Even my name tells a story in itself. During his months-long flight to Western Europe, my grandfather, had to ‘get rid of’ his papers to survive. Later, he received new documents in which his surname was spelled incorrectly. However, in the years thereafter, my grandfather never made any effort to correct this officially. So my family name is the result of an administrative error and my grandfather’s decision to embrace the opportunity of a new identity.

My first name, on the other hand, is partly a tribute to my French Calvinist ancestors on my mother’s side. My parents, young as they were, barely out of their teens, thought they were making things easier for me and hilariously made a great effort to have the spelling officially changed from the original version, ‘Dorothée’, to ‘Dorothe’.

Well, here I am, with my unusual name, which I at least triple-check in official documents to make sure it’s written properly. And which often provokes others to ask me the question I never want to get used to: Where are you actually from?

As the child of working-class parents who grew up in a tiny village in Germany throughout the 1980s and 1990s, I had to find my path into university and academia on my own.

After finishing school and completing my apprenticeship as a design assistant, I began a Magister's degree in German and Media Sciences. Driven by my idealism, I wanted to become a journalist and shed light on social injustices and document the conflicts of this world.

I could pretend that I changed my mind after reading essays by Susan Sontag. That would be great storytelling, but it simply isn’t true. In fact, most of the other students had a different habitus. I didn’t feel like I belonged.

Thus, I collected my existing photos, drawings, and creative work into portfolios and applied to art colleges. To afford living expenses whilst studying, I soon started working in design agencies. And after graduating, I moved straight into a permanent position.

As I did never actually hit pause, there came a point when I had to do so and I spent several months travelling the world. Some days I still think I should have stayed in New Zealand, but like so many others at that time, I ended up in Berlin. Here, I became a partner in a small design studio. And whilst I was trying to keep the projects running for clients like Nokia and the Berlin Senate, my baby daughter slept in her stroller next to my desk. When she turned two, we moved to Switzerland. Initially, we thought it would be a short-term family adventure. But we never moved back.

For the past 15 years in Zurich, I have enjoyed working as a freelance creative director for my own clients.

Design projects always require a certain degree of reflection and consideration of societal and social issues, but this analysis is often driven by business interests. Regardless of that, I always wanted to dig deeper and gain a more thorough understanding. Moreover, because design actively contributes to shaping culture and is thereby political, it is important to reflect on one’s own accountability. Thus, I returned to university and completed a bachelor’s degree in cultural studies and sociology. And I have chosen to proceed with a Master’s degree in Sociology, specialising in methods and data analysis. Unlike back when I was in my early 20s, I know today that academia is very much a place where I belong.

And on a more personal note, of course, in some aspects, I am also a walking cliché of my generation. No, I don’t bake my own sourdough bread, nor am I an amateur barista. But, for instance, I produce my own raw kombucha.

What started as a little experiment turned into a sort of production lab. When the first SCOBY began to grow and multiply, I couldn’t bring myself to throw away its offshoots. I felt guilty towards this living organism. I guess Donna Haraway and Anna Tsing would be amused by the kinship I developed.

And, as is often the case in many life stories of my peers, art, music, reading, and nature are my essential strategies for coping with reality and staying grounded. Just drop me off on a cliff by the ocean and let me spend hours watching the waves. Therefore, it’s a pity that I don’t live somewhere by the sea.

I also started surfing a while ago. I am really lousy at it. I am not talented at all. However, that’s exactly the point. If you do something you’re not particularly good at, but enjoy it anyway, you feel both humbled and liberated at the same time.

In general I do what I do because I love contributing my expertise to the greater good and sharing my knowledge with others. And if I believe in you and your ideas, I will be your greatest cheerleader along the way, for sure.