With Superheldin (German for “female superhero”), Sandra Westermann has founded a job platform that aims to alleviate the shortage of skilled workers by offering more flexible working arrangements. The founder does so by bringing family-friendly companies together with mothers and fathers who want to work. An interview.
1. Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Sandra and I’m the founder of Superheldin.io, the first job platform that brings family-friendly companies together with mothers and fathers.
We want to solve two problems with Superheldin: We want to help mothers get back into the job market and counteract the shortage of skilled workers in companies.
I worked as a production manager for about fifteen years at various TV production companies, where I was responsible for the budgets and all organizational tasks, ranging from finding team members to implementing film shootings. Looking for work after taking parental leave, however, was more difficult than I had expected.
For days, I looked for job search sites that offered flexible working arrangements, but never found anything. I then looked into the problem in more depth and received an amazing amount of good feedback about a concept for a “Job platform that brings family-friendly companies together with mothers (and fathers).” That was when I decided to set it up myself. Our team includes Jana, who takes care of content and the social community, and Jessy, who helps me with all administrative activities.
Superheldin brings skilled workers together with family-friendly companies
2. But that’s nothing out of the box!
It is true that job platforms exist. There are generalist sites that cover all occupations and groups of people, and there are specialist sites that concentrate on specific industries. A job portal that is dedicated to family-friendliness hasn’t existed in this form yet.
3. What has been your biggest challenge so far?
The biggest challenge became clear pretty quickly. It was the classic chicken and egg problem for Superheldin. If there aren’t any jobs, then you don’t have any applicants; if you don’t have any applicants, there aren’t any jobs. We’ve only been online for a few months now, but I’m confident that it will balance out in the near term.
4. Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty: How is business going?
We’re really happy with how things are going. Our social media has more than 3.000 followers on each channel since launching three months ago. We get an unbelievable amount of feedback from moms who are excited about Superheldin, and the reach of our website is growing daily. We also have paying companies that realize how important the topic of family-friendliness is in this day and age. In addition to classic advertisements, they can also present themselves with interview formats.
Companies are realizing the importance of family friendliness
5. What does Munich mean to you?
To be honest, I moved here from the Rhineland area, which is why I particularly enjoy being so close to the mountains and Italy.
There are also some great startups from Munich. Because I’m just starting to become active in the Munich startup scene, I’m excited about potential communication.
6. How will your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we be seeing you at an Epic Fail Night soon?
As long as we have the issue of a shortage of skilled workers as well as moms who want to get back into the working world, I’m optimistic about the future of Superheldin.
7. Hiking or beer garden?
Hiking to the beer garden. As a Munich newcomer, I’m totally fascinated by the Bavarian beer garden culture.