A brand owner way outside her comfort zone

Co-founder of empowering bag line AMELI Zurich, PhD researcher, wife, dog mum and yogi, the German-born Swiss resident stays devoted to challenging herself in every way – and all with a desirable effortlessness. We caught up with the 28-year-old to understand just what drives her.

“Sometimes insecure, beautiful, fabulous, strong, overwhelmed, energetic, nervous.” That’s how Christina describes the woman she sees in the mirror. She is well aware of the large number of people suffering from mental illnesses today, which “remains a taboo subject” in her opinion. “This is not a weakness – it requires an incredible amount of courage,” she asserts, shortly after hinting at her own battle. “I don’t want to go into detail as it is quite a personal topic for me,” she adds. But one thing she attests for is the strong support she received from loved ones.

In fact, when I ask about her dream life, she fantasises about being in the kitchen with her distant relatives and friends. I’m humbled by her response – so endearing and totally realistic. This comes from a woman who is a real opportunist and sees no boundaries, only possibilities.

She met her husband Carl, aka Charly – “the flatmate of a good friend” – six years ago, and he’s now “the best business partner I could imagine”, she says. He is one half of AMELI Zurich, the brand putting business bags firmly on the fashion map. Defined by sleek, elegant lines and artisanal Italian-handmade craftsmanship, these equally functional and aesthetically pleasing carry-alls are worshipped by a new set of female leaders wanting to feel empowered by their clothes and accessories.

Christina’s entrepreneurial journey isn’t exactly unexpected; her parents run a small metal processing company – Häringstrasse. Yet she was adamant about not ending up a brand owner. “I didn’t want this for myself, but then one thing led to another and here I am.” She grew up in the Northern German countryside with her younger brother and neighbouring grandparents, where she was a professional horseback rider. Now, she’s working tirelessly to ensure her brand’s designs not only tick the boxes of style and wearability, but are more than just a bag; they represent a strong female voice.

“Currently the only constant thing in my life is work because building a start-up is more challenging than expected,” she reveals. The rising stalwart also tells me she has a contract on hold at a strategy consultancy – a role she’d take on if it wasn’t for everything else. And she admits her struggle to juggle it all: “It’s tough and often accompanied by night shifts. So, I cannot be thankful enough to have a strong team at AMELI that helps me stay on top.”

With no set routine, she tends to start the day by walking her dog Maya around the block, before having breakfast with her husband – then the “official working day” begins.

I ask her when she feels at her most confident: “When I speak about something that I have deep knowledge about or deeply care about,” she says – AMELI being one, naturally.

She names Shonda Rhimes, Sheryl Sandberg and Jane Fonda as just some of the strong women she’d love to have coffee with. She could probably share with them her fascinating PhD research on advanced analytics in the fashion industry, which I am excited to hear more about. She introduces it by asking, “In the fast-paced, consumer-orientated industry, how can we leverage data to receive meaningful insights and derive better decisions?” She tells me her previous strategy consultancy work “where the learning curve is very high, especially from a methodological perspective”, is what “triggered” her to “dive deep” into this topic. I’ll certainly be wanting to read her thesis once it’s published.

On what keeps her motivated? “It drives me when I can learn new things, develop and challenge myself,” she enthuses. “I am very thankful that I am educated – I know this is a huge privilege. I believe education opens doors and everyone should have the same chances,” she asserts.

Going back to the topic of coffee dates, it’s not just moguls that she anticipates having long, deep chats with. She and her closest friends aren’t short of enriching conversations. Over dinner, they’re likely to be discussing both the “serious” stuff and the “nonsense”, covering topics like family, business, politics and fashion.

And she boldly says, “I love fashion, but not the industry,” when I ask about her relationship with it. Christina does, however, consider herself to be highly self-aware of how her clothes (in most cases, a dress or pencil skirt with high heels) are perceived by others, professionally. She describes her dress sense as “neutral in colour, very minimalist and elegant, but with a slight touch of extravagance due to the materials or the cut”. She hopes this will translate into the look of “a strong modern woman who is self-confident”.

When it comes to words of wisdom, four pieces of advice stand out to her most: “Courage over comfort, you’re a superwoman, trust in your abilities, learn to say no.” Christina clearly nourishes herself mentally, emotionally and physically – that includes practicing self-awareness and stepping outside of her comfort zone. She’s grounded and ambitious, and I can’t wait to see what’s next for her.