Hi, I'm Meike
and this is my story.
Bremen - Dresden - Abidjan - Boston - London - New York - Bangkok - Algiers - Tunis - Jakarta - Istanbul - Bangkok - Istanbul - Hamburg - Cologne - Windhoek.
(I am large, I contain multitudes)
Walt Whitman
Never was I able on the one thing I wanted to do. It just didn't work for me. This made me doubt myself for a long time... Until I came to realize that being able to have done all these different things; diving deep into my role for the time, that multitude that I am, maybe this itself is that one special thing about me. Since having read the book, I know that I'm a neogeneralist - I thrive with every new challenge and task.
Born to Explore
I was three years old when I first decided to go on my first exploration - and have never stopped exploring since. I've been to 94 countries so far and cannot wait to discover the rest of the world!
Presidential Courage
I truly believe that every place holds some magic to it and I have a particular place in my heart for the "underdogs": I remember how when I went to Cleveland for an internship my New York friends were like: "Cleveland, Ohio?" Why Meiky?WHY?" - and then it was there that I got the chance to meet Bill Clinton - an unforgettable moment.
Global Student
I was so thrilled when I got accepted into the prestigious International Relations BA at the University of Dresden as one of only 36 students. I did part of my studies at Boston College, and then went on to do my MA in Political Communications from Goldsmiths, University of London.
Early responsibility
I was young when my first company, an Emerging Markets Research and Consulting firm made me Country Director: I lived and worked in Thailand, Indonesia, Algeria, Tunisia and Turkey.
Höhle der Löwen
From Turkey, my last project for Oxford Business Group, I returned to Germany. Vural Öger made me Head of Business Development & Marketing for his group of companies. It so happened that just when I had started, Sony sent the concept of a new TV show for Germany to us... I advised Vural Bey to take part in it - and did a deep dive into the Startup topic when the first episode of "Die Höhle der Löwen" was aired in 2014.
My first company and 12min.me
The insolvency of Vural Bey was a tough time to get through. It influenced me in the sense that I made wanted to keep supporting innovation; and the cooperation of Startups and established companies. I founded "Die Zukunftsmanufaktur" - with which I consulted businesses in communications, business development and innovation management.
During that time I was asked to run the Cologne-chapter of 12minutes me - a successful global event format, together with Oli Struch of the local coworking space Wertheim. This was the start of my passion for hosting events!
Digital Ambassador Namibia
Becoming a Digital Ambassador for the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) merged two worlds for me: The one of Emering Markets that I had started my career in, and the one of Tech, of Digital Innovations and Startups. I was brought there to support building the local entrepreneurship ecosystem - I did that passionately. The years in Namibia formed so much of what I call "me" today.
Germany Trade & Invest
Returning to Germany after the years in Namibia were not easy - but working for the Digital Hub Initiative by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action; working with a fantastic team in the international startup space was the best return I could imagine.
cross-continental: embassidy
Founding embassidy beginning of 2024 and being able to working between the continents made me complete. Every single stage of my career; all learnings and experiences are finding a place in this work. I am so happy to have arrived!
Event host
I dedicate about half of my time to events - being such a passionately curious person the best job I can possibly imagine is asking interesting people on stage questions. I love giving events a frame; I love bringing people together and giving them a platform for exchange and inspiration.
Mrs Superglue
I have always known that I have no special talent, but I've come to realize that being multi-faceted is a gift itself. Throw anything new at me - I'll do everything to master it. I'm passionately curious and hungry to learn. Someone told me once I was a "Superglue", because I managed to bring people, projects and businesses together in a unique way... Maybe that is my superpower
While other careers went like ➡️,
mine went more like 🔀👩🏼🎓🌍🔀🎤
I'm happy to help you!
Whether you want me to host your event, support with entrepreneurship projects or coach your startup batch -
gladly contact me and we take it from there.
Meike Neitz
Founder & Managing Director, embassidy
