Where sports and excellence intersect

The 47-year-old has always been into sports. In her youth, she was a track and field athlete and played soccer. After sustaining an injury, she wanted to find a sport that would allow her to regain her fitness and get back into soccer. That’s when she

found her passion for Korean martial arts. Isabella remarks: “Saying taekwondo is like saying the name of a family member, a very dear friend.”

The most unique sporting event she ever participated in was the XII World Senior Championships TKD ITF in 2001, where nearly 300 athletes from 21 different countries competed. Isabella won third place in the women’s competition, becoming a taekwondo champion. The sport continues to shape her life to this day. Isabella is now a taekwondo coach and teaches the discipline to children and young people. She met her husband through taekwondo and their two daughters are both taekwondo athletes. 

Isabella has also benefitted professionally from her athletic sporting experiences and Far Eastern teachings; they’ve shaped her outlook on life and her work at Nordmann. She adds: “Surround yourself with positive people, take responsibility for your actions, exercise patience over knee-jerk reactions, take care of yourself, have a desire to move forward, draw healthy boundaries between yourself and others, respect rules.” These are practices that Isabella applies wonderfully in her job. She describes her colleagues as attentive, open and helpful, people that love working together as a team and embody a spirit of initiative. “I think this is the right spirit for Nordmann, a company that has undergone significant changes and transformations in recent years,” says Isabella.

Loukas has been with Nordmann Nordic for nearly 20 years, and his heart beats for two things: his job and the competitive sport of powerlifting.
His enthusiasm for Nordmann stems from the company’s unique culture and being trusted to bring in new ideas, being able to develop strategies with a large degree of autonomy and also work independently. Matching customers with the products that will best serve them makes each new working day at Nordmann exciting and challenging.

Loukas strongly believes that continuous learning and the willingness to embrace new perspectives and ideas are what enrich life and contribute to personal and professional development – and he’ll tell you that this is as true in the sport of powerlifting as it is in a professional context. The key to everything is passion, because – whether it’s sports or business – liking what you do will help you become good at it.

Loukas recalls a customer he visited once on business to introduce him to Nordmann’s product portfolio. At first, the customer wasn’t at all interested in hearing about Nordmann’s product range; he was going moosehunting the next day and wanted to talk about that instead! Although a little surprised, Loukas decided to just let the customer share about his hobby. His years in sales have taught him that while job expertise is essential, sometimes it’s more important to see customers as the people they are – and then listen to them! By doing this, Loukas was able to connect with

the customer in Sweden over moose-hunting and his own passion for powerlifting – laying the foundations for a strong business relationship.

His secret? The early bird catches the worm! Several times a week, Urs Zumbach is up at 4:30 a.m. to go out and clear his head. Rain or shine, no matter the weather. Urs, who joined Nordmann Switzerland in 2021, is a passionate runner who has had considerable success in marathons and ultra runs. Mountain races in Switzerland are often challenging, too, with rugged terrain and major elevation changes to overcome. The Swiss Alpine Marathon K78 that starts in Davos is just

one example – a running course that is 78 kilometers long and has more than 3,000 meters of elevation gain. For Urs, these runs are about more than just physical fitness; he sees them as opportunities to cultivate and test his mental strength.

He also transfers the discipline and stamina associated with long-distance mountain running to

his job, where he monitors the entire value chain in his dual role as both buyer and salesman. This has allowed him to win back customers and previously lost business, as well as improve margins –even in fields that were completely new to him when he started his job. It is precisely the trust placed in him as an employee and the company culture of ownership that Urs appreciates about Nordmann. Being able to contribute freely to the overall success of the company and carve out his own position is also what motivates him to keep improving his performance: both at work and in his private life as a runner.