Astrid Schilcher

“Versatile” is a fitting description of Astrid. After studying art history and translation for four semesters at the University of Graz, she began her professional career in the financial sector. She started as a client service representative in a bank and then moved to the insurance industry, in the key account and agent management division of GRAWE.

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Here she advanced to assistant to the sales director, and then assumed responsibility for the development and management of sales controlling. In this position she was responsible for the operational management of around 1,000 sales representatives. While working fulltime, she returned to the university and completed a degree in economics.

 

One of Astrid’s responsibilities at GRAWE was training the company’s foreign subsidiaries in sales controlling processes. This initial exposure to training sparked a desire to combine her passion for sales, consulting, and employee development on a broader level. In 2006, she made the leap into self-employment.

 

Astrid’s heart beats for SMEs in the industrial B2B sector. Her particular areas of expertise are new customer acquisition—a skill in which she is exceptionally proficient and pursues with extreme passion—as well as sales communication and storytelling. Since 2008, she has been managing her company together with Bruce Straight. The two are also privately a couple.

 

When Astrid is not working with clients, she is active as a novelist. Writing fiction feeds her creativity and provides excellent training in eloquence and precise expression. Her third book, the crime novel Grazer Irrwege, will be published in the fall of 2022.