Meet: Michaela Roeper – Production Manager

At Sealed Air, celebrating our people and their accomplishments is a core part of our culture. In our “Meet: Our People” series, you’ll hear directly from our people across the globe on what it’s like working at SEE, and a little bit about them outside of work.

Length of time at SEE: 5 years. 

Location: Hamburg, Germany. 

Can you tell me a bit about your time here at SEE? - During my first few years at SEE, I worked as a Maintenance and Project Leader. In my role, I organized corrective, preventive and predictive maintenance. Bringing all departments together for these actions, and the positive effect of the result afterwards, has given me professional satisfaction.  But being able to lead the project for a full automated packaging line on site, without having the full knowledge of it, getting a multilingual team together, and to see now the line running every day, achieving what was once only projected, makes me proud.  With this success, I have developed myself and recently became the Production Manager on site. In this job, I Iove bringing all production resources together to make them as useful and resourceful as possible for SEE. It is great to see the results of how this works to get a positive monthly result at the end. 

What’s your favorite part of your position? - For me, the most important thing in a company is its employees. The central role of my function is to recognize who needs what kind of leadership, engage with them, and recognize who I can develop in what way. This just happens to be what I like the most in my current position. Seeing the continued development of my department and its employees, along with working collegially with each other as a team, is fulfilling for me. I want to make my people successful and support them on their professional path, because that contributes to the success of SEE!

Growing up, was there someone in your life that inspired you to become who you are today? - In my first management position after graduation, I was able to lead very experienced employees. Due to my few years of professional experience, I had to earn my reputation first. During this time, I had to overcome prejudices and my own insecurities. Due to my insecurities, I even considered giving up the management position more than once. But after half a year, I was promoted, because I didn't let it get me down, despite all the resistance. This proved to me that I can change something with friendly perseverance. 

What is your favorite mantra or quote?  - “There is no passion to be found playing small—in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” – Nelson Mandela

Where can we find you when you aren’t working? - I love spending time with my five-year-old son, Jonas, my seven-year-old daughter, Merle, and friends. I also like to be outside in nature, enjoy walks, and to try new things.

What advice do you have for people looking to start their careers or become leaders today? - I would advise them to believe in themselves and to discover what they are passionate about both professionally and privately. 

What is something you wish you would have known early in your career? - Stay calm and be yourself. 

What do you wish you knew 20 years ago that you know now? - It's your life and you can achieve anything you want. Learn to develop your inner instinct and follow it. Say yes to life and despite sad or difficult events in life, always look at the question of how you can become satisfied and happy again. Take life easier and learn to enjoy the small happy things in life! 

As a woman in a predominately male dominated industry, how do you advocate for more women to go into historically male centered roles? - I think we need to remove the idea of labeling toys and hobbies based on gender, and all genders can proceed with the professional path they want to go, regardless of whether it is traditionally considered feminine or masculine. When I started my mechanical engineering studies, I was the one girl in my class and very few people believed in me, but I was successful and proved them wrong. At the time of graduation, the proportion of women has risen to over 30% due to the general abandonment rate. I hope to continue to see trends like this rise over time. 

Interested in joining us? Check out our careers page for open roles.