Finding relief and space to shine
In this edition of Freed Spirits, IMEX Group CEO, Carina Bauer tells us how she put autonomy at the heart of her family business and created a highly engaged team all whilst saving herself 15 hours of work per week
“I’m delighted that I took the time to do this work with Pala. It’s changed our business and it’s changed my life for the better.”
Carina Bauer
CEO
Starting small: partnering with Pala
She could already see that one team was ready to try working more autonomously – so she brought Pala in to explore what that might look like.
They started small: experimenting with facilitated meetings, making internal documents visible to all staff, and nudging decision-making further out into the team.
The changes were subtle, but they worked. People started asking better questions, sharing ideas more openly, and getting things done without needing constant direction.
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Rethinking communication & collaboration
They began with how people communicated. Microsoft Teams was completely reshaped – private chats were replaced with public channels, creating visibility across the company.
It was a simple shift with a huge impact: people could finally see the work happening elsewhere, join conversations, and contribute in real time.
IMEX was starting to develop a hive mind.
As Carina said:
‘for me personally – as a leader – it was amazing, it was like a relief… I could just see everything and only insert myself where needed’
Meetings, transformed
And because meetings affect an organisation’s culture disproportionately, it was important these got a refresh too. With a few smart changes, IMEX reduced the number of meetings overall while increasing their value.
Team members learned to facilitate highly collaborative meeting structures that made the most of all brains in the room and allowed ‘people to step up and shine’. People felt more informed, more connected, and better equipped to focus on their work.
Performance, reimagined
Performance management also took a turn. Annual reviews gave way to twice-yearly team reflections and self-led development workshops.
Feedback became an ongoing, normalised part of working life – owned by the team, not imposed from the top. Slowly, a culture of trust and self-responsibility started to take hold.
Measurable impact
Over time, the results started to show:
- Carina has saved 10-15 hours per week!
- She has reduced the number of Roles & Responsibilities (mainly in ‘the weeds’) by 65%
- Carina’s direct reports have gone from 10 to 4 and no longer is involved in job reviews (she estimates this has saved her a week per year)
- She has roughly halved the number of standing meetings she attends
- IMEX Employee Engagement rose from 70% to 90%
- Confidence in the business went up to 96%
- Collaboration has improved particularly between previously siloed departments
IMEX landed in the top 10 of The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2025 – something Carina says they’d never even have entered before.
A note from Pala
At Pala, we feel incredibly proud and grateful to have accompanied IMEX on this journey. Over the years working together, we have seen them embed autonomy more and more deeply in the organisation. IMEX is more effective, more efficient, more engaged all whilst building on it’s core by becoming an even more caring workplace.
As for Carina, we honestly couldn’t be luckier. She is a truly rare leader and human being. Always graceful, generous, grounded and strong, we’re genuinely inspired by her. Not only have we had the privilege to work with such a great client, but more importantly to have made a good friend along the way 🙏
“This work was some of the hardest work that I’ve done and some of the best work that I’ve done. I’m delighted that I took the time and made the effort to do this work with Pala. It’s changed our business and it’s changed my life for the better.”
Carina Bauer
CEO
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IMEX is a Brighton-based global meetings & events company. Their purpose is to build better human connections all over the world.
Working at the heart of the global meetings and events industry, IMEX is a collaborative, innovative and passionate team. We bring the global meetings and events community together to power profitable connections, foster innovation, spark inspiration, and propel purposeful progress at two world-leading trade shows, IMEX Frankfurt and IMEX America.