"People are just so fascinating"

"90 minutes before the game, the stress slowly starts. Then I'm no longer very approachable for others, I am in like a tunnel," Şükran Gencay confesses.

Şükran was head coach of the 1st men's basketball team of Eimsbütteler TV for 10 years. Quite unusual, because at 1.60 meters tall the Hamburg native is not only much shorter than the basketball giants around her, she was also the first and only woman to coach a team in the 2nd National German Basketball League.

15 years ago, Şükran Gencay started her coaching career and helped ETV's 1st team to its spectacular rise from the district league to the semi-professional level. She played basketball since she was young and grew into coaching along the way.

Until recently, she played actively in the regional league and was the head of the basketball department at her club. This is a huge time commitment and yet the Basketball coaching and club activities are not as recompensed as in the national soccer league. She is in this for the passion and the fun!

The engineering graduate has been working full-time at Hellmann since October 2020. She initially started as a rollout manager in the Digital Customer Experience Team. Together with her 25 colleagues from Hamburg, Osnabrück, and Budapest, she developed digital products such as tracking and booking solutions for our customers. She herself describes her role as the link “between the developer team and the users.” The users are mostly customers, of course, but also employees at Hellmann. She wants to get people on board with her ideas and find out what the customer really wants.

"There is nothing more exciting than getting to know people and thus different life concepts and cultures," Şükran tells us. 

She is convinced that her work as a trainer is of great benefit to her in her daily work. She has learned to proceed in a structured, strategic, and conceptual way. She has also gained experience with extreme situations, high stress levels, and setbacks. In the meantime, she has developed a feel for people from all walks of life and knows that it pays to approach each person individually, while always remaining authentic. Building a genuine connection with others is what gives her strength and energy.

She herself grew up in an all-female household with a single mother and two older sisters. As a woman with Turkish roots, she was often exposed to prejudice and challenges but that has only made her stronger. She would like to see more courageous women both in sports and in leadership positions in business: 

"Women often bring very different skills and abilities than men. Skills that are very important, especially in today's world. There is a great amount of potential in diversity and, besides, everything is much more fun in mixed teams!"

There is no such thing as stagnation for Şükran, neither privately nor professionally. She took on an exciting new challenge in basketball and left her beloved Hamburg district club after 15 years. In the 2022/23 season she will coach the 1st men of the Bargteheide Bees, who have advanced to the 1st Regionalliga Nord.


In May 2022, she took up a new position at Hellmann as Global Leadership & Culture Manager, which harmonizes even more with her role as coach in terms of content. In her new position, she reports directly to CEO Reiner Heiken. She works closely with colleagues from all business units, all regions of the world, and coordinates the expansion and revitalization of the strong corporate culture at Hellmann. She is passionate about what she does and sees clear parallels in the company and team sports in terms of culture and leadership.


Why is her new role so important?

"We want to communicate our values and leadership principles very clearly: How do we want to treat each other and work together? What do our employees expect and how can we support and encourage them? And what does it actually mean to be a good leader? Whether it’s on the playing field or at the logistics company, a strong culture is the foundation for any success!"

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