From Cars to Conferences: A Career Built on Curiosity and Community
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- Jacob Hartmann Weng
Jacob Hartmann Weng’s career didn’t begin in hospitality. He trained as a car salesman and spent years in an industry where most deals were made solo. After the financial crisis, he was ready for something new. In 2016 he joined Bella Center as an Operations Supervisor and quickly discovered a different world, one where teamwork sits at the heart of every result.
When he looks back at that first day, what he remembers most is curiosity. There was no grand plan, just a sense that this was a place where things happened.
“It seemed like a house with momentum,” he says: “And that turned out to be true - more than I expected.”
He began close to the floor, where no two days look alike and no event unfolds exactly as planned.
“You learn a lot by being that close to the work,” Jacob says: “You see how many people it takes to make something run smoothly - and you learn very quickly that nothing is solved alone.”
“It seemed like a house with momentum. And that turned out to be true - more than I expected.”
From there, the house opened up. Not because Jacob wanted to leave, but because there was more to explore. He moved through counter sales, exhibition stand sales, meeting planning, international sales, and into the national corporate market. Each step layered new skills on top of the last: prospecting and stand mix one year, stakeholder orchestration and run‑of‑show the next, key‑account rhythm and rebooking cycles after that.
“It’s quite natural here to try something new,” he says: “You can say you’re curious and people don’t question it. You talk to your manager, and together you find the right direction. That openness makes it easier to grow.”
"You learn very quickly that nothing is solved alone.”
The contrast to the car industry was clear from day one.
“There, you mostly sit with your own tasks,” Jacob says: “Here, we rely on each other. Sales depends on planning. Planning depends on operations. It’s a chain - and when the chain works, you feel it.”
That understanding shapes how Jacob meets customers. He thinks less in transactions and more in long‑term relationships.
“Selling once isn’t the goal. The question is: do they want to come back? And that depends on what happens across the whole organization - not just what I do.”
Bellagroup isn’t only 9 to 5 for Jacob. A decade in the house has built real friendships - and they spill naturally into his free time. He plays in Bellaton, Bellagroup’s badminton club, and joins colleagues in the Bella golf club when the weather allows.
“It says a lot when your colleagues account for most of your social life, doesn’t it?”
“It says a lot when your colleagues account for most of your social life, doesn’t it?” Jacob laughs and adds with a smile: “Many of the people I play with are the same people I build events with. That’s how the place feels - connected.”
Throughout those years, the organization has grown, specialized, and adapted - sometimes quickly, sometimes quietly. Jacob has leaned into it.
“Things change. That is part of working here,” he says: “The culture and the spirit stay the same, and that is why I am all in for the journey ahead.”
