When people ask me what I do for a living, my best answer is: "It's complicated". Sometimes it's two lives I lead as a professional athlete and a businesswoman.
Starting surfing at the age of 20 and being one of the most successful German surfers at 30 is not exactly the norm and means a lot of dedication. I feel a huge part of this achievement is my analytical thinking and structured way of working combined with passion.
When I learn a new trick, I film myself and analyze the movements with extreme care over and over again, visualize them in my head and find solutions to learn it the most effective way. That might seem very calculated without passion, but when the technique is right I get into the flow. Then everything feels very easy and this ease is then also reflected in my surfing. And exactly this flow state gives this certain kick and adrenaline feeling wanting to do it over and over again.
Sometimes I get told that I appear dogged. But I don't see it that way. Not because I lack passion, but because I'm deliberate and precise. With pure doggedness I would not have managed to train every day, to complete a master's degree, to work part-time and still make it among the best German surfers. My enormous passion for the sport but also for studying helped me to pull it off. I think without passion I would have given up long ago. I love to analyze and develop a strategy to achieve goals, whether it's a specific turn, an assignment at university or a new business strategy.
When Deeply approached me and offered me a hybrid sponsorship with the role as an athlete but also being strategically involved into the business development of the brand as a country manager, it sounded like a perfect match to me. Deeply's ambition and drive to continuously as well as sustainably improve their products with the latest technologies and design and to look closely at what is most important for the everyday surfer reflected exactly my own values. Combined with the same passion for surfing to explore new paths with limitless growth, I see this cooperation as a great chance for us both to grow together.
I can't say exactly how things will go in the next few years exactly. How the sport of surfing will change (especially regarding artificial waves), but also how long I will actively be able to pursue the athlete part. But what I do know is that no one can take away what I have achieved so far. And that my passion, analytical thinking and structural way of working will always give me the necessary tools to master new challenges.