Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a freelance community strategist, dividing my time between Vienna and Berlin. Currently, I support Kickstarter in the German, Austrian and Dutch markets.
I work with local creators, helping them figure out ways to spread the word about their projects. I also organize events and workshops on behalf of Kickstarter to help build a local community of creators.
My approach has always been very indie. Indie community management is about long term involvement with people. It’s about relationships. It’s about helping people find others based on their interests and their work.
What do you consider your distinctive achievement?
In my current position, I help people believe that they can reach higher. I help them realize their ideas, and bring their projects to life. It’s incredible to be in a position where I can help people reach their potential: whether it’s with the books I’ve published, or through the work that I do with my clients.
What are you looking forward to?
This is going to be very cheesy! I used to constantly think about the future, or the past. So, one of the biggest goals for me was to get to a place where the present mattered most.
Today, I can say that I’ve reached this place.
However, being fully present — trying to make the most of every day — makes it hard to think about the future. Anything more than a week in the future feels very, very far away.
A friend of mine once asked me what I would do if I went on vacation? I answered that I would probably start my day by taking myself out for a nice breakfast. Then she laughed and said: “Aren’t you already doing that?” We both laughed. She was right.
Which advice would you give to other professionals?
People should learn to share their process and their work. They should use social media to share their progress and what excites them. It’s easier for others to approach you when they know what interests you. That way, you can replace small talk with meaningful conversation about those interests.
What are the challenges we need to overcome to make cultural entrepreneurship more accessible?
Some weeks ago, I read an article about how only people who come from a place of privilege can make it as entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are just people with capital and the right connections. To enable more people to become entrepreneurs, we must create a new system. A system that helps people start their business and provides long term support.
But, we face the challenge of the filter bubble. When algorithms cater only to our Likes, this significantly narrows what content we are exposed to online. We only see what Facebook thinks we want to see, or what people pay for us to see.
In other words, where a decade ago the social web was primed to disrupt western society’s class system, today we are creating a reflection of the traditional class system within the digital world.
