5 Questions for Pascal Löw, Plant Manager Florin AG

Making a career - what does that mean anyway? Many people associate it with professional advancement, an impressive career, prestige, a high salary and success. What is it that makes people successful? In this series of interviews, we have portrayed a number of business people with very different career paths.

The same questions always bring up different answers, insights and wisdom. If there is one thing that stands out, it is this: Professional experience is always more than the sum of its parts, i.e. the individual positions held over the course of a career. The career path may be straightforward, have detours, be conventional or unusual, begin academically or practically oriented and lead down unexpected paths.

As a partner in executive and professional search, we at Batterman Consulting AG believe that a fulfilling career is no coincidence. There are rules and tips on how to improve your career opportunities. For us, "making a career" means constantly working on yourself and developing yourself further. This also means stumbling from time to time, perhaps even falling down, but always getting up again. Just like on a real path, there are twists and turns, you end up at a dead end or take a new direction.

The career path of our interviewee of the month should initially have led through the air, but is now based in a very "down-to-earth" industry that is not particularly well known. Ten years ago, Pascal Löw joined the family business Florin AG as Technical Manager and has been part of the management team as Operations Manager since 2020. The family business, based in Muttenz, controls the entire production process, from the selection and pressing of the seeds to the refining of the crude oils, their filling or further processing in the margarine and fat factory and storage in the oil tanks or ultra-modern high-bay warehouses. We all come into direct or indirect contact with the products of Florin AG on a daily basis - or, to be more precise, "taste" them.

Between the career poles of "air" and "earth", however, lay an exciting, varied course. After completing his apprenticeship as a mechanical draughtsman, Pascal Löw studied mechanical engineering, specializing in process engineering. Building on the development of a parabolic mirror as his diploma thesis, he worked in development and product management for many years and, as an inventor, was able to register several patents and successfully launch them on the market.

His pedagogical experience as a part-time lecturer at the technical vocational baccalaureate in the subjects of mathematics, physics and geometry helped him to find the right partners in the constantly growing management positions. As a founding member and founder of a new company in the field of mechanical and plant engineering for the pharmaceutical and food industries, Pascal Löw was able to further expand his experience in product and market development, supplemented by growing operational optimization and his international activities for well-known corporations. All this experience still helps him to make the right decisions together with his colleagues in his role as Operations Manager at Florin AG.

Find out in the interview why Pascal Löw changed his mind about becoming a professional pilot, how he starts and structures his working day and what beliefs shape his professional decisions.  

Mr. Löw, if you had taken a different path when you were younger, what would you have become?

"Pilot or emergency flight physician, and preferably both at Rega. Both professions - especially in the 1980s - required a high level of academic achievement and were not easily accessible with a high school diploma due to the "numerus clausus". I had a lot of interests in my youth and pursued them with a lot of passion, but unfortunately school was not a priority. The math and science subjects were too easy for me to compensate for the other subjects. My grade point average was good, but my teacher at the time advised me correctly and advised me against grammar school. I hardly had to make any effort at elementary school and yet I wasn't clever enough to continue this trend at grammar school. The fact that I ended up studying mechanical engineering after completing an apprenticeship as a mechanical draughtsman is actually a very fitting reflection of my teenage years and my subsequent determination to follow a passion.

Pilot training was also possible through the military and private training. When Swissair was grounded in 2001, I was unable to start training as a commercial pilot and was glad to have already completed my mechanical engineering degree.

For me personally, fate was kind to me in that I had already experienced three major crises in aviation over the past 20 years.

So what would I have become? A pilot or, in the end, a mechanical engineer again via a detour? In any case, I would make the same decision again today under the same conditions."

What is your favorite way to start your day?

"You should look forward to something every day - even if it's just a good book before going to sleep.

With an espresso and a view of nature from the living room, I like to go through the day ahead in my mind in silence after getting up. I think about the upcoming challenges and highlights and prepare myself for the next 18 hours. This allows me to tackle the tasks that are less motivating for me with much more commitment, leaving enough room for the motivating tasks. This makes both a success and keeps me focused."

What does success mean to you personally?

"Success is personal when you are in harmony with what you have achieved. For me personally, the greatest success is to achieve something together that seemed impossible to achieve or at least was not quantifiable as success at the beginning.

Professionally, this can be a challenging project, mastering a crisis or corporate development and resolving interpersonal conflicts. In addition, developing a common understanding is one of the greatest successes for me personally.

The latter provides the biggest boost, both professionally and privately, and ultimately brings fulfillment. I think the feeling of being "needed" by others in many situations in life and being able to accept help in return describes success for me as a whole. "

What would you work for free for a week?

"I was very active in the swimming club for a good 20 years. During countless training sessions, weekends and training weeks, my reward was bright young faces, good friendships and the acquaintance with my wife. 

But my answer to the question above is actually: accompany my sister on one of her development projects in a crisis area and do the most unpleasant work for a week, which is considered unpleasant even in such areas. But I still don't have the courage to do that!"

What was the best professional advice you ever received?

"My parents ran a horticultural business. It would have been obvious to carry on the tradition in the third generation. But my parents' unbiased attitude towards my career choice was also the best advice for my career.

"I should always follow the path that inspires me the most, as long as I have the energy and the desire to 'run'."

I can only achieve sustainable success and the necessary balance with passion. The easiest path will never fulfill me and will never challenge me to surpass myself. I still apply this advice today, both professionally and privately."

We would like to thank Mr. Löw for his contribution to this article. This interview was conducted in writing.

Editor: Neslihan Steiner