„Nordkurve“

I was born on November 12th in the zodiac sign scorpio. Mönchengladbach most certainly is no Paris, New York or Milano, however, it does have a prestigious soccer history. I was especially familiar with the so called „Nordkurve“ of the soccer stadium, which I used to live right next to when I grew up. During my teenage days I would spent most of my weekends inside the soccer stadium with my older cousins and I was definitely more interested in reading the „Kicker“ football magazine rather than Vogue. This was about to change eventually…

It was the summer of 1995. 15-year-old me was offered a model job for the first time. It was a friend of my parents who offered me to work at the Collection Premiere Düsseldorf (CPD). Until then I was definitely not a fashion girl. Easily I would chose sneakers and a comfortable pair of jeans over make-up and skirts. Until then – because all of that was about to change when I started working my first job for a Spanish label called Cimarron. I put on my prettiest smile despite being in pain due to my sore feet. Because at the end of the day I could look forward to a nice amount of extra pocket money.

Sedcard – what’s that?

„You should send me your sed card“, some overstyled and croc boots wearing dude addressed me as I randomly ran into him on the street. Shortly after he handed out his very own sed card. „Yeah, sure, I will“, I responded pretending to be cool. Actually, at that point, I was just wondering what the heck a sed card is. Instead of wearing high heels I had started focusing on selling them again.

High heels after all

Almost a year later I was destined to be lucky once more. While I was doing my best trying to sell the latest Buffalo shoes to a customer, it turned out she was actually a recruiter working for one of Düsseldorf’s most renowned model agencies. All it took were just a few minutes until I had her direct phone number and events started unfolding. After a photo-test-session I finally got my first official job. I was chosen to shoot the upcoming Carhartt campaign. Proud and scared at the same time – this is exactly how I remember feeling when I was entering the plane to Berlin. I did not realize the whole thing was real until I found myself in a king size bedroom suite all by myself. Overwhelmed by loneliness, I picked up the phone to call my boyfriend. I spent the whole night on the phone, because I was so excited (at the expense of the client, of course) and skipped my compulsory beauty sleep. The next morning I could tell what make-up artists are for.

Paris – Here I go

While my classmates would rack their brains about possible places to study after graduating, I was looking forward to traveling to Paris, London and Milano. In the meantime, I was aware of what a sed card was for and even released my own book. The agency I was working for in Munich sent me from one casting to another all across Europe. One time, I was traveling to Paris to enter a huge casting for Wella. Actually, it was a big dream of mine to get the job – if only I hadn’t been position #178. „I can go back home“, I was thinking while observing those hundreds of other girls that made me think I could not stand a chance. But it turned out to be different. I ended up getting the job and until this very day it is my face that can be found on all Wella „Pure Blonde“ boxes globally – the brightest blond of them all.

Pregnant – so what?

Things were going better than I could imagine. I was an established face in the ad industry. Working for brands such as Mercedes, Canon, Schwarzkopf, VW, Heine, Otto or doing cover, video and campaign shootings and participating in fashion shows; all of this became part of my everyday-life. Colleagues like Nadja Auermann or Naomi Campbell, which I had only known from TV shows and magazines before, were now sharing the catwalk with me in front of a 200,000 strong audience at Düsseldorf’s Königsallee. At my peak I was contracted to more than just one agency and by then the amount of money I earned was already more than what I had considered my bonus pocket money back when I had started. Everything was perfect. At least I thought so until I held a positive pregnancy test in my bare hands.

C-Cup and babymania

„How could this happen?“, my booker asked being speechless. I, on the other hand, was quite happy about my noticeably grown chest and therefore suggested starring in the upcoming Wonderbra campaign. Well, that actually did not happen. Anyway, nine exciting months were about to follow. Nine months full of a diet mainly consisting of hardboiled eggs and water ice. In July 2003, at the age of 23, I gave birth to my son. Every single day I am thankful and fulfilled with happiness, because I know I have made the right decision.

Body back in shape

Eight weeks of strict discipline after delivery my body was back in shape and ready for action again. With the support of my family I was able to slowly start getting back to work. From that point on things were going even better than ever.

Germany’s Next Commercial Model

This or something similar could have been printed onto my badge. I was not running the catwalk for Gucci or Prada in Paris, but therefore my face was featured on numerous magazine covers and international campaigns. And to be honest: that’s even better, cause there’s simply more money to earn in the commercial business.