“You must make the best out of what you have. Think positive – always!” says our very positive-minded Neville.
He started working for DB Schenker in Cape Town, South Africa, before moving to Essen, Germany, and is currently based in Singapore. As a DB Schenker employee, Neville has realized his dream of working on three different continents, all while broadening his logistics knowledge and cultural experience.
"You must make the best out of what you have. Believe in a brighter future and think positive - always! My personal slogan - 'The best is yet to come.'"
From Africa via Europe and Singapore - never give up, believe in yourself and push yourself
Seeking to live out his dream, Neville searched for an international company in Cape Town that provided the opportunity to live and work on different continents. He found what he was looking for in DB Schenker, where Neville started in 2009 as a warehouse manager charged with turning around a site that was losing money.
After driving a successful turnaround at that site, Neville quickly took on more responsibilities to become the regional Logistics Manager. In 2012, he participated in a project manager seminar in Germany, where he met some of his colleagues at the Head Office in Essen. This was the chance he had been waiting for: Almost immediately, he was encouraged to relocate to Europe, taking on the opportunity as Manager of Workflow and Knowledge Excellence in Contract Logistics in 2013.
A Blending of Two Different Cultures
Upon moving to Essen, Neville immediately experienced a culture shock. “My colleagues in Germany were so well organized and focused on problem solving in a way I had not known before,” he says. This brought a new perspective into his life. I learned how not to jump to conclusions too fast without finding the root cause of the problem.
Talking to Neville, you have the impression that he now has two cultures combined in his personality. From Africa, he holds a strong belief in positive thinking; from Germany, he has learned to stop and analyze a problem before deciding. Having started his career as a problem solver and being faced with multiple challenges every day, this attitude was key to Neville’s further development.
One other shock Neville experienced in Essen was the long, cold and grey winters where the sun doesn't always shine as brightly as in Africa but he could at least enjoy some snow!
Falling in Love with Singapore
In early 2018, he was assigned to a six-week project in Singapore. Neville immediately fell in love with the people and the city and started to seek out his next carrier step. He relocated again in 2019, this time becoming Assistant General Manager in the Schenker Singapore Organization.
A problem solver by nature, Neville says he always takes his time to pinpoint the problem areas and in collaboration with his team, figure out a way to solve them. This philosophy helps him today as Business Unit Operational Leader in the Applied Materials Program, where he leads, coaches, and inspires 370 team members working in four different facilities.
As Neville moved across three different continents, his wife has been firmly by his side building on their future for the past 30 years. The couple’s children are grown up and married; their son lives in Cape Town, South Africa and their daughter lives in Essen, Germany.
