Meet Tobias, environmental enthusiast and the person behind our logistics — goodbag spotlight
Meet Tobias, environmental enthusiast and the person behind our logistics — goodbag spotlight
Have you ever heard about the employee or team spotlight? Or read something about it? In case you haven’t, employee or team spotlight means presenting the company’s employees to the outside world. Publishing their stories or something interesting about their job and life.
We decided to do something similar with the “goodbag spotlight” series, where eventually you will find the articles about all goodbag’s team members. They will be in the interview-form and consisted of 3 parts.
- General-intro questions (which are same for all)
- Specific questions for each team member’s job
- Short questions with instant answers (again, same for all)
Today, we are talking with Tobias, who will share some things about his life and experience at goodbag. We will kick off with our general section i.e. some introduction questions.
Hi Tobias, could you tell us something about yourself and your role at goodbag?
Hi. My name is Tobias and I am 28 years old. Originally, I come from Graz, a city in the south of Austria. I am also a student at BOKU Vienna.
I love making and playing music with other people, climbing, hanging out… I am definitely looking forward to that in the post-covid time :)
As for my role at goodbag, it is very versatile and involves multiple tasks. My official role would be a business developer. I communicate a lot with partner stores, I am responsible for logistics and inquiries. Furthermore, I do parts of accounting, parts of the website creation, customer relations and I also participate in online content creation.
How and when did you join the goodbag team?
The story goes back to 2017 when I was looking for an internship. I got a hint from a friend to look at the startups in Vienna. There are many possibilities and higher chances of finding something which involves tasks that are actually meaningful for the company. That is how I found goodbag. I contacted them, got a very nice reception and immediately felt connected.
Therefore, I started as an intern in 2017 and I have been a part of the team ever since :)
What motivates you to be a part of the goodbag company?
Apart from the great team and atmosphere, I would say the vision of goodbag. Everything that we do has a higher purpose as we try to have the best possible impact on the environment through our actions. Those are the things that really motivate me and allow me to enjoy my work.
What are the 3 things you like the most about the goodbag’s culture?
Firstly, I would say great teamwork — everything is very well connected, our communication is very open and you will always receive help when needed. Secondly, determination — we have some high environmental goals that we want to reach and we stick to them. Thirdly, a healthy working environment — which really stimulates creativity and motivation to work together.
Do you manage to learn while working and how?
Definitely. I had to and still have to keep learning, because of the variety of tasks that I do. Every time when there is something new, I have to get acquainted with it and be flexible with my approach. It is definitely beneficial to learn about the aspects of so many different things. As for the how part: The process of learning varies. It starts with seeking information online or asking people who have more experience and knowledge about the topic. Then, eventually, learning by doing becomes a common thing.
Thank you, Tobias, for answering those general questions, now we will focus more on some specific questions regarding your work specifically.
How does your ordinary working day look like?
It looks interesting. It depends on the time of the month or tasks that come in. If there is an order, I fulfill it. If there is some accounting needed, I do it. Emails and inquiries are constantly coming in… It really depends on what is on the schedule that day. Sometimes I spend the whole day brainstorming or helping on some design idea solutions…
Since you are responsible for the majority of the incoming orders, can you describe the logistics process and how the bags are delivered to partner stores?
Our partner stores usually order online via email. Then I pick up the bags from our storage place which is on the outskirts of Vienna. If we have some orders in Vienna, and if they are small enough I would use my bike and deliver the bags the same day as environmentally friendly as possible :). If our partners are outside of Vienna or Austria, I ship the goodbags with the post and depending on the place they get delivered relatively fast. For example, in Austria 1–2 working days, Germany 2–3 working days, Switzerland, Portugal and the rest of Europe 5–7 working days. As for the bigger shipments to other parts of the world, the delivery takes around 7–10 working days.
From ordering online to getting a goodbag to your doorstep, can you describe, in short, how the overall process works?
After the visitor makes the order online on our website, I receive a notification. For the individual orders, I set up a little storage at home so I can fulfill the orders as fast as possible. Once the orders are confirmed, I prepare the bags, wrap them up, before I take them to the post office. After a few days — again, depending on the location — the proud owners of the goodbags receive them :)
Which goodbag design(s) do people order the most online? Which is your favorite one?
The most popular or demanded goodbag is definitely Donald. Although some people describe it as controversial, for us it is our bestseller :). Other than that, Think outside the bag, Travel and the Fish are also very popular. Rhino, for example, is more of a summer motive, consequently, it gets more popular during the hot season.
Excitingly, we are introducing a new line of goodbag designs, so maybe we will see some changes in the existing popularity. You can check all of our designs here!
As for my favorite design — Melon definitely :)
And we came to our final section, where we will go through some short questions to find out more about Tobias :) So, tell us:
- Where is your favorite place to be? Forest in springtime.
- What is one thing you cannot resist? White chocolate.
- Would you like to visit space once in your life? That depends on the travel conditions.
- If you could meet anyone, dead or alive, who would you meet? My grandfather.
- Do you have a favorite quote? I live after the Golden Rule: “Treat others as you want to be treated”.
- Do you have an (office) nickname? What is it? Tobi.
- What is your favorite book so far? Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman.
- If you could choose one place worldwide where goodbag opens its next office, which place would that be? Koh Mak, a small and beautiful Thai island.
- Who would you most like to swap places with on the team? Our investors :)
That was our all-around team member, Tobias. If you liked the article, make sure to follow us on our social media channels. In the following weeks, we will be talking with other team members and get to know them better. Stay tuned :)
About goodbag
goodbag is the first reusable tote bag that lets you plant trees, collect plastic waste out of our oceans, or receive exclusive discounts every time you go shopping. All you need to do is to download the goodbag app, get a goodbag, and start scanning it when you shop. To learn more about it, check our website.
