Majbritt Sandberg - Scandinavia

In 1994, when I started my first company within publishing, one of the services I offered for clients was playful learning workshops. They recommended me to other clients within the meeting and event industry, an industry which had so much passion and ideas.

In 2017, I applied to be a speaker at the Association of Talent Development in San Diego, a conference with 10,000 HR and learning specialists. I had only spoken on stages in Europe, and the U.S. was next on my list. I was delighted when I got accepted as a speaker, and even more delighted when I heard that [former U.S. President] Barack Obama was the keynote speaker and I had front-row seats.

I strongly believe in lifelong learning, and I hope that I still continue to be inspired and curious about developing both my personal and professional leadership and engagement in the industry. I am very extroverted and love to engage in different projects, and I have a special place in my heart to mentor young entrepreneurs.

I still hope to accomplish the balancing act between family, friends, love and work. It is so easy to get caught up in the details of running a business. Taking the time to relax, travel and have fun with family and friends needs to be taken just as seriously. 

Surviving the financial crisis in 2008-2009 was extremely challenging. Not knowing if clients would be in business long enough to pay you and having 10 people on the payroll who needed to support their families gave me many sleepless nights.

To say how MPI has impacted my career is very simple: It is all about the people. I never get tired of that wonderful feeling when you meet your peers around the world at different conferences—creative, fun-loving, curious, inspirational people. Some you perhaps only meet a few times, but who feel like longtime friends. My MPI family is willing to open their network if I find myself in a challenge or need feedback.

I am president of the MPI Scandinavia Chapter. It is a lot of hard work building up the volunteer leadership, but at the same time it is extremely gratifying to be able to build on your personal and professional leadership.

We are in the experience industry and we need to take a deep dive on how conferences can be more transformative. We need experiences to have an impact, emotionally as well as igniting our brain cells. Customer experience has been a buzzword for many years, but I think it is important to realize that the key to awesome customer experience is putting focus on the employee experience first.

Sustainability is very close to my heart and has been fundamental during my career. I believe in the triple bottom line also called the three Ps (planet, people, profit), and finding that sweet spot is so important. Values matter, and profitability and responsibility can go hand in hand.

I am passionate about traveling, food, wine and family—and if combined it is like a perfect bite. I have traveled with my two kids, Holger, 18, and Emma, 15, since they were infants. Last fall, I took Emma to Hong Kong to explore the Far East, and I hope to take Holger to Alsace in France (he shares an interest in food and wine).

Photo by Soliman Productions Inc.