-You at Jula have successfully taken a Swedish family business to a large international retail chain over 19 years and have also broadened the business. You have also managed to maintain the strong corporate culture in the company. What is the secret behind the success?

As always, there is not just one universal secret. For me, it has been important to be a good ambassador and to live the Jula spirit. I am a person who is driven by developing companies and people, and I am curious to learn things I cannot do and constantly strive forward. I am also a competitive person who likes to win. I also start a lot from building a strong team with different employees who have different roles and strengths, where together we form a strong team. I focus on what we achieve and want to create conditions for us to be able to get there.

Jula is a fantastic company with many talented, committed, and driven employees where we have built a culture that people enjoy working in. Where we strive to develop both ourselves as individuals, our teams, and our company for the best of our customers. Over the years, we have had the ambition to grow sustainably with profitability and to challenge ourselves and constantly grow. We are forward-leaning and proactive, and we try to see opportunities.

Jula is a family business, and that means that it is not just numbers that count. To succeed as an external CEO in running a family business, it is important to be responsive and find ways to deliver the company and the corporate culture that exists in the owners' vision. At Jula, I have had the privilege of working closely with one of (in my opinion) Sweden's most successful entrepreneurs, Karl-Johan Blank. As a CEO, no two days are ever the same, and there are always activities to be done, measures that need to be put in place, plans to be made, problems to be solved, communication with employees, owners, stakeholders, customers, etc. It is fantastically fun. At Jula, we are also constantly commercial and see business and opportunity. We must never lose focus on why we exist.

As CEO of this fantastic group, it has been an incredibly fun and exciting journey where I have learned an enormous amount, and I hope that I have contributed to Jula being in the place where we are today. After 19 years at Jula, including 10 years as CEO, I feel that it is a good time for both me and the company to start the next part of the journey. Everything has its time, and I am curious about what I can contribute in places other than Jula with the experience and knowledge that I have built up. 10 years as CEO is a long time, but it has been so fun, challenging, and stimulating that it has been difficult to make the decision to quit.

-We now want to find my two successors. At Jula, it is important that we as leaders are good ambassadors and live the Jula spirit. Being driven by curiosity, commitment, responsibility, and with a strong commercial focus and a constant desire to develop and improve is a prerequisite for succeeding as CEO at Jula, Joachim points out.

- As we have previously worked with the Executive Search company Based On People (BOP) in several recruitments, we have given them the task of finding my two successors. Karl-Johan and Peder (owner and chairman of the board, respectively) are now working together with BOP to find the people who, together with approximately 4,000 employees, will continue to develop the Jula Group and realize all future plans. Do we need to add that these are two of Sweden's most fun and down-to-earth CEO jobs?!

Want to know more? contact Eva.Holmgren@basedonpeople.se and Per.jerndahl@basedonpeople.se