April 18, 2022, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Nils Michaelis’ career has taken him to several countries and to well-known companies such as Google and LEGO. He credits GRCC with giving him the best start.
Start at GRCC and go anywhere. Every former student has a story to tell about how GRCC gave them the education and opportunity to be successful.
Michaelis started at GRCC in 2003, the same year he arrived in the United States from his native Germany.
“GRCC helped me jump-start my career in various ways: Immersing myself into American culture and engaging with both U.S. and other international students widened my horizon as a human being, but also in academics and the possibilities that are out there,” he said. “Attending GRCC, I also discovered something I didn’t think I had in me before: drive and ambition. That naturally came in handy during the remainder of my academic, as well as my professional, career for the years to come.”
He was active in Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society for two-year colleges; Delta Pi Alpha and the International Students Organization. After earning his associate degree in 2005, he transferred to Grand Valley State University, where he received a bachelor’s in advertising and public relations.
Michaelis had planned to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Michigan but instead went to work for Google in Dublin.
“I believe that having a healthy ambition and drive within you should take you where you want to go,” said Michaelis, who eventually received his master’s in global consumer marketing from the University of Liverpool in 2011. “If that means getting a degree in a field that interests you, that is a good start in the right direction. But one should never be afraid to change direction along the way.”
After five years in product marketing at Google, he joined Trustpilot, a startup consumer review platform in Copenhagen, Denmark.
“Over the past 10 years, I worked both in startup and larger enterprise environments in either marketing or product roles, learning what it takes to build successful digital markets,” he said.
Last year, he joined the LEGO Group, which is expanding beyond the well-loved toy bricks to become a digital consumer brand. He's a product management coach.
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