In 2002 I read a newspaper report about the opening of a new laminate factory in Brandenburg. It sounded tempting like a ticket to the future: there was a brand new plant in Baruth in the Mark Brandenburg and it had just started operations. I applied without further ado and joined the team at CLASSEN Industries in March 2003. Since then, a lot of new things have happened in Baruth, the factory has quadrupled in size! Here is a brief summary of my experiences over the last 19 years.