Two women and their path to business succession: New episodes of the Youngstarts podcast

The joint project Gründergeist #Youngstarts Münsterland interviews Jacqueline Esplör (Nottuln) and Birgit Hövener (Münster).

Birgit Hövener already had experience with self-employment, for Jacqueline Esplör it was a leap into cold water: now both women run their own businesses. Birgit Hövener has taken over the online distribution of Jalall D'or in Münster, Jacqueline Esplör the Stiftsbuchhandlung in Nottuln. They report on their journey there in the new podcast episodes of the joint project Gründergeist #Youngstarts Münsterland.

First, the Youngstarts team is a guest of Jacqueline Esplör at the Stiftsbuchhandlung Esplör in Nottuln. Born in Nottuln, she went to Düsseldorf to study German and philosophy, but always wanted to return to her home country. So when she went to her predecessors, Mr. and Mrs. Maschmann, to buy her books during the semester break, as she always did, she thought, "That's it." After her studies, she started there as a part-time employee, then in July 2021 she became the owner of the bookshop. In an interview with Frank Sibbing (Münsterland e.V.) and Nikolai Brinkmöller (spieker media GmbH), she tells us what tips she got from her predecessors, how her family reacted and what challenges she had to face or which still lie ahead of her.

In another episode, we go to Birgit Hövener and her company Jalall D'or in Münster. She has taken over the online distribution of Jalall D'or, and is now pushing the online sale of organic products. For Birgit Hövener, the path to this was both a coincidence and a stroke of luck. She was previously self-employed in the real estate sector and then heard that the online shop was to be sold. "The enthusiasm for the products was there immediately," she tells Lea Wilkens (TAFH Münster) and Nikolai Brinkmöller (spieker media GmbH) in conversation. So Birgit Hövener took action, and within a few months she took over the online shop in 2019. In this interview, she talks about the hurdles she faced during the handover, why she decided on a new design and what changes she would like to bring about in the company structure.

You can listen to this and all other podcast episodes at www.youngstarts-muensterland.com as well as on various well-known audio platforms such as Spotify, Deezer, Soundcloud, Apple Podcast and Google Podcast. Even more episodes are already being planned.

Behind the production of the podcast is the joint project Gründergeist #Youngstarts Münsterland. The project strengthens the intensity of start-ups in Münsterland and opens up new start-up potential and target groups with its offers. More information is available at www.youngstarts-muensterland.com.

It is funded by the European Union and the Ministry of Economics of North Rhine-Westphalia within the framework of the ERDF call "Regio.NRW". Münsterland e.V. is implementing it as lead partner together with the following partners: Wirtschaftsförderung Kreis Coesfeld GmbH (wfc), Wirtschaftsförderung im Kreis Warendorf (gfw), Technologieförderung Münster GmbH, TAFH Münster GmbH, Wirtschaftsförderungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft Steinfurt mbH (WESt) and Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft für den Kreis Borken mbH (WFG).