Journey Toward Design Leadership
Building a content machine that generated €2.5M in revenue, 3.3M leads, and reached 2.1M monthly readers.
When I joined Babbel Magazine in 2014, it was a small content experiment. Over six years, I transformed it into a full-scale content marketing operation, building and leading a team that would become central to Babbel's growth strategy.
The Challenge
No established team or process
When I arrived, Babbel Magazine had no dedicated team, no editorial calendar, and no systematic approach to content creation or distribution.
Content needed to drive business results
The magazine couldn't just be interesting—it needed to measurably contribute to Babbel's user acquisition and revenue goals.
Scale across multiple languages
As a language learning company, Babbel needed content that worked across markets, requiring coordination of writers and editors in multiple languages.
My Approach
I approached this challenge in three phases: building the foundation, scaling the operation, and establishing sustainable leadership practices.
Phase 1: Building the Foundation
I established the core editorial processes that would enable consistent, quality content production. This included creating style guides, editorial calendars, and workflows for content review and approval.
- Created comprehensive style guides for voice and tone
- Established editorial calendars aligned with marketing campaigns
- Built content review workflows that maintained quality at scale
Phase 2: Scaling the Operation
With foundations in place, I focused on hiring and developing a team that could expand our content output while maintaining the quality standards we'd established.
- Recruited and onboarded writers and editors across multiple languages
- Implemented regular 1:1s and structured career development paths
- Created feedback-driven culture that improved content quality
Phase 3: Sustainable Leadership
The final phase focused on building leadership practices that would outlast my tenure—ensuring the team could continue to thrive and grow.
- Developed team leads who could independently manage their domains
- Established metrics and reporting that connected content to business outcomes
- Created documentation and training materials for institutional knowledge
The Solution
A content operation that combined editorial excellence with data-driven optimization—treating content as both an art and a science.
By building a team culture centered on continuous improvement and clear career progression, I created an environment where talented people wanted to stay and grow. This stability allowed us to compound our expertise and consistently improve our output.
The leadership practices I developed at Babbel—structured career paths, regular 1:1s, feedback-driven cultures—became the foundation for my approach to team management that I still apply today.
The Results
Revenue Impact
The content we created directly attributed to €2.5M in revenue, proving that quality content marketing delivers measurable business results.
Lead Generation
Our content strategy generated 3.3M leads over my tenure, feeding Babbel's user acquisition pipeline with qualified prospects who engaged with our educational content.
Audience Growth
Monthly readers at peak—transforming Babbel Magazine from a small experiment into one of the company's most valuable marketing assets.
Key Takeaways
Leadership is Built, Not Given
I learned that leadership emerges from consistent action—building trust, developing people, and delivering results—not from titles or formal authority.
Systems Enable Scale
The processes and structures we created allowed us to grow from a small operation to millions of readers without sacrificing quality or burning out the team.
People-First Management
Investing in career development and creating clear growth paths built a stable, high-performing team that could consistently deliver excellent work.