Spanish woman establishes branch for MTE milling machines in Germany

Interview with Judith Ajubita

How did you, as a Spaniard, come to found a branch for MTE milling machines in Germany in 2008?
I moved to Aachen in 2003. After completing my studies, I decided in 2004 to work for a German machine tool dealer. I wanted to gain professional experience and improve my language skills. This dealer also sold my father's MTE milling machines in Germany. 

In 2005, I decided to stay in Germany for personal reasons and moved to the Westerwald region. The question of my professional future arose immediately. As a 25-year-old Spanish mechanical engineer, I was not the first choice for German mechanical engineering companies. The choice of jobs was limited, and I searched within a radius of 200–300 km around the Westerwald. Within a few weeks, I received several job offers. I decided to take a position as a project engineer at a large pump manufacturer in Ludwigshafen and worked there for almost two years. However, the weekly commute between Montabaur and Ludwigshafen was a challenge that I didn't want to face in the long run. After many discussions with my father, the founder and managing director of the MTE plant in Spain, we developed the idea of setting up an MTE branch in Germany. This was to focus on the sales and service of MTE milling machines. For the family-owned company MTE in Spain, it was a great idea to establish its own company in the world's most important single market, led by a qualified family member. We began planning in mid-2007 and founded the company in December 2007.

Entrepreneur and mother: how do you manage the balancing act? 
Looking back, it's amazing even to us. All parents ask themselves this question: "How can we balance caring for our children and spending important time with them with the demands of our everyday working lives? " We only managed it together with my husband and our MTE team. It took a lot of energy, hard work and discipline. A great nursery in Montabaur-Heiligenroth also supported us. With the right partner and team, we made it, and we are very grateful for that. 

Career at MTE: When did the path become clear? 
Twenty years ago, it was completely unforeseeable. My parents didn't expect me to study mechanical engineering or join MTE. My father may have hoped so, but he never put any pressure on me. He just expected me to do everything I learned or studied as well as possible with diligence and discipline. 
Now I have children of my own, and I think that maybe it was the same 20–30 years ago: When parents are entrepreneurs, they ask themselves whether they want their children to experience the same hardships, worries and burdens. Fortunately, my parents were not guided by such selfishness. They did not put the interests of preserving or developing their life's work before the interests of their children. I am very grateful for that today. When I met my husband in 2005 and decided to stay with him in Germany, joining MTE was actually out of the question. So it's all the more amusing today that this very step has shaped our lives to this day.