Tina built and led the CEO Office at Babbel from scratch as the company scaled from €100m to €300m in revenue and prepared for IPO readiness.

Here's what that actually looked like.

Operational Infrastructure

What was built:

Decision-making frameworks and ownership clarity
Designed decision frameworks and one-pagers that clarified ownership and accelerated execution. These frameworks were later rolled out to specific teams across the company, creating consistent decision-making processes at scale.

Governance rhythm and strategic planning
Created the governance cadence, company-wide OKR rhythm and strategic roadmap that gave every team visibility into priorities. Weekly executive syncs, quarterly strategy reviews and clear planning rhythms replaced reactive firefighting with proactive coordination. This infrastructure gave the EA team the structure needed to coordinate effectively across functions.

Systems evolution and workflow automation
As complexity grew, operational systems evolved deliberately. Asana was introduced for strategic planning. AI-enabled tools were integrated where they demonstrably reduced manual work. Executive onboarding was redesigned in collaboration with People & Organisation, Internal IT and Financial systems, compressing weeks into a structured programme. Intelligent scheduling, automated document flows and integrated tracking eliminated repetitive work.

What changed:
The CEO reclaimed time for strategic work. Decisions that previously took weeks happened in days. New executives integrated smoothly with significantly reduced time to productivity.

Executive Communications

What was built:

Board preparation and governance standards
Transformed board preparation from multi-week scramble into structured process with consistent templates and quarterly rhythm. Communication standards aligned with public-company expectations.

CEO visibility and thought leadership
Increased the CEO's external visibility by 1,000%+ on LinkedIn through structured content strategy: weekly posts in an authentic voice, consistent themes around language learning and edtech, genuine engagement with industry conversations. This positioned the CEO as a recognised voice in the space, strengthening Babbel's reputation with investors, media and talent.

Internal communication systems
Built the infrastructure that translated leadership decisions into company-wide clarity, in partnership with the Internal Communications team.

Quarterly all-hands and company stand-ups connected strategic goals to day-to-day work. Executive AMAs gave employees direct access to leadership. Regular updates and structured rhythms kept more than 1,000 employees aligned without information overload.

External communication strategy
Led the executive communications strategy, setting quarterly visibility targets and coordinating initiatives across press, speaking and thought leadership. Working with the PR team, tracked CEO media appearances, speaking engagements and LinkedIn performance to refine messaging and identify high-impact opportunities that positioned Babbel as IPO-ready.

What changed:
Board meetings ran smoothly with professional materials. The CEO's external visibility strengthened investor confidence and talent attraction. Employees understood how their work connected to strategy. External audiences saw Babbel as IPO-ready.

Leadership Enablement

What was built:

Executive Assistant function development
Built and led a team of four Executive Assistants as strategic partners to the leadership team. Established clear objectives linked to company strategy, quarterly planning aligned with leadership priorities, and collaboration embedded within the executive rhythm.

The change came from removing coordination noise: clearer ownership, consistent planning and shared context freed time for higher-value work. Time allocation shifted from roughly 80% reactive work to 60% strategic enablement. The team moved from managing calendars to managing cross-functional coordination, preparing executives for key decisions, and extending leadership capacity. They built genuine autonomy, anticipating needs and solving issues before they escalated.

Leadership transition support
Through multiple leadership transitions including new C-level hires, team realignments and organisational restructures, the EA team maintained decision discipline and execution momentum.

What changed:
Four EAs became force multipliers for leadership rather than administrative support. Leadership capacity expanded without adding headcount. The company navigated significant organisational change without losing momentum.

The Result

A functioning CEO Office that scaled from €100m to €300m:

• Leadership operating with clear decision rights and governance rhythm

• Board and communication standards at IPO readiness level

• CEO positioned as a recognised industry voice (1,000%+ visibility)

• Internal communications aligning 1,000+ employees through growth

• EA function transformed into a strategic, high-leverage team

• Infrastructure that adapted through multiple growth phases

Babbel achieved IPO readiness with systems designed to scale, not rebuild.

That infrastructure now forms the foundation of TMR & Co.'s work with founders and CEOs whose teams have outgrown founder-led operations.

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