About Me

I was born in Berlin, grew up in Munich, studied in England, wrote my thesis in Honduras, and lived in New York. For many years, I worked as a female executive, first as part of an innovative medium-sized company, then I built and led a start-up. Subsequently, I drove marketing and innovation in the upper management of a large international corporation.

After the birth of my son, I went on parental leave and took care of my child's development.

After that, I returned to a part-time management position.

 

I'd wanted to write the book "Leading Mothers" for 15 years, as the lack of appreciation for mothers had always bothered me. My experience showed that women often struggle with the issue of "children and career" and underestimate their own abilities. And that bosses don't realize that mothers participate in fantastic leadership training and may have developed precisely the skills they need within their teams. To investigate this, I launched an online survey in which 250 people participated. I also interviewed approximately 70 leading mothers from all industries and hierarchical levels to determine whether my findings were universally applicable. The personal stories and lessons learned, demonstrating how these acquired skills can be applied in the business world, were particularly important to me.

 

It surprised me, how international my findings were. My interviewees are mostly German, but some also come (amongst others) from the US, the UK, Norway and France. Despite the differences in the societies concerning working women and childcare they all agreed on the stereotypes facing working mothers and the leadership skills they learn at home.