Watch Freddie's Video

Describe your educational background. Where did you study, what degrees did you receive?
I studied at the State University of New York College at Buffalo and I obtained Bachelor of Science in Business Studies and Minor in Creative Studies (I credit my minor with giving me the ability to see the world and problem solving in a completely different way). Part of my education I think also stems from growing up in Brooklyn and New York City consistently being exposed to different cultures, ideas and one of my favorite things food (which has bringing people together for centuries).

Describe your career history.
My career actually began by accident and I have actually met many people that have had similar experiences. After graduating from college I traveled for 2 years throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand & South Africa. Upon returning I was unsure what I wanted to do so I reached out to a temp. agency and began an assignment. Little did I know this was going to turn into a career. The assignment was at a publishing company that was going through a merger Bantam Doubleday Dell, post merger this entity became Random House. My first role was as an HR Assistant doing all sorts of support activities related to employee relations, recruiting, benefits and merger/integration related activities. This role far exceeded my expectation and I was in this role for 2 years before I briefly moved on to a Dot Com. In the same year I was fortunate to return to Bertelsmann Inc. where I have had quite a few roles since leading up to where I am now. The roles I held were always a hybrid of Human Resources Generalist work for our New York Corporate office and working for many facets of our Corporate HR Group out of Germany including Bertelsmann Talent Services, Corporate Management Development Department, Bertelsmann University, and special projects like our international employee survey.

What are your current roles and responsibilities?
I am part of a team that is responsible for managing HR Services for our North American Companies. We like to say that we try to help manage “The Big Picture” and future HR related strategies for the Bertelsmann HR departments.
My role having a long lived history in HR is to help bridge the gap between our department and the HR professional in our organization. For example we are trying to implement and experiment with so many new Web 2.0 tools and social media applications. After vetting some appropriate tools we try to communicate to our HR Community how these tools and application can help them in their HR & Recruitment Branding Efforts. Think Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Xing, LinkedIn, Flickr, Google, Yahoo etc….. The whole world is integrated in so many ways and we are trying to help manage, represent and harness all this for our HR groups to stay ahead and continuously innovate in this arena.
In addition to this we manage relationships with a host of HR related vendors trying to secure the best service offering at the best prices for our groups. One major role/responsibility that I have recently taken on is to manage the North American launch of a succession-performance management software to our HR groups.

Describe a typical day at your job:
There is no typical day and I think that is what consistently motivates me in my role. Most days do include the following from a broad perspective: Espresso in the am, interaction with our colleagues in Germany, supporting users on the BeTrack system, problem solving, brainstorming, technology monitoring and exploration (our department feeds off this), Lunch-you have to eat, making lists to stay on target, interacting with our interns, recruiting, dealing with miscellaneous and bizarre requests. I think this should hopefully paint a picture of what it is like.

What attracted you to your company and position? What is your favorite thing about your job?
What attracted me to the company was a fortunate accident as a temporary employee. What keeps me at the company is a variety of factors: Growth Potential - everyday day I learn something new and this has allowed me to evolve and keep evolving. Culture - Bertelsmann has a culture that has completely allowed me to flourish and be creative within my role as well as providing some amazing developmental opportunities and stretch assignments. People - starting with my awesome team all the way through management everyone is great to deal and interact with.

What has been your most memorable moment (so far) in your job?
There have been so many it is hard to narrow in on one, however one moment that does stand out is when I interviewed to return to the organization after going to the Dot.Com. Because I had done a good job at Random House that reputation I built up as a good worker had followed me. I was the one and only person interviewed for the role which boosted my self-esteem and view of Bertelsmann as a company.

If you could meet anyone from history, living or dead, who would it be?
Benjamin Franklin, I would love to ask him about his views of internet and social media. Imagine what his Facebook page would look like?

What qualities do you feel are necessary to be a successful employee at your company?
I would say networking, consistent open communication, expressing your ideas, creativity, and never accepting no as an option (there is always a way or a solution).

Have you had the opportunity to travel as part of your job?
I have had the opportunity to travel quite a bit the past few years for my job. It has brought me to places as close as New Paltz (NY), Valencia (CA), Waseca (MN), Westminster (MD), Kitchener-Ontario (Canada) and places as far as France and a few visits to our corporate headquarters in Guetersloh, Germany. Thank goodness I like to travel but I do miss my wife and family when I am away.

Do you feel you have a good understanding of Bertelsmann and its corporate culture?
After being here almost 10 years I would finally say yes and I have finally memorized our essentials by heart via an acronym PECC (Partnership, Entrepreneurship, Citizenship and Creativity). We all live these in different ways but I would say these essentials are at the heart of the Bertelsmann DNA.

My favorite book, movie and artist are…
Book: Nelson Mandela “Long Walk to Freedom"; What an inspirational journey
Movie: Godfather; how many times can you watch this classic and see different sub-plots etc…Fredo I know you did it
Artist: Leonard Da Vinci; he is still mysterious to this day