Day 12: A Company Curtain Call

I planned on going to bed early last night, but that didn’t happen. Instead, I couldn’t sleep until 2 again, which made waking up a lot worse.

I planned on waking up at 7:30 to do a full face of makeup plus a nicer eyeshadow look…but did I do that? No, I did not. Instead, I snoozed two other alarms and got up at 7:52. I managed to do an acceptable amount of makeup, especially considering my eyes were very irritated this morning.

For breakfast, I didn’t have my ginger shot this morning, but I had coffee and orange juice, raspberry toast, and cucumbers.

As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by Anna Karin, Sara, Anna, and Rolf. Everyone was so friendly, and it was nice to see smiling faces.

I started with the tour, and it made me smile to see teddy bears used in place of dummies on some of the models. Every product moved so smoothly, and there were adaptations of every kind. It was impressive.

Then, Hass gave an overview on the engineering process, and I was chosen to demonstrate a certain concept regarding seat angles.

After testing different angles, their employees determined that a four degree angle was the best to put their seats at. After four degrees, the costs outweigh the benefits.

Once the groups came back together, we all ate lunch together, and it was fun to have conversations with everyone. They really care about what they do at BraunAbility.

To end our day, Anna Karin and Sara gave a presentation and led discussion about the company’s mission and values.

Together, we made a flower with their values, and it helps to see how they find success and grow internally and externally.

“You can always make a new flower.”

Anna Karin Holmqvist

After that, we were bussed to Remente. Instead of taking the elevator like a normal person, I decided to walk up nine flights of stairs. I’ll admit, it winded me a lot more than I thought it would, and I was really out of breath.

Remente was just a straight presentation, but David was so informative and really taught us a lot.

“We help people reclaim their brain.”

David Brudö

The idea behind Remente previously came from mentally training athletes, specifically the Swedish Women’s Golf team.

What really hit me was when David talked about his personal experience with mental health issues. He talked about the “I’m not crazy” mentality, which I can relate to. A lot of people don’t get help until it’s too late, because they feel stigmatized.

“Performance and well-being are two sides of the same coin.”

David Brudö

He talked about being kinder to ourselves, and that is something I can definitely learn from. I am always so hard on myself, even for little things or when everyone else says I have nothing to worry about. It’s all about keeping the logic there and not letting stress override our brains.

After Remente, we went back to the hostel and had an hour to relax before our reservations, so I called my grandma. I told her about the last few days and ironed out my plans for once I get back to the states.

At 6:30, a few of us met to walk over to Göteburgare Vegan, a vegan burger restaurant that we had reservations at 7 for. One of Jackson’s high school friends who is studying abroad met us there, along with Eric, our Gothenburg University student.

I’ve never had vegan anything before, but it was really good! I was surprised, to say the least. It was a quiz night at the restaurant, so we also had some fun with that.

We headed back after everyone was finished. We took the tram to our stop, and from there, Jackson said goodbye to his friend.

The rest of the night, I just had some downtime, and I called my gram again and planned out my agenda for our free time tomorrow.

It was a busy day, and I’m going to miss our blogging nights soon.

Daily Reflections

1. Put people first, and then you’ll have a staff and company to be proud of.
2. Be kind to yourself.
3. Vegan food can taste good too.