Tunisian Nouha Schönbrunn and her husband have founded a company that specializes inIT security. The office is located in the Neue Ramtelstraße business park.
Nathalie Mainka
Nouha Schönbrunn gives a tour of the spacious 600 square meter office on the sixth floor of a semi-circular office building in Leonberg's Riedwiesenstrasse. There is plenty of space here for meetings, training sessions and day-to-day work. There is also a children's room with toys - family-friendly working is a top priority. On the walls is not only an impressive black and white photo of Leonberg's market square, but also some motifs of the 32-year-old Managing Director's native Tunisia. Together with her husband Jan-Sebastian, she runs Schönbrunn TASCGmbH, which specializes in IT security. TASC stands for Training, Audit, System and Consulting and forms the four pillars of the company's offering. "We offer the entire portfolio in the field of information security. From consulting to the implementation of systems and know-how to subsequent support in everyday life," says Nouha Schönbrunn.
"SMEs in particular still have a lot to do, because the topic of security is becoming increasingly relevant, but many think they are too small and therefore not exposed to any risk," says Schönbrunn. Which is a big mistake when you look at the ageing servers, outdated software and operating systems. All of an organization's knowledge is stored there - and may never have been examined for errors or possible vulnerabilities. "There is always the possibility of data being lost or hackers at work. However, our experience is that many companies see IT security as a necessary evil". She wants to change this together with her customers. After all, many companies are facing more and more security requirements from their clients.
Nouha Schönbrunn works in a male-dominated profession. According to a cyber security study from 2024, the proportion of women in this field worldwide is currently only 24%. In Germany, the figure is only 14 percent. "At school and in career guidance, girls are hardly encouraged to pursue technical professions. They quickly gravitate towards psychology, business administration or social sciences - but not IT or mechanical engineering," she regrets. That's why she and two other women founded the She@ISACA initiative. "We want to encourage women to become speakers, to be present at conferences, to be proud of their work - and not just organize in the background, which no one else wants to do.visibility creates self-confidence."
Nouha Schönbrunn's parents, born Loukil, studied in France. Her mother is a financial mathematician and university professor. Daughter Nouha attended school in France and graduated from the University of Sfax in Tunisia in 2014 with a degree in management and financial mathematics. "Back then, I was already dreaming of becoming an entrepreneur. I was fascinated by analyzing conversations, thinking strategically and never losing my patience." She could have stayed in Tunisia, as is the tradition, got married, had children and continued working. "The economy in my home country is based on women." But she wanted to leave, see something new and decided to go to Europe. In 2014, she first moved toSpeyer to live with one of her mother's cousins. She took an intensive course to learn German. "That went quite well because I'm a logical person and that's how I picked up the language." She moved on to Stuttgart, where she studied technology management - a mixture of mechanical engineering and business administration.
As a research assistant at the Fraunhofer Institute, she met her future husband Jan-Sebastian, who worked as an information security consultant. Nouha Schönbrunn gained professional experience in the areas of quality and process management at various companies. In 2020, her husband, who grew up in Leonberg, had the idea of becoming self-employed in the field of IT security. It all started in their attic apartment in Sindelfingen. The company was founded in January 2021 and then things went from strength to strength.
They set up an applicant management tool. The company moved to Warmbronn in 2022. Their son was born in the same year. The office space became too small, they found a suitable property in Riedwiesenstrasse and moved in there in October 2023. 20 employees currently support over 200 customers from all industries, mainly in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Nouha Schönbrunns is currently building up the business in her home country.
"It was a small project that grew step by step. Our combination - husband and wife, technology and strategy, German and non-German - was never an obstacle, but our strength," says the Tunisian.
