I didn’t know what to expect when a client asked me to meet him for happy hour to share an idea with me. It was a typical rainy evening, and he had already arrived when I entered the cozy restaurant in NW Portland. He was a bit nervous and hesitant to share, so he launched into small talk. I finally told him I couldn’t help him if he wouldn’t share his idea with me. His idea was to create a mobile fitness concept. He had done tons of research and analysis about what keeps people from moving and what barriers prevent them from working out. His analysis revealed the problem, and he had created a business idea based on it. A fitness van or trailer would arrive at participants’ homes where they could work out with friends or neighbors. Once Continue Reading
BACK TO SCHOOL
When I was still in school summer was always my favorite season. The weather was nice, we were out and about all day, went on unforgettable family vacations in Italy, spend all day windsurfing, playing at the beach with friends, enjoyed good food, didn’t worry about a thing, most of the time didn’t have to do anything tasks or homework, the parents were a pretty in a good mood as well and it was just a good time overall. Also, our back then six weeks of school vacation felt forever and always too short at the same time. When it was time to go back to school we were excited about the first day and also sad that the summer felt like it was over. If you were lucky you could still wear your brand-new Italian summer dresses and there were Continue Reading
LIFE IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE MAKE OTHER PLANS
“So you will be gone next weekend? But we had this girls weekend set for months now. You can’t be at the wedding? Honestly, isn’t there anybody else that can go on this site visit?” Over the last 15 years those kind of questions occurred frequently and my family and friends got used to fact that they would be healthier and easier for them not to get to excited for me to come and visit already days before. They would rather start to get excited when I actually made and stood in front of them. Also, I am pretty used to the fact that things change all the time. We would be planning a job and felt like we just had figured out everything when we had to learn that the whole concept needs to be changed, the event day would be re-scheduled Continue Reading
Alameda, Freemont and Alberta.
We moved to Alameda in May 2015 and happen to end up just between Freemont and Alberta. Back then I wasn’t really sure I would like the area we decided to rent a house in. I hadn’t spend much time on Portland’s east side and I was hesitant if we wouldn’t be to "far out". ( funny, right?). Besides the fact that we ended up loving the house we stayed in, the neighborhood has been growing on us day by day and we still very much like it. The question leaving our house basically was: “Left or Right?” Which either meant we would end up on Alberta Street or Freemont Street ;-). // When on Alberta // A sun downer, a happy hour, a blazer’s game or just a little snack and IPA. So many times we ended up in THE STATION. It’s definitely Continue Reading
You got half a day to kill in Portland? What about…? #getoutthere!
Being the tourist guide in your own city always makes you explore more things and might take you to places you normally don’t go that often which is great! A similar thing happens when you take different kinds of transportation: Even if you have the same destination you need to go to every week: If you mix it up (car, bike, walking, public transportation) you will notice different spots you might not have known just taking by car. The last couple weeks motivated me again to play tourist in my own city more often as well as to try to get to same places taking different transportation and ways to explore more by even doing your daily routine. Here we go with my new April-finds, ever-greens to go’s as well as some “re-born” Continue Reading
Wanna go on a little city hike today?
When I first moved to Portland, I rented an apartment in NW Portland as it seemed so convenient to get to work as well as it felt such a nice #placetobe. The combination of being walking distance to the city center, having the chance to always do a little neighborhood shopping and the fact of being so close to forest park sealed the deal for me. Upon today NW is still one of my #placestobe in Portlandia and one of my favorite half day activities is definitely a little hike in forest park accompanied by a brunch, lunch or coffee afterwards. One option is to park your car somewhere on NW Thurman Street. If you like to fuel up before the walk, get yourself a coffee, a snack and fill up your water bottle at the Dragonfly Coffeehouse and Continue Reading
All for soccer. Soccer for all!
Happy Thursday! Couple weeks ago I introduced you to my friend and one of my role models when it comes to entrepreneurship, leadership, community involvement and volunteer work Kaig, the founder of PCFC, Portland Community Football Club. As the players are getting ready for the 5th Season, Kaig and team are in crunch time mode too, trying to get the funds the club needs to make sure we can keep the standards of last season, elevate our game on all levels and keep doing what PCFC is all about: All for soccer. Soccer for all. Portland Community Football Club (PCFC) offers an inclusive and equal opportunity for youth between 5-16 years old to participate in a club environment with quality coaching and at an affordable cost. Continue Reading
Prasad – so good, so healthy and sooo yummy!
Yes, on Tuesdays we talk about #placestobe. Today I would love to take the chance to introduce you to Prasad. Or should I better say: I will remind you that it still exists as it feels like it has been there forever but we all have forgotten about it? My gut feeling is that a lot of Portland peeps interested in healthy food, especially bowls as well as organic, gluten-free and plant-based food, know Prasad and Harlow already. That's exactly how I was. I knew both places, I liked both places and would stop by there very randomly ( just because I never happened to be around this area during lunch time or early dinner time). The fact that I was looking for a pre-natal yoga class ( yes, I do it and it really does good to me so I Continue Reading
NOW OR NEVER!
It was a Tuesday at the end of January. I went to bed way too late the night before. We had a business dinner where we had a lot of challenges to tackle and we actually didn’t really come to a lot of solutions at all which was frustrating on so many ends. So I here I was that morning thinking about what else I needed to pack while taking a shower and getting ready for work. I had 10 more hours left till Mr. V would drop me off the airport to leave for 10-day trip to Australia. I had never been to Australia before, it had always been a huge dream to go, but also something that did not seem realistic to me: Too expensive, who would go with me and also time was an issue ( “if you go you should travel around Australia for at least Continue Reading
Do you know somebody, who can…..?
It brings me a lot of joy to build new connections, to find solutions and to help people out with all kinds of things. I always try to be in the position to answer the question above with a “YES” or at least try to direct people to another person who might be able to bring them a little bit closer to what they are looking for. That’s also one of the reasons why we established the #greatpeople column on my blog. Besides the fact that I am so grateful to be surrounded by so many great people I believe in the power of passionate people, a huge network of all kinds of amazing human beings and talents as well as personal recommendations. Of course you can google it, there are great Facebook groups for almost everything you could Continue Reading