About steelecht

Founded in 2005 in Offenbach, Germany, by the U.S. citizen and media professional David P. Steel, "steelecht" (pronounced "steel-esht") is a play on a German word which means "consistent in style". So whether developed in-house or commissioned, our content is characterized by a creative vision which connects the different media fields – ensuring consistency and optimizing synergies.

steelecht GmbH (a “GmbH” is a company similar to a “Ltd.”) is dedicated to the development, management and production of story content which is told across a variety of media. The term “storytelling” is understood as:

1)     the telling of stories in a classic sense
2)     the exchange of experiences in general
3)     the compelling presentation of information

steelecht positions itself as a conception and prototype workshop in the first and decisive phases of audiovisual productions, across all media incl. print, ebook, radio, film, television and the internet. Development is pursued in project-related teams or, depending on the size, in strategic alliance with partners.

Our Team

Everyone currently working at steelecht has lived in more than one country at some point. Most of us are also fluent in more than only our mother tongue. This has to do with the nature of our business – international communication. It also means we usually have interesting stories to tell about our lives! This is our team of employees and a quick view of the journey that has brought us here:

David P. Steel

Managing Director

David on a whale-watching tour with daughter Chelsea

Born in New Hampshire (USA)
Raised in New Mexico (USA)
Studied Interdisciplinary Humanities at the University of Denver (USA)
TEFL Certification from International House London
In Germany since 1996
At steelecht since 2005
Speaks English, Swiss German, German, Italian

Johanna da Rocha Abreu

Copywriter / Copyeditor / Translator

Johanna likes to spoil her kids (and herself) with ice cream

Born in Illinois (USA)
Raised in New Jersey (USA)
Studied Art History at Kenyon College, Ohio (USA)
In Germany since 1995
At steelecht since 2005
Speaks English & German fluently

Peter F. Ohman

Senior Copyeditor / Copywriter

Peter helping the desert bloom

Born & raised in Illinois (USA)
Studied History & Political Science at the University of Iowa (USA); Social Sciences at Stockholm University (Sweden); Social Work at the University of Chicago (USA); Divinity at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (USA)
In Germany since 2006
At steelecht since 2006
Speaks English & Swedish fluently, working knowledge of German, French & Moroccan Arabic

James G. Peterson

Copywriter / Translator / Instructor

Jim fiddling around at work

Born in Colorado (USA)
Raised in Missouri & Ohio (USA)
Studied German Education & TEFL at Ohio University (USA); Masters in Applied Linguistics & ELT at St. Marys University College, London (UK)
In Germany since 2006
At steelecht since 2014
Speaks English, German and Italian fluently

Evelyn Johnson

Office Manager / Translator / Instructor

Evelyn keeps grooving after hours

Born in Germany
Raised in Canada
Studied English Literature and Anthropology (M.A.) at J.W. Goethe University Frankfurt
CELTA certification from International House Vancouver
In Germany (again) since 1990
At steelecht since 2005
Speaks English & German fluently, basic knowledge of French & Spanish

Anette John

Copywriter / PR / Translator

Anette likes to get lost in bookshops

Born in Poland
Raised in Poland and Germany
Studied German Literature and Slavic Studies (M.A.) at J.W. Goethe University Frankfurt
In Germany since 1989
At steelecht since 2015
Speaks German, Polish & English

Vanessa Appoh

Copywriter / Translator / Computational Linguist

Vanessa likes to discover hidden places around the globe

Born and raised in Germany
Studied Foreign Languages and Linguistics (B.A) at the University of Augsburg, and Computational Linguistics and Language Technology (M.A.) at the University of Giessen
Lived and worked in Newcastle, UK
At steelecht since 2015
Speaks German, English, French, Spanish, Japanese and Dutch fluently, basic knowledge of Swedish and Italian

Leonore Kleinkauf

Project Management / Business Development / Translator

Leonore loves growing her own food

Born in Frankfurt am Main / raised in Offenbach am Main (Germany)
Studied Audiovisual Media (B.Eng.) at the Stuttgart Media University (Germany) and Media Management (M.Sc.) at the Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm (Sweden)
At steelecht since 2013
Speaks German, English, French and Swedish

Mia Vampirina

Chief Executive Cat

Mia likes receiving letters from her fans, followers and supporters

At steelecht since 2015
Understands Italian, English & German

Would you like to work at steelecht? If you have skills similar to those described above or otherwise think you could be a good match for our company, please do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to hearing from you!

Our Network

Whenever our core team’s skill set does not cover all the required details of a project, steelecht draws on an experienced pool of professional partners, service providers and freelancers to get the job done. Here is a selection of partners with which we regularly collaborate: