Magazin
Portrait of

Stefanie Mirlach
Consultant at h&z
Former pro soccer player Stefanie Mirlach as h&z consultant
She played for the national youth team, FC Bayern and Turbine Potsdam. Today, Stefanie Mirlach works as a consultant at h&z and uses many of the skills she has acquired as a professional athlete.
Soccer has been my great passion since I was a child. It wasn’t easy for me to say part with the round leather – in the last ten years I played for the Bundesliga teams of FC Bayern and Turbine Potsdam, the most successful women’s soccer club in Europe at the time. At the same time, I was part of the German national team – and went through all teams from the U15 to the U23 – a cool time. We have participated in European and World Championships.
The highlights were the World Cup in Chile and then the U20 World Cup in Germany, where we became world champions in our own country. One of the reasons why I finally gave up my soccer career was that we women can’t have a future as professional soccer players. We make a few thousand euros and not millions like the male professional players.
Team player with focus on strategic management
But I always knew that I would start a different, second professional career – and after I had decided on the Master of Business Administration, I wanted to focus on it. I have been part of the h&z team since January 2017, first as an analyst and now as a consultant. Being a very ambitious person, it is easy for me to set high standards for myself. Discipline, endurance, and team spirit are certainly qualities that describe me. I took them with me from sports and I use them in consulting. During my time playing soccer, I also learned to deal with setbacks and to grit my teeth and make it through.
I have already completed several strategy and purchasing projects – my main focus in the Master’s program was strategic management. I enjoyed the projects very much. The consulting job suits me, because like a professional athlete, you travel a lot and get to know many different people and must be able to „play“ with everyone on the team.
With the h&z team at the Munich Consultants Cup
A lot of things are easy at h&z: You can ask any colleague at any time – no matter what level – and always get an answer. And you can learn a lot in a very short time, because many very competent people work here with different backgrounds.
In my spare time, I like to jog, hike, swim or cycle – preferably outdoors in the Bavarian Oberland. To stay in shape, I run half marathons and do fitness and athletic conditioning. Sometimes I put on my cleats and kick the ball around with my colleagues – at the last retreat for example, or when we play at the Consultants Cup. I am still the only woman on the h&z team. But there are some really good kickers in our team. Until now I have not been able to get my female colleagues interested in playing soccer – not yet, anyway!