expats would be living close to those international schools, but on the other side of Barcelona in a very Catalan ah local context.
00:05:03
Speaker
So on the street, i had to speak to the kids and spend on the street or also in tennis class in in with my football team. I had to speak in um in Spanish or even Catalan.
00:05:15
Speaker
So I came back to Germany after four and a half, five years that we spent there as a family speaking um equally well German and Spanish and even Catalan.
00:05:26
Speaker
And this was really, and for me, it was the kickoff to my, to my, I always say I was not really raised in a, in a bilingual way. I became bilingual by, by during that time in Barcelona. So from the age of six to 11.
00:05:44
Speaker
It's interesting. So for you, it sounds like the straddling between two cultural worlds was almost a conscious choice. Yeah, it became it it was a choice. Exactly. It was a choice then from my parents or let's say choice. i know Life has, as as we will see when we talk about my my career, life is something that you cannot plan. Always know that you say life is what happens while you're making other plans. And this is something really, really true.
00:06:14
Speaker
My life has been has been like that. Whatever I planned, it came differently. But whichever ah door closed, another window opens. This is also again, it's a it's a cliche, but that I find to be very true. You always have to have to set of planning ahead. You just have to give your best to always be prepared to be able to react to different scenarios. In this case, I was very young. I was not prepared for anything. I just took it as it came.
00:06:41
Speaker
um But i was very i feel i consider myself very privileged and very lucky to have had the family that supported me in this or two that gave me these possibilities that I that i had to to grow up in ah in a multicultural world. Because also when we went back to Germany, I don't know why, don't ask me why, my parents decided to put me in a bilingual school, but not bilingual German-Spanish or German-English, German-French. So I ended up speaking French very well.
00:07:12
Speaker
at the age of 18. My French was basically my was better than than my Spanish and better for sure than my than my English. ah So I ended up speaking then at the age of 18, 19, including Catalan, even five languages quite well.
00:07:29
Speaker
Over the time, then Catalan, I've lost it because I don't speak it that much. French has has gone up and down in the quality. But now Italian has has has joined the the list of languages that I speak ever since I have been living here, thanks to those other languages that I spoke. So thanks to Spanish, Catalan, French, it was very easy for me to learn Italian. So I consider myself very lucky.
00:07:52
Speaker
and very privileged to be able in ah in a very natural way where other people had had to have a lot, had many struggles to learn ah new languages or to to get used to new cultures. For me, it's very normal to speak in in the same day or even in the same conversation to switch between one between two, three, four languages.
00:08:13
Speaker
um It's no problem for for for me. And that's not because I'm so intelligent. That's because I was so privileged. So that's that that is a true talent. And and it's it's fairly rare ah for people who are able to absorb language like that.
00:08:28
Speaker
You mentioned it's it's the the the brain of ah of ah of a child works differently until the age of five or six, especially they're able to to save information in a much different way.
00:08:39
Speaker
And they're like sponges, sponges. I see it with ah with my son that also speaks um several languages already at the age of seven. Now it's ah that they're like sponges. They learn it in a very playful, very natural way.
00:08:54
Speaker
It's ah amazing to see. we'll have to catch up some other time then on how future language learning works for you. And for me, I suspect it's more difficult now.
00:09:06
Speaker
That's true. Yeah, it gets more difficult with age. And, and in your case, with then different writings and different cultures, it's, ah it's even more tricky, I imagine. So my languages are all in the same kind of alphabet and cultural context. So it's a bit easier.
00:09:23
Speaker
No, that's definitely a point. You mentioned earlier with doors opening and closing in life.
Career Serendipity in Spain
00:09:29
Speaker
um One of the interesting ones is that your career, i don't know if it's coincidence or not, but it took you back to Barcelona where you had lived before.
00:09:39
Speaker
How did that happen? Was it coincidence or life really just threw you a twist? No, indeed, it was it was ah yeah a little bit called a coincidence, called fate, whatever whatever you you want to call it.
00:09:53
Speaker
I was ah at that point of my life where i was working in in Germany at the possibility to enter a a more stable working contract as well. I was ah working for the first time in communications after some experiences working in broadcasting and and other projects, but in the chemical industry.
00:10:10
Speaker
And my boss back then who was ah very high ranking. I was ah like the the still student ah worker and he was ah part of the extended board. So I did not have much direct contact with him, but he had heard about my personal desire to move to Spain.
00:10:28
Speaker
And he said, look, I will give you a contract here in Germany. i can't offer you anything in Spain, but I've heard that you've done a good job um and um I'm i'm ah able to to send your curriculum to a friend of mine in Spain.
00:10:42
Speaker
i thought that was this was at the Christmas party. I thought he was just being nice and I thanked him for that. I obviously sent him my my CV and I actually ended up having a job interview at SEAT in Barcelona in the automotive industry.
00:10:55
Speaker
And ah yeah, as fate had it, this friend of his was his best friend who didn't even interview me. he and his his The third sentence of this job interview was, um well, if you come recommended by my best friend, then ah you basically have the job. um He offered me ah like the the the do so in German, you know, like we're very formal. We call people by by a more formal way and by the last name. So he said, no, I'm I'm Dominic for you.
00:11:27
Speaker
And he became more than just a boss. He became my mentor. It was really fate Yeah, was a was a was a was very um ah positive to me in that and that moment because ah it ah it was a very important milestone of my of my professional career and life.
00:11:49
Speaker
So I ended up not just coming back to my second home, Barcelona, but I started a career that has now given me many opportunities, opened many more doors for me over the years.
00:12:03
Speaker
And I've been now with the Volkswagen Group for almost 15 years, have seen different countries, different companies. And again, i feel very privileged for everything that has been offered to me.
00:12:16
Speaker
That's fantastic. I love your story of going from chemicals to cars, because that's exactly the path I took as well. And I can tell you there was no turning back to chemicals.
00:12:29
Speaker
No, not really. So when you returned to Barcelona, how was that? Did it feel like a type of homecoming?
Barcelona: A Sense of Belonging
00:12:37
Speaker
And did you feel comfortable just sliding back into life there for a couple of years?
00:12:43
Speaker
it Definitely. Well, when I had left Barcelona, I was 11 years old. When I came back, I was 27. So was it was quite a different perspective on how you experience the city. But I had to friends over there that took me in into their house even for the first few months when I did not yet have ah my my apartment.
00:13:01
Speaker
um Their friends, our old neighbors from back when I was ah was a kid, but they have ah come to be to feel more like family than than ex neighbors or friends.
00:13:13
Speaker
So, yes, it was not not really i was not alone, even though I moved away ah from from my family. from i have I have a big family. have four siblings. I'm the oldest.
00:13:23
Speaker
um So it's very family oriented and close to them. It was weird moving back, moving away from them, but it was still not moving away alone. I was with my second family, so to say. it was it was nice going back to Barcelona.
00:13:41
Speaker
it's ah It's a city that i um and have very fond memories of and I will always carry it in my heart. Now you worked for SEAT and of course that's part of the Volkswagen group, which not everybody around the world knows.
00:13:57
Speaker
But how did you find that as a person who has grown up between the German and the Spanish cultures? ah Was that something that really helped you in the work environment at SEAT or was that really more of ah of ah a Spanish or Catalan company?
00:14:16
Speaker
For me, my my ah double citizenship helped me a lot in this case because it was a Spanish brand that is also very proud of being Spanish or in Catalan um within the context of a German global but German ah automotive group.
Unexpected Journey in Automotive Industry
00:14:35
Speaker
So I was ah able to switch very easily between the requirements of the of the group, of the of the stakeholders um and the reality that we had on the ground in in Barcelona.
00:14:51
Speaker
So it helped me definitely. But yeah, all in all, it was a very for me as well, a very very important time, lots of learnings, lots of firsts for me because I was not ah someone that had been looking for, I'm going to be brutally honest, honestly, I had not been looking for ah job within the automotive industry. i had not the huge passion ah since I was a child for cars. I grew into this and never wanted to get away from it ever again. In that time at SEAT, where I was working very closely to the designers, very closely to the engineers, I was their bridge to the or became their bridge to the communications department.
00:15:36
Speaker
And this ah taught me a lot and prepared me for the path I took um at all the other brands in the years to come. So was a very, very ah ah amazing It was an amazing time that I that i hold. to They will always have a special place for me in my career, in my mind, but also in my heart. I still have many friends over there. follow very closely what Seat and now Seat and Cupra, because they split into two brands, are doing. And I'm very happy about the huge success they are having and about the great and positive brand development that
00:16:16
Speaker
can be can be witnessed. So after integrating back into the Spanish lifestyle in Barcelona, you made a really big jump across the pond over to the United States where you lived in Miami, which one can argue is a representation of all of Latin America in a single city.
00:16:37
Speaker
But you worked for Porsche, in fact, for their entire Latin America region. How did that happen? How did you make that jump over to Miami?
Transition to Miami and Porsche Latin America
00:16:47
Speaker
Yeah, there was an intermediate step, a very small one. But um so I was at SEAD back then. I was saying that i'm now I'm very happy about their success. I'm saying this also because we fought very hard for that success when SEAD was not successful. We were still in the in the red numbers and red figures back ah back when I was at SEAD.
00:17:06
Speaker
And actually there was a time where um my boss, my mentor, the one that I mentioned, um was not able to fulfill his promises and so keep up with the the growth path, my personal ah development path that he had promised to me.
00:17:23
Speaker
So he himself sent my CV to um to Germany, to Porsche, to his colleague, to the director of communications at Porsche.
00:17:34
Speaker
I got the job interview there, i got the job. And um after one and half years only, Porsche had this opportunity or had this need of covering the position of the the regional communications manager for Latin America and the Caribbean.
00:17:50
Speaker
And they asked me for it made sense for the languages I spoke because in Latin America, obviously, you speak Spanish and the Caribbean, you speak English or French.
00:18:01
Speaker
So, um yeah, they they asked me if I was up for for and for an adventure. And I said yes, went to went to Miami and worked there for the Latin American office. And yes, as you say, um as you say, ah Latin America is, Miami is Latin America. is is Sometimes I feel that, or I felt when I was living there, that Miami is more Latin America than it is America, than it is the U.S. If you speak only Spanish in Miami, you get along better with your life,
00:18:34
Speaker
than if you only speak English. So this is ah this is a fact because many people, handymen that come to repair something in your apartment or many, many of those people, they only speak Spanish actually, which is something that was very unexpected to me.
00:18:50
Speaker
But it was a fun experience. was a good time. Yeah. and And how did that mesh together with Porsche, which is kind of the the penultimate German engineering company in terms of the technology and, you know, Ordnung and process?
00:19:07
Speaker
How did those two fit together? How do you, you know, how do you tie those off? Well, I have to say that I have to admit that even though I'm German myself, but I come from Cologne, which is maybe the least typical cliché German region, ah the the rhinelands the Rhineland around Cologne.
00:19:27
Speaker
When I came to Swabia and to Porsche, was a culture shock for me coming from Spain to Swabia because they're very German, they're very strict with the rules. They're ah very much focused on working, working, ah building their house and then being at home. So you're at at work, you're at home.
00:19:46
Speaker
The first week that I came, that I moved to Stuttgart, I only knew one person, which was ah a friend, like a good friend of my best friend. And we went out for dinner.
00:19:57
Speaker
ah to a restaurant, was a Wednesday evening, and at 8.45 p.m., we were the last ones in the restaurant, and they were putting the chairs on the on the tables already, like kind of so throwing us out. kick And I remember, I i want to want to remind you, i came from Barcelona, where you sometimes...
00:20:19
Speaker
The restaurant doesn't open until 9 p.m. where you can go at midnight and you still get served food. So at 8.45, I was kicked out of the restaurant because it was getting too late. I said, OK, let's go to a bar. There must be a bar.
00:20:31
Speaker
Nothing. It was closed Wednesday. Evening in Stuttgart, which is not a very small city. So there's as important companies in and around Stuttgart. and There's many people that live there.
00:20:42
Speaker
Nothing. So it's a completely different mentality. But then with Porsche, again, i was working for a German company. And so when I was in in Miami or working in Latin America, I was representing a German company in a multicultural Spanish speaking context.
00:21:03
Speaker
And it helped me help me a lot. So languages, cultures. This was again a very, very it was a big plus on my side for my career. And you you see a pattern there. is There's many things that I keep repeating. i I see it myself. I hear it myself when I when i hear myself speaking. There's many things that ah that show a pattern. There's the the multi multicultural, multilanguage context. There's the fact that I feel very privileged for the opportunities that I've been offered in life. And that is this I've been offered opportunities. I did not have to really apply for jobs. It was a chain of
00:21:42
Speaker
recommendations and coincidences that made me end up here where I am today. So again, i feel very privileged for that. But Miami was a fun was a fun time. Now, that's a well, first of all, it's a huge asset to to to speak the different languages. and And I think it must have been quite an adventure as well with Spanish, given that Spanish is different in every country in Latin America.
00:22:03
Speaker
And I'm sure there were words that you heard that you had no idea what they meant, even though they were Spanish. Yeah, you understand them by context, but it's very fun. it was ah It's a fun game as well. too or Then it was for the first time because when you live in Spain, it's the Latinos that are in Spain that are the foreigners. There I was Spanish speaking, but I was a foreigner and they made fun of my Spanish in a joking way, but they made fun of my pronunciation because it's the castel Castellano, the Spanish from Spain is different in pronunciation and also in several words from the different Spanish um versions in Latin America.
00:22:44
Speaker
That's ah it definitely causes some confusion at times, especially when you have, for example, ah we had Puerto Rican Spanish and Mexican Spanish, and that led to a ah lot of a lot of confusion at times.
00:22:57
Speaker
Yeah, there was it is a fun. It's also a fun, fun story that we always had a Spanish intern. it's Usually in the time that I was there was always a a girl, a woman, a young woman from Spain, and they changed every six to 12 months. They came from Spain to Miami to do ah the position of the intern for sales and after sales.
00:23:19
Speaker
And once I have overheard the handover between one intern and the other, and they said, if you go to Mexico, and you are cold in the evening, never ask for a jacket, ah chaqueta, what you would ask for in in Spain, because in the Mexican slang, it's something sexual. So it's like ah it's um it's a it's a masturbation word for that. So it's if you ask for that, it would be very weird. that People would look at you very
00:23:50
Speaker
in weird way and i had to laugh so much when I when I heard this part of the hand. It was a serious conversation because she said, really, if you go to Mexico, don't ask for a jacket. Okay, that's that sounds fun. So yeah, sounds like good advice. this Exactly. not But there's a there's just a ah fun example of many where really a false friend in the languages then causes um causes. Yeah.
00:24:15
Speaker
in this case, fun situations, but it can also cause some some problems if you use the wrong word in the wrong context without knowing so. How did that all translate then also, for example, into the the um communications and marketing, for example, but because you have a certain style and approach, you know a more sober approach talking about horsepower and torque and and all of these technological ah components in a car. and And yet there's usually a more emotional approach.
00:24:45
Speaker
response in Latin America. How did those fit together? Did you have to even adapt yourself professionally the way you talked and and communicated about the cars?
00:24:57
Speaker
there's There's one thing that I'm not sure if I'm able to. ah For sure, I'm not willing to change my my own style. So um I always say there's only one Tim. There's a professional and the personal Tim that blends into one. I'm not acting when I'm out there.
00:25:11
Speaker
had I would have difficulties with that. um So no, I did not change my personal style or my way of communicating. What I try always is to show things in a very authentic way, in a very transparent way, as much as you can. Of course, and ah you will not ah talk about company secrets, etc. or you will not never want to make the a company look bad that you're working for and that is paying your your salary.
00:25:38
Speaker
But i I believe in transparency and in ah in a good um collaboration between the parties. So in my case, between me as a communicator and the journalists, for example, that I work with.
00:25:51
Speaker
And they will they otherwise they will feel that I'm just just messing with them. i'm just i'm not I'm tricking them. I'm not being being truthful. And sooner or later it will fire back.
00:26:04
Speaker
It will backfire and will will not be a good good result. Not for me, not for the company. So what you have to, of course, do is translate. This is clear. So you have ah a company that is very German, um but very emotional as well. This is what I've worked for. Very emotional companies that are ah in different segments.
00:26:24
Speaker
You'll say this, of course, positioned much, much lower than Porsche, which is upper premium or then Bugatti and Lamborghini, which are even in the in the luxury. segment or ultra luxury like Bugatti.
00:26:36
Speaker
So different segments, but always very passionate companies, very, very technology driven. um And you just have to make sure that you translate the messages into a a language that people will accept and they will listen to.
00:26:55
Speaker
So the Latinos are they're very passionate people. If you talk to them about very passionate cars, they will be excited. They love Porsche. They ah they they just love it. they You cannot use it and and like under the same circumstances because of security and safety, because of road conditions.
00:27:13
Speaker
But if you translate what those cars stand for and how they could be used in their countries, then they were all super positive about them, very excited, very passionate.
00:27:26
Speaker
And we had yeah great events and great exchanges with ah with journalists from all those different countries. So I never had a problem with that. It's just a ah work that you have to be.
00:27:36
Speaker
I think it's it's in life. It's a lot about empathy. It's about understanding ah the other the other's ah position. That's why I'm saying it helps when you know that there's not one truth, but there's different perspectives. You have to understand their perspective and try to translate the messages, the essence of what you're representing into their language so that they from their perspective will see it in the way that you intended it to be.
00:28:03
Speaker
Right. it's ah It's a great approach, really starting with the fundamentals of person to person and and understanding and then unraveling those different needs that that the other individuals would would have.
00:28:17
Speaker
Well, you really challenged yourself most recently with your latest brand, which also happens to be in ah a country, a land.
Joining Lamborghini and Italian Cultural Adaptation
00:28:26
Speaker
land a language and a culture very different from what you've grown up with and worked with in the past. And I certainly had my experience in Italy as well.
00:28:37
Speaker
And you have yours with Lamborghini. yeah Here you have Italian passion, you have yeah design engineering excellence. How did that change come about and how did you adapt to this one?
00:28:53
Speaker
I know you said you're very authentic always, but this is certainly a big change in environment to operate in. Yeah, that's ah of course every every change from of a company of a country is also changing you as a person because um you you take in the all the the Well, the surrounding that you have is stimulating you and it's ah also changing you, of course, in ah in a way. But I'm not actively seeking for any change of my personal personality.
00:29:28
Speaker
What happened was that i um after three years at Porsche Latin America, my contract had run out there. I was able to i would have been able to extend it to for another two years or to come back to Porsche.
00:29:41
Speaker
ah in Germany, which I wanted and intended to do. But um at the same time, then Stefan Winkelmann, the chairman and CEO then of Bugatti and now of Lamborghini, contacted me and I ended up working for him at Bugatti for the first time being in charge of the communications for the the global communications for a brand. So for Bugatti, even though a small brand, but the global communications, which was an exciting project.
00:30:07
Speaker
That was quite a peculiar time because it was when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. So I'll always remember it as well for all those very...
00:30:19
Speaker
um Yeah, very sural surreal sometimes so conditions that we were living and working. in but when Stefan Winkelmann was asked to come back to Italy and to Lamborghini where he had served as a as the chairman CEO already for 11 years previously um he asked me to to come with him and I accepted that that offer and challenge gladly so again I did not have to apply for the jobs I was
00:30:50
Speaker
was always by coincidence and coincidence of fate that I ended up at the different places. And now here I am in Italy and Italy, I have to say, so of course, is something that I it's a country that I did not know. I had never been here on holidays, not living here, obviously.
00:31:08
Speaker
ah just been here for work several times. But you don't experience really the country and the culture. So my experience with Italians was with Italians living in Germany or with Italians living in America.
00:31:19
Speaker
have many friends that are Italians or come from Italian heritage, ah but they are very different from the Italians here in Italy. So the um the Italians that are outside of Italy, yeah they love Italy so much and they feel that they have left something so valuable behind that they have to overcompensate with their patriotism. So they have the Italian flag outside and they only eat pasta and pizza and it's always Italy's number one which I understand they miss their country.
00:31:47
Speaker
But when you come here, everything is a little bit more mellow, a little bit more smooth. So they still believe that Italy is the best. They know that they have the best food. They know that more like most likely they are the the ones that know best how to dress in each okay on each occasion.
00:32:03
Speaker
So ah but they don't have to have to talk about it all the time. So it's a little bit more calm. I suppose if you're in Italy, you don't have to prove that you're in Italy.
00:32:14
Speaker
Exactly. So everyone knows you're here in Italy and they know about the amazing things that they have. They also know about every side has pros and also cons. So they're very aware that there's many things that are a little bit difficult in Italy, like the bureau bureaucracy that is surprisingly a lot. I thought Germany was very bureaucratic, but Italy is is almost in the same measure. It's on the same measure.
00:32:41
Speaker
But at the same time, a little bit more unorganized and and chaotic. So there's a lot of things that maybe don't work in Italy. But I have to say, it's um the first time that I really feel home ever since I left ah left home back when I was living closer to my family.
00:33:03
Speaker
So i'm I'm very happy here in in Italy. it's ah It's an amazing country, amazing culture. What makes it feel like that? If if I may ask that it makes you feel like home. Well, there's different different factors. Of course, the um what for sure plays plays a role is the stability that you have in life. So your personal um situation um that you in the in the countries that I was before, it was always i was I knew that it was just a transition, that it would not be forever. Now it's the first time that I could really see myself living here for a long time.
00:33:39
Speaker
um Yeah, ah i'm I'm happy on ah on a personal level. um I'm happy on a professional level. So it's really it's really a stability that makes it feel and stability plus in a surrounding that is very welcoming and warm.
00:33:59
Speaker
I think this is something that gives me the feeling of of being home in the end. and That's really great. it's um it's It's wonderful when you find a place that feels so comfortable, even though you've never been there before.
00:34:13
Speaker
how how does How does this all translate then into Lamborghini? it's it's a It's obviously an incredibly ah Italian company with a very strong heritage.
00:34:25
Speaker
The name is clearly known around the world. but it's been owned by ah German corporation for quite some time. Has that impacted the company, the local culture, or is it still innately Italian?
00:34:42
Speaker
That's a complex question. So first of all, if if it's Italian, I can I can. That's very easy. Yes, absolutely. So I can tell you from my experience that Lamborghini is more Italian than Porsche is German.
00:34:56
Speaker
So it's a very, very Italian brand. And this I'm very happy about because you feel when you go into the production line, you feel the pride of people working here in the second generation, many of of them, third generation, some of them even already.
00:35:13
Speaker
So it's ah it's amazing. The impact of the Volkswagen Group has been very important, though, nonetheless, without taking away from that Italian heritage, because it's a short history lesson now. It's 1963, Ferruccio Lamborghini founded Lamborghini, so 62 years ago.
00:35:34
Speaker
But he stayed in the company only for roughly not even 10 years. So in 72, he started selling It went through in 74. So around about 10 years, he was at the helm of the company.
00:35:47
Speaker
And ever since the Lamborghini family is not in the Lamborghini company in the auto in automobile Lamborghini anymore. But ownership changed many times. So was Swiss owners or Swiss French owners. It was Indonesian owners, American owners.
00:36:03
Speaker
Until then. The Volkswagen Group joined in or bought Lamborghini in 1998 and now for 27 years. So for not even half, but roughly half of our company's history, there has been finally um consistency in leadership and one direction. I think this is very important for a company that you have a clear direction.
00:36:30
Speaker
Not every decision might be right because ah but it's sometimes more important also to do a slightly wrong decision um that that but to not change the course, to stay steady and in your course, you will lose less with that than by changing course all the time, like doing a zigzag.
00:36:50
Speaker
ah What could happen potentially when you continuously change Not just management, but even ownership. And um la this has been the strength of Lamborghini, stability. Stability. You have many people in the in the and the Board of Management or the extended Board of Management that I'm part of. We have many people. I'm kind of the newbie.
00:37:10
Speaker
There's many people that have been there for for even in the in the Board of Management for more than 10 years. ah in the company for more than 20 years or for roughly 20 years. So they are very, very attached to the company. And for them, the company is more than just ah the their employer.
00:37:28
Speaker
And this identification of the people, even at the highest level of the, not just in the production line, but even at the highest level of management is, I think, the great strength of Lamborghini.
00:37:41
Speaker
Now, it sounds like you certainly have had stability when you said that Stefan Winkelmann went back ah following an initial tenure there as the CEO. it's It sounds like there certainly is stability. And with him being German um and being able to be a bridge between the local culture and in Italy back to Germany, it it makes a lot of sense.
00:38:03
Speaker
He's the the person that has been at the helm of the company for the longest time in in the history of the company. So he spent 11 years, 2005 to and then late 20 until now. So it's 16 years roughly that he's been the the chairman and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini.
00:38:21
Speaker
And um yeah mean with a little break of four to five years where the Volkswagen Group um had other plans for him. But I think this, ah as you say, it gives a lot of lot of stability and his dual...
00:38:39
Speaker
a cultural background because he is fully German by passport but he grew up in Italy he has been living way more years in Italy than in Germany so for a German to a German he would look Italian while to an Italian he would look international but with a clearly Italian ah upbringing so I think it's an ideal configuration to be at the at the helm of Lamborghini to understanding really this Italian ah
00:39:10
Speaker
culture and character DNA of the company, but being able to translate it into the not just into the group, but into the world because we are in the luxury business. This the made in Italy is very important for us. So we produce locally here with only one production site.
00:39:26
Speaker
And from here we have to spread the word and spread our and deliver our dream cars out into the wide world. So to all the customers that wait for their absolute dream car.
00:39:40
Speaker
Well, I can confirm for you that here in Bangkok, Thailand, I can see them and hear them on a regular basis on Sukhumvit Road in downtown. Let's focus a little bit on kind of some of your your personal learnings.
Learning from Cultural Experiences
00:39:54
Speaker
um You know, if you had to adapt adapt to these different cultures, personally and professionally. Are there any times during this, these many transitions where you had things that didn't go quite as planned, some like misunderstandings or failures other than the jaqueta, missteps that taught to you something valuable?
00:40:17
Speaker
I speak in many common places, I guess, in this podcast interview, but, ah but In life, it's I found it true that ah you either win or you learn. So you you don't you don't lose if you if you if you deal with the situation with authenticity and honesty and um then people will forgive you mistakes.
00:40:41
Speaker
especially when it's a cultural mistake, especially if you because I always tried to um to understand the locals to not think, OK, I'm the German that comes from ah like that Porsche ascending to Latin America. So I know best what Porsche is about.
00:40:59
Speaker
No, I have to deal with the people that I want to talk to. So I need to understand their perspective. And if you have this approach and this attitude, they will forgive you if you don't always ah Yeah, make the right choices or choose the right words or so they they will be very forgiving. I found in at Bugatti, I tried to speak French.
00:41:22
Speaker
i My French was quite rusty back then. I remember I remembered a lot, but it was quite rusty. But i I really made an effort to speak to speak French to them, or even though they most of them spoke ah perfect English or even German.
00:41:36
Speaker
um They appreciated the effort here in Italy. I tried immediately to learn Italian, which of course the languages helped the the other languages that I that I spoke. They helped me learn it even faster.
00:41:48
Speaker
But um people appreciate the effort not just of learning the language, but of understanding them, their heritage. It's not that you're the new guy that comes and says, OK, now I'm I'm in charge. I'm going to change everything. It's like not not appreciated if you have this approach.
00:42:03
Speaker
And then they will not be forgiving, I think. If you're if you show empathy and if you show, um if you are humble, you have to be humble in life, then people will be much more forgiving and you will be able to really turn mistakes into learnings.
00:42:20
Speaker
So there's no loss, but there's a learning.
00:42:25
Speaker
I think this is fantastic advice for anybody who's currently living in the culture outside of their own or who is even considering doing something like that.
00:42:36
Speaker
um Thank you for sharing that.
Fate, Challenges, and Personal Growth
00:42:39
Speaker
I suppose that's probably what you attribute a lot of your success towards is is that humility and having the curiosity and the empathy.
00:42:48
Speaker
Is there anything else that you credit your success to? Fate was one of the things you brought up many times. Yeah, ah ah fate is something you can believe in or not. But what i what I do believe in is that what I said earlier, you can only do um you can only do what you can do, right, what you can control. So you should not be worrying too much about the things that are not under your control is um and because otherwise it's a it's a it's a waste of it's a waste of time.
00:43:18
Speaker
um There's this famous phrase i think they they read it at the beginning of the aaa meetings and in the us as god give me give me um give me the strength to accept the things that i cannot change give me the courage to change the things that i can change and give me the wisdom to um to distinguish between one and the other And I think this is very, i paraphrased, i don't know if I if i had it right there. right um But the that's the thing. you have to really You don't have to waste your resources or energy on the things that you cannot change or you cannot control, but really just prepare yourself as
00:43:59
Speaker
best as you can for whatever life throws at you, because there will be curveballs, there will be ah problems and challenges, and you can only then react to them. So you cannot always plan in a proactive way your the path that you will have in life because you don't know what life has as as a surprise for you down the road, positive surprises, negative ones.
00:44:25
Speaker
And you just can take it as it comes and react to it, make the best of it and um move on. There's been a lot of lot of problems, obstacles, challenges in my life personally or professionally.
00:44:40
Speaker
um And they've been they've tested me ah as well. so But it's ah it's about it's a choice then that you have to make if you if you want that to define your life or if you want to then shape shape your own life in the way that you want under the conditions with the cards that life has dealt you.
00:45:05
Speaker
So it's it's a choice. You have to stay try to stay as positive as you can, as energetic as you can and move forward. Right. there's only only There's only one life.
00:45:17
Speaker
um Make the best of it. That's kind of kind of the the thing. And for that, yes, what you what you mentioned is true. I believe in a lot in ah empathy and in.
00:45:33
Speaker
In humility and being being humble, in being humble in in knowing where you come from, not forgetting where you come from, and then also not not judging people and
00:45:47
Speaker
by their looks, by their whatever. by You have to get to know people in order to everyone. Everyone has fought a battle that you know nothing about that
00:46:01
Speaker
that
00:46:04
Speaker
That makes it very hard for me, if I remember this, to judge people and to at first glance and to say
00:46:13
Speaker
that I don't want to have anything ah to do with them or that I feel superior to them. i have to really get to know people in order to then come up with a judgment. And of course, then there are some people that I don't want anything to do with because they're just not good people. They're just not nice people, in my opinion. Right.
00:46:30
Speaker
But you have to really get to know them first before you make that judgment call. Tim, this has been really insightful, the conversation. I just love your approach and your view and the lens that you look at the world through.
00:46:44
Speaker
um Thank you very much for sharing the journey with us and with the listeners. I'm sure this will be something very interesting for them to to absorb. So thank you again for for joining us today.
00:46:57
Speaker
you know thank Thank you, John, for having me. um I hope it was it was really interesting and not ah too boring. Of course, when i when I talk about my life story, I don't think that it is so special or exciting, but because I've i've been living it and I have been talking about it very often. So it's ah um I can't i can listen to it ah over and over again, but I'm i'm very happy that if if you say that it's interesting enough to be a guest here on your podcast, it's something that is that I appreciate very much. And I'm very happy to hear that.
00:47:33
Speaker
So thank you again for this for the invite and all the best for you and your podcast. I appreciate that. Thank you very much, Tim. And for those tuning in today,
00:47:44
Speaker
I hope you enjoyed the episode. Don't forget to subscribe, to share, and to let us know what your cultural story is that you'd like to explore next. Until next week, keep on driving.
00:47:58
Speaker
Thank you for joining us on today's journey. Please remember to like and subscribe to The Auto Ethnographer and leave us a rating or comment. For more information, visit our website at auto-ethnographer.com.
00:48:10
Speaker
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