Meet our consultants

Maria Larsson

As Partner & Senior Advisor at King Street Denmark, Maria loves working with strategic communication in complex stakeholder universes and with political issues. She has in-depth experience with healthcare communication and has worked with media relations, stakeholder management, change communication, advocacy group collaboration, awareness campaigns, issues and crisis management for a number of Danish and international companies for the last 16 years.

How long have you been with the company?
I have been at King Street Denmark since 2019

What does your role focus on/include?
I am primarily responsible for our healthcare clients, but in general, I love working with clients who operate in complex stakeholder universes. Recently, I have worked a lot on CEO profiling, and I find it very interesting how companies are starting to see the CEO and key employees as channels to convey important messages. They are building various communication activities around them, and for good reasons. Many CEOs and companies have the same number of connections as minor media outlets have readers. Also, it makes sense because CEOs are often linked to most of their important stakeholders.

What is your favourite aspect of working at Rud Pedersen Group?
I think it's fantastic to work somewhere with so many talented colleagues and such a variety of competencies.

Who are some of your major influences at work? (Shout-outs to people you work with that put a smile on your face or motivate you to be your best self!)
As a communicator, it's fantastic to work with political nerds: people with specialised knowledge, or a creative mindset. It motivates me that we see and target client challenges broadly. I truly feel that we, at Rud Pedersen Group, can offer our clients something unique when it comes to knowledge about different business areas, the political system, how to communicate, and working across countries.

What is your favourite productivity hack?
When I need to concentrate and be really productive, I listen to Mozart. I don't know if it does the trick for anyone else.

Any advice to colleagues starting out their career at RPG?
Hurry up and book meetings with colleagues across the group so you get an idea of how many competencies we actually have!

What is one thing you cannot live without?
My family. But if we're in a more materialistic universe, unfortunately, I'm quite attached to my phone.

Where is your favourite destination you’ve visited, and why?
I've been to many wonderful places in the world, and I can say something nice about almost every place I've been. I've visited Italy the most, and Tuscany is one of my favourite places. However, last year I went on a summer vacation to Montenegro with my family, and I was blown away by how beautiful it was, how lovely the people were, and how great the food was. I can highly recommend it if you're looking to try something new.

What is the book/podcast you recommend the most?
At the moment, a small Danish podcast from Weekendavisen called Avistid. It features two of the best Danish political journalists in conversation with their editor-in-chief discussing the story of the week or a political issue. The dialogue is informal, interesting, and sometimes teasing. It feels like good company.

What is your favourite quote? Or what is the best life advice you've received?
That's a tough one because I love quotes. Two of my favourites are: "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead" by Mark Twain and "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough" by Albert Einstein.

If you could have dinner with one historical figure, living or dead, who would you choose? And what would be the one question you would ask them?
When I was at university, I had a teacher who said that this is one of the most revealing questions a journalist can ask. Either the answer will reveal wisdom, lack of wisdom, madness or vanity in the person, and most likely the answer will reveal the presence of two of the four at the same time. On that note, I choose not to answer the question. Which, of course, is probably revealing in itself.

We are almost 500 consultants spread over 8 brands in 14 cities, with a broad range of experiences and networks

Locations

Rud Pedersen has offices in 20+ cities in key European countries

Zagreb, Croatia
Brussels, Belgium
Sofia, Bulgaria
Prague, Czechia
Copenhagen, Denmark
Tallinn, Estonia
Helsinki, Finland
Paris, France
Berlin, Germany
Rome, Italy
Riga, Latvia
Vilnius, Lithuania
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Oslo, Norway
Warsaw, Poland
Madrid, Spain
Stockholm, Sweden
Gothenburg, Sweden
London, United Kingdom
Kyiv, Ukraine