In April, Lenny Zywietz successfully completed his traineeship at redRobin and is now supporting our team in Hamburg as a Junior Communications Consultant. In an interview, the business psychology graduate told us why he likes to get to grips with complex financial topics, what his entry into PR was like as a lateral entrant and how jumping into the cold water became the absolute highlight of his traineeship.

Lenny, you recently became a Junior Communications Consultant. Before that, you started as a trainee at redRobin. What has changed about your work?

Not that much, actually (laughs). At redRobin, I was able to work on many projects for our clients right from the beginning and quickly took on responsibility myself. Of course, my colleagues have always supported me with a lot of helpful feedback, for example on what makes a good press release or which strategies are the most target-oriented for reaching our clients' target groups. The biggest change is that as a junior consultant I now also have my own clients to look after. In addition, I am now in contact with journalists even more often, for example when we have an exciting interview partner. I particularly enjoy that.

And what was the highlight of your traineeship?

This was certainly my first strategy workshop that I accompanied together with our agency manager Susanne Wiesemann. It was for a service provider in the real estate sector and about the question, which PR strategy can bring the company forward. We had prepared ourselves well, but such an event always feels like jumping in cold water. Eventually, we successfully concluded the workshop and were able to help the client with his decision. Some of my ideas were also realized – of course, that's a great feeling.

Have you always been interested in corporate communications?

Actually, I am a lateral entrant into PR. But I have been interested in global economics and the financial markets since my school days. During my year abroad in Warminster, England, I first took courses in business studies and later started studying business administration. That quickly became too numbers-heavy for me – so I switched to business psychology and dealt primarily with the question of which brand categories consumers remember particularly well when it comes to sponsorships. What then convinced me about public relations as a concept was that a brand can be remembered without financial investments, simply by providing convincing content.

A task that PR has to achieve again and again ...

... definitely. At the end of the day, it's all about recognizing and addressing the wishes of our clients' target groups while linking positive emotion to a brand. After my studies, the traineeship at redRobin was the perfect opportunity to put my theoretical knowledge into practice. Shares, bonds, ETFs and other forms of monetary investments are often a black box for many private investors and are therefore associated with negative emotions. Nevertheless, these topics are important – especially when it comes to one's own retirement plans. Presenting these complex products and topics in a way that is understandable, but also correct and legally secure for our clients, is what excites me the most about PR.

Thank you for the interview!
 

About the person
After studying business psychology at the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg, Lenny Zywietz started out as a trainee at redRobin. Since April 2023, he has been supporting and advising clients from the finance and fintech industry as a junior communications consultant. Lenny also gives free rein to his creativity outside of his work at redRobin – whether with his own compositions on the keyboard or as an artist – preferably with canvas and acrylic paint. Many of his artworks adorn the walls of his parents, friends and family.