01 June 2018
Genevieve Sanchez
Editorial Coordinator, LEGO (Billund, Denmark)
Graduate Diploma in Communications (Public Relations)
Jaime Sanchez
Element Designer, LEGO (Billund, Denmark)
Bachelor of Design (Product Innovation) 2013
Master of Design (Industrial Design)
In pursuit of their dreams of working in communications and design, Genevieve and Jaime Sanchez, both UniSA graduates, picked up their young family and relocated from Adelaide to Denmark to work for one of the largest toy manufacturers in the world, LEGO.
LEGO, a family-owned company whose famous little building brick has captivated the imaginations of generations of children and the young at heart, is nestled in the small rural town of Billund in Jutland, Denmark. To work there is to experience creative play and learning every day.
While the multi-billion dollar company now has theme parks, factories and offices all over the world, LEGO headquarters remain in Billund where its first workshop began building wooden toys in 1932. Both Genevieve and Jaime love working for the company whose mission to inspire learning through creative play is reflected in the workplace.
“It really is wonderful working for LEGO,” says Genevieve who in February 2018 started working as Editorial Coordinator for the company’s publishing team.
“Aside from having a very supportive and friendly team around me, the general feeling across the company is one of inclusiveness and there is a spirit of playfulness in everything we do.”
Genevieve’s husband Jaime, who has always had a passion for drawing and design, works as an Element Designer for LEGO and says he loves working on products that have such a positive impact on consumers.
“I get to fulfil a childhood dream working here. Toys have such a strong emotional resonance because they invoke happy childhood memories. For a lot of children who may not have had great home lives, toys were a respite and a happy place for them. To see kids playing with and enjoying toys I’ve designed is a wonderful feeling,” he says.
Genevieve and Jaime’s LEGO journey began in 2015 after Jaime’s Data Analyst role he held in Adelaide for 15 years was made redundant. Before their daughters were born, Jaime had begun to feel disillusioned in his future career prospects and wanted to work in a field that inspired him. Returning to UniSA in 2006, he studied a Masters of Design (Industrial Design) part-time.
“I undertook some work experience and built up my design portfolio, and in July 2015 I obtained a five-month internship at LEGO in Denmark, so Gen and I took the kids and spent six months in Billund and travelled around Europe.
“During my internship I worked on the LEGO Super Heroes theme, and one of my major accomplishments was to design Spiderman’s Web Blast which has been used in four different LEGO sets.”
Genevieve, who had studied a Graduate Diploma in Communications (Public Relations) at UniSA in-between backpacking and working abroad, worked as a project officer at the University of Adelaide for seven years before becoming a Communications Coordinator in 2011, and took long-service leave to embark on their six-month stay in Denmark.
When they returned home, Jaime worked briefly for an exhibition design firm and as a jewellery designer – but he really wanted to return to LEGO. He started applying for permanent positions and only a year after settling back into Australian life he landed his Element Designer role for the Danish toy company.
“So we sold the house, packed everything up and moved back to Denmark,” says Jaime. “Since starting back I have designed products for Star Wars, City, Harry Potter, Super Heroes, Collectible Minifigures, Speed Champions and lots of cool, secret projects that will be announced soon.”
While Jaime began his new role at LEGO, Genevieve volunteered within the small community and at their daughters’ school before starting her own freelance business and gaining clients from some of the biggest companies in Denmark.
“I’m proud of achieving this while coping with being so far from home, family and friends and such a dramatic change in lifestyle. I got my foot in the door at LEGO in January 2017, writing social media and website copy. Then the position of Editorial Coordinator opened up and I jumped at the chance. Our team works with publishing partners to produce LEGO books and magazines and my role includes reviewing plots, scripts, illustrations and final layouts of a wide range of publications.
“Before I started working here, the LEGO offices seemed a bit like Willy Wonka’s factory and I was Charlie Bucket. It’s really inspiring to work with so many people from all across the world; the Billund community is really lovely and close-knit so we’ve made some great friends. When the weather is nice we love to explore the forests surrounding town and we’ve visited many of the little hidden parts of Europe.”
“Before I started working here, the LEGO offices seemed a bit like Willy Wonka’s factory and I was Charlie Bucket. It’s really inspiring to work with so many people from all across the world; the Billund community is really lovely and close-knit so we’ve made some great friends. When the weather is nice we love to explore the forests surrounding town and we’ve visited many of the little hidden parts of Europe.”
The opportunity to move their family overseas has been a life changing experience for Genevieve and Jaime, who recommend everyone jump out of their comfort zone and explore all the possibilities the wide world has to offer.
“It isn’t always easy, especially if you have a family travelling with you, but you’ll be richer for having done it. We get to travel with our kids and show them the world; it’s been such a mind-expanding experience for all of us,” says Genevieve.
“The next few years will pass no matter what you do,” says Jaime. “Spend some of that time trying out living and working overseas, so you can look back and say ‘I did it’.”
