Joanna Gansel’s enthusiasm for Fenner Drives is evident as soon as you talk to her. She is a valuable member of our European sales team in our Dewsbury, UK location. Joanna is in her 11th year with Fenner Drives and manages our Scandinavia, Central and Eastern European territories. “I visit our existing distributor partners in this region and assist them with developing growth opportunities through joint end-user visits, marketing campaigns, and attendance in local industrial exhibitions.” When she is not on the road, she Joanna concentrates on projects she has developed with End-Users and OEMs that are part of the Fenner Drives growth strategy.
Throughout the year, Joanna participates in industry events and tradeshows such as the Future Leaders seminars through the European Power Transmission Distributors Association (EPTDA). She is a member of the Know Your Market Committee where she helps develop product line intelligence, economic forecasts, and market reports to the entire EPTDA organization.
Joanna thrives on developing and maintaining relationships with her customers. She explains, “Sometimes it takes a long time to persuade customers to use our product instead of next best alternative. I love those moments, when after months or occasionally years of communication, a customer finally buys [our product] and admits this is the best investment they have made, and the product helped them to save time and money. It is great to see them realize a cost savings.”
Joanna has achieved success during her 10+ years at Fenner Drives, “I have won Fenner Drives Explorer award in 2014 for reaching out to numerous customers in various regions and successfully promoting our products. On a personal level I have completed an Acre Breaker obstacle course run in 2018 and finished in the top 10, which was a very big deal and achievement for me, “she says proudly.
Joanna is the mother of a 6-year-old daughter, and they share September as their birthday month. Her daughter loves going to school and learning new things. Together, they enjoy going for family walks. Joanna has some long-term goals, too. She explains,” I love to travel and explore new places. I hope maybe one day I can move to Italy and live in a small cottage somewhere in Tuscany. I love Italian food, particularly pasta and gelato! I started going to gym last year after many years of not exercising. And I started donating blood. I want to give back something to community and I think it’s one of the ways to help save lives.”
So, wish Joanna (and her daughter) a happy birthday this month when you see her!