annemarie Schneider
Head of Global Key Accounts Non-Food
Jungbunzlauer
In this insightful conversation, Women in Chemicals sits down with Annemarie Schneider, Head of Global Key Accounts Non-Food, based in Brussels, Belgium. Annemarie shares her remarkable journey from a finance career that left her unfulfilled to a thriving leadership role in the chemical sector, a field she entered without a chemistry background and has come to love. She speaks candidly about navigating male-dominated workplaces, overcoming experiences of bullying, leading former peers with grace, and raising three children while building a global career across multiple countries and cultures. Her story is one of resilience, self-awareness, and the courage to continuously evolve.
From Finance to the Chemical Sector: A Deliberate Pivot
Annemarie began her career in finance after studying business economics, but within two years, she recognized that the work left her feeling disconnected from its impact. Despite the stability finance offered, she found herself restless in back-office roles and unable to envision a fulfilling long-term path. She returned to school for her master's degree and made a deliberate shift into sales and commercial roles, spending time in London and Spain during her studies. Her fluency in six languages and her deep desire to engage with diverse cultures and people made the transition feel natural. Rather than seeing the change as a risk, she viewed it as an alignment with whom she truly was.
Rising to Leadership: Embracing a Role Before Feeling Ready
When Annemarie was offered the position of Head of Global Key Accounts, her first instinct was to question why she had been chosen. Others around her had more experience, yet she learned to recognize the distinct value she could bring. Transitioning into a leadership role over former peers required a thoughtful approach. She met with each team member individually to understand their working styles and strengths, fostered a psychologically safe environment where her team felt comfortable and had trust in her confidentiality by sharing any type of feedback, and remained humble enough to learn from those with greater tenure. She was deliberate in coaching her team toward their own solutions rather than simply prescribing answers.
Learning to Lead by Learning What Not to Do
Some of Annemarie's most formative leadership lessons came from navigating difficult workplace environments earlier in her career, including not gender-balanced or mixed cultures and experiences of bullying. Rather than letting these experiences diminish her confidence, she channeled them into a personal leadership philosophy grounded in empathy, constructive feedback, openness to different perspectives, and resilience. She became a student of conflict resolution and collaboration, and she sees these challenges not as setbacks but as the very experiences that shaped the kind of leader she aspired to become.
Resilience Rooted in Adaptability
Growing up with a father whose Army career required frequent moves across Germany gave Annemarie an early education in navigating uncertainty. She learned to observe her environment carefully, identify challenges, and make proactive decisions about her own future, including which languages to learn and which communities to invest in. Having experienced life in Eastern Germany before reunification and later across Western Europe, she developed a nuanced and expansive worldview. This capacity for adaptation has remained central to her professional and personal identity, informing how she approaches change with curiosity rather than resistance.
Balance, Boundaries, and the Whole Person
Annemarie is a mother of three and a committed athlete who finds renewal through volleyball, karate, and horseback riding. For her, sport is not simply recreation; it is a discipline that demands presence, clears negative energy, and resets her focus for the demands of leadership. Flexibility has always been non-negotiable for her when evaluating professional opportunities, and she has learned to ask pointed questions during the interview process to gauge whether an organization genuinely supports it. She is intentional with her time, values her personal well-being deeply, and sees both as essential to sustaining a high-performing career over the long term.
Advice for the Women in Chemicals Community
Annemarie's message to the WIC community is both grounding and energizing. She encourages every woman to pursue her goals without waiting for the perfect moment or the most direct path. She lives by the belief that the road to success often includes necessary detours, and that is not a flaw in the journey but a feature of it. One of her defining mantras is: "I never lose. I either win or I learn." She urges women to accept challenges as gifts rather than obstacles to resist, trusting that each one carries something of value. Her story is a testament to the idea that it is never too late to grow, lead, or redirect your path toward something more meaningful.
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