The Germany Expat Business Show
A podcast that shares knowledge, stories and inspiration for anyone starting, running or growing a business as a non-German in Germany.
The Germany Expat Business Show
Raising Kids and Businesses in Munich with Gelyn Well
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Gelyn, a mom who moved to Germany at the height of the pandemic in 2020, found herself jobless and very pregnant. Inspired by her daughter (and probably a few hormones), she wrote her first children’s book, "Most of All, You Are Loved," a response to the pandemic, divisiveness, demonstrations, the Ukraine war, rising stories of bullying and increase in suicide rates amongst teens. She started asking herself "What can I do to protect my child?"
So, she created her company called Polkaducks and started creating stories and products that promote kindness, hoping they might make a difference. In less than two years, Gelyn diversified her efforts by creating a supportive mama network, expanding her business to custom book printing and stuffed toy services, and fostering a community where moms can find encouragement and inspiration.
Originally from Manila, Philippines, Gelyn isn't a stranger to stepping out of her comfort zone. After nearly a decade in finance, she randomly chose Shanghai from a map, enrolled in language school, and never looked back. She's lived in China and Mexico and now calls Munich home, where she lives with her husband and daughter.
This year, Gelyn embarks on her latest ambitious project, Mama macht Markt, an event celebrating women by inviting them to showcase their creations.
You can find this episode and all episodes as well as show notes for each at https://thegermanylist.de/the-germany-expat-business-show-podcast/
Starting or running a business in Germany as a foreigner? Already running an online business in Germany as an expat? Wanting to grow your German-based business? Working as a freelancer in Germany? You'll love my guide with over 30 resources for expat business owners in Germany.
Hi, I'm Eleanor Meyerhofer, a native Californian designer and digital strategist. In October of 1999, a few years after graduating from design school, I flew from San Francisco to Munich with a fistful of Deutschmarks, a dial-up connection and an extremely vague plan. Twenty-plus years later, after a 10-year stint at a global agency agency freelancing and launching two online businesses, I'm still here. Now I'm talking to other expat business owners to share knowledge, stories and inspiration for other non-Germans running businesses in Germany. Okay, I am here with Jalene Vela and I am going to ask you the question that I asked everybody at the beginning of this podcast, which is can you tell me the two-minute story of how you got to Germany?
Speaker 2:Two minutes has to start now.
Speaker 2:Okay. So, yes, I am married to a German. However, that is not the driving force why we're here. The pandemic was, so Germany was at the bottom of our list. We were living in Mexico at around, yeah, from 2017 to 2020 when we moved here. I think timing just played its part. He got a job offer and, at the same time, that was when the pandemic was starting. And you know, during pandemic, you start realizing things that hey, maybe this is the time that we spend more time with our family. His parents are here. He's the only child and at the same time, I got pregnant, so we were also looking for a place where we felt safe.
Speaker 2:When we made the decision, it was about March and we were slightly feeling the effect in Mexico and so, being pregnant, we decided, hey, maybe we should look for a place that we felt a little bit more secured, and that's why we decided, okay, he quit his job. He was working in Mexico. I also had my freelancing company in Mexico. I was a little bit more flexible at that time, but from one day to the other, before the world shut down and before nobody else could come in Germany anymore, we decided to book the flight and move here around June. June was the next flight. There was no flights from March to June, so we took the first flight out and we have been in Munich. We were supposed to just stay here for two years. My daughter is now four. We're still here and we have no plans of leaving. Actually, which is surprising, we wanted to go back to Asia and we had so many chances to do so, but it is now a conscious effort and choice of ours to stay here in Munich.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I heard go back to Asia you were living in Mexico, so where did you guys meet?
Speaker 2:Shanghai, okay, and you are originally from where? Philippines? I'm from the Philippines. Okay, yes, yeah, around about 2015,. I quit my job in finance. I was in finance for almost a decade. I just felt a little bit burnt out.
Speaker 2:In Shanghai or in the Philippines. No, in the Philippines. I was a financial broker in the Philippines and then, from one day to another, I just said, you know, this is I need a break. It was too much for me. I literally quit my job, packed my bags. Shanghai was a very random pick of mine. I could be a little bit random, but most of actually most of the time, I could be random and I packed my bags. I enrolled in Mandarin school just to buy me time for like six months, you know, just to take a break. But I don't know, I think fate just played out. In six months I got a job offer in a marketing firm. They do customer experience in retail, for luxury retail, and at the same time my now husband also invited me for our first date. So I thought, hey, maybe you know the universe is trying to tell me something. I knew him from a friend. He was a neighbor of my friend. So, yeah, so since 2015, we've been together and now we're in Munich.
Speaker 1:Okay, and just a little side note or question what was immigrating from the Philippines to Shanghai like? Is that easy, difficult?
Speaker 2:Difficult. I would always tell people it was one of the most humbling experiences that I've ever experienced. When I was in Manila, I had a good job, I had a good set of friends. You know, I didn't feel like I needed to prove myself again. But then I go to Shanghai. I mean, shanghai is a melting pot of expats, of different culture and industries, and I felt like I not only had to start from zero, but I also had to prove to everybody that I am as good as another person coming from America or another person coming from Europe, and I don't need to stereotype.
Speaker 2:But it I found it a little bit harder as an Asian, trying to, you know, join the workforce in a very, at that time, expat-led industry. But right now, I know China is shifting. They are now trying to really rally up their local talents. But that time, in 2015, there was still a huge influence like where you come from and what language you, you, you spoke. So, yeah, it was really, really hard for me, as a Filipina, trying to prove that, you know, I was as good as the others. But yeah, I think it just made me a little bit more resilient.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay it was a character builder and what like. What was the language? Did they? Did the Chinese immigration work with you in English, like, how did you do it?
Speaker 2:So in the first six months I did enroll myself in Mandarin school. I already enrolled in Mandarin school, like 10 years before that. For like also a year, with my sister, we went to Xiamen. My grandfather is actually from Xiamen here. He immigrated in the Philippines way, way, way, way way before, and so I went back and refreshed my Mandarin. However, it wasn't fluent enough, but it was okay. A lot of companies actually still used English because it still was kind of like one of the common languages spoken by these expats.
Speaker 2:But of course, if you knew and if you could speak and read Mandarin, that would catapult your career. If you're a foreigner that can speak and read Mandarin, that would catapult your career. If you're a foreigner that can speak and read Mandarin, that would have really been good. But it was a really good experience because, of course, you ride the cab and you have to know the basics. You go to buy your groceries. You need to know the basics. To buy your groceries, you need to know the basics. Yeah, so it was. It was a really good learning experience for me, not just for my career, but also trying to integrate culturally in Shanghai.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you weren't starting from zero, just like language wise, but okay. So before this turns into like Chinese, let's bring it. So. Did you sorry when you and your husband were in Mexico? Were you married when you came to Germany?
Speaker 2:We were married. Thankfully, we married the year before. So when he got the transfer to Mexico, we weren't married yet I said, okay, let's do it. That's when I had this shift from corporate work to just trying to do something, you know, make something for yourself. And that's when I started doing my freelancing job. Yeah, and then we were there 2017. We got married in 2019. In Mexico, no, in Bahamas.
Speaker 2:You know why I have to say you know why Is it like Denmark? Yes, it's like Denmark, like an easy place to get married, exactly so, when we got engaged, we asked advice from a couple also living in Puebla, where we lived in Mexico. She's also Filipina, married to a German, and they were saying you know, it's not as easy as you think. You know, if you wanted, we wanted to get married actually in Germany, but the requirements and the paperwork was just like eight pages long, and even a friend of mine said that she's living in Hamburg, also Filipina. She said that you know you would.
Speaker 2:I would have to provide a birth certificate of all my sisters or my siblings, and their credentials. I'm the youngest of six. Do you know how many documents I would have to translate? That would have cost me, like you know, thousands of euros. So they told us actually, one advice that they said was like, look at the Den Haag Treaty, look at all the countries there, and if you get married in one of those countries, then it's valid in Germany. And so we just started looking, you know, like, okay, where can we go? And then what do they require? And Bahamas was actually one of the easiest. It was just really like a certificate that I was still single that I could get from the Philippine government and, yeah, the passports, and it was a fun place to get married.
Speaker 1:I mean you did all the German stuff and my friends were like, why don't you just go to Vegas? It'll be so much easier. But yeah, there's a business idea International marriage hacks, like yeah exactly that's paperwork. So then you've immigrated to three countries, is this right? So China, mexico and Germany. So out of, okay, let's slowly bring it back. I'm bringing it back to Germany. How was it then? Okay, you were married. That's why I asked so what was the experience of coming to Germany like, compared to Mexico or China?
Speaker 2:We didn't really talk about Mexico, but but I mean, I think it would have been excuse me, I it would. It would be kind of like an unfair answer if I, if I answered it as is, because when I came to Germany it was a pandemic, so it was already. I would have already expected it was going to be harder in the beginning, but it made it extra hard because I also didn't know anybody in Munich at that time. His parents lived like three and a half hours from Munich and the whole thing was just locked down, you know. So of course it was difficult. However, it also made it less difficult because I was pregnant. I don't know if it makes sense because I was pregnant. I don't know if it makes sense because you know, you being pregnant. You in my case, you know I was in an active search for a community, you know, and I started looking in social media and there were groups that were established for 2021 Munich Mamas, you know and that became my source of comfort, I guess, at that time.
Speaker 2:But compared to, let's say, moving to Mexico, of course it's different because I think, culturally, people were a little bit more welcoming, kinder. We had, like our neighbor here actually told us almost a year after we moved in, there was a neighbor behind us who almost called the cops on us. Thankfully she didn't um, because we used to have dogs and when we were, when we just moved in our place, we have a garden and we were always just used to leaving the dogs in the garden. And of course one of our dogs, she's a little bit anxious and she just started barking for like two hours and didn't know. And the neighbor beside us actually had a decent seat to let us know and that was great. But she also told us that the neighbor behind us didn't have the same compassion and she was trying to rally up the neighbors to sign a petition to call the police. And of course, these things we never experienced in Mexico. So of course, yeah, so it's very different culturally, but you get used to it, it's just. And now I just laugh about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're very happy where we live, but one of the reasons I would not move among many but it's just like we get along with our neighbors and that's such a wild card. If you get bad neighbors in Germany, it could really be bad. Okay, but before we go down that rabbit hole, let's talk about your business, Polka Ducks. Tell me what it is and how you started it and what it's about.
Speaker 2:Okay. So, polka Ducks, I'll tell you how. First I started. It started with one book I self-published, a board book called Most of All, you Are Loved. This is based on my bedtime routine that I still share with my daughter.
Speaker 2:When she was about two weeks old, our hey ba-me already suggested that, hey, it would be helpful if you started a bedtime routine with your daughter, and so we started with just bath time reading a book, and then she's passed on to me. She was breastfed until she was two years old, so I was literally like just 100% with her every bedtime and after the book reading, you know, I just started talking to her, kind of like a monologue in the beginning, you know, just talking about the day, and then I started, you know, asking, hey, whatever happens, I hope you remember that you are kind, you are brave. I think this was also heavily influenced by the period that she was born and she's a 2021 baby pandemic and at around that time that I started this, this routine. It was also just the start of the Ukraine-Russia war and I think, also as parents, you become a little bit more susceptible to whatever is happening around you. You know things that you didn't really I mean, yeah, you read about it, but you don't really have this extra care or it doesn't really hit you as hard. You, being in a lot of mama communities or parent communities, you start hearing about the rise of bullying, social media insecurity, suicide rates and you know, you call it maybe postnatal hormones or not, but you know, as a parent, you start feeling, especially when you have a two-month-old baby. You start feeling like what can I do to protect you, you know? And so I used our bedtime routine as my means of protecting her. You know, we cannot lock her in a room and just hope that everything would be great. But then I started using our bedtime routine to just, yes, you know, let's talk about the day. And then let's talk about me reminding you that, whatever happens, if you were sad, you were scared, you were angry, that you always choose kindness. Remember that you are enough. Because I'm always worried about, especially I have a little girl.
Speaker 2:Social media makes them so vulnerable about what they're supposed to be, how they're supposed to look like. You cannot control that anymore. Social media makes them so vulnerable about what they're supposed to be, how they're supposed to look like. You cannot control that anymore. And then I started doing a daily word, daily words of affirmation. You know, I mean, I did read that they have a positive effect on your subconscious self and maybe if I started repeating this, this would become her truth. Then maybe she can just grow up and face the world just fine.
Speaker 2:And then so as the months, the months went by, the list started growing and growing from love to being enough, to being brave. And then I realized, hey, why can't I share this simple message to parents around the world? You know, that's how it started, and I even told my husband I'm like, should I do this? And he said, yeah, go ahead. You know, I used to be in brand marketing and my freelancing job was also in copywriting and marketing strategy, and so the technicalities and logistics and the suppliers I already knew and I started writing. And that's how polka docs was like originated the the idea it was just from that one book.
Speaker 1:Okay yeah, so the, the suppliers. So the suppliers did like print the book and yeah, like, so how? Maybe talk a little bit about how you set up the business?
Speaker 2:so it was e-commerce and all that okay, so I will be honest with you, I had no knowledge about e-commerce when I started. I just knew the creative side of it. I'm the writer. The illustrator is actually my niece, but she's now like 22. But then at that time she's still in university. She still is in university. But it was supposed to be just a fun project between me and her, a bonding experience.
Speaker 2:But because I was living and working in China and my brand marketing experience originated in China, I was well-versed with contacting suppliers. So what I meant about the logistics and all about getting the book printed, I knew how to get the suppliers in China, so my products are from China. But the logistics was really just kind of like learn as I went. Yeah, I had to set up the business here in Germany and then I started realizing, okay, how can I make it economical in terms of logistics? And so we started looking into contacting different providers DHL, hermes and all that and striking up a deal with them and making this a little bit more economical at that time at my scale, at my small scale at that time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Can I sorry, maybe you're getting to this, but so were you essentially drop shipping, or were they printing a batch of books and sending them to you in germany and then you were doing the packaging and sending and the fulfillment?
Speaker 2:yeah, so I ordered my, my first. My first order was a thousand copies. Okay, yeah, and yeah, I mean, of course, if you want to look a little bit more long term, of course the margin is is you can do a lot of margin with bulk printing as opposed to a few quantities. The thing is I was supposed to go on the print-on-demand route because it's always the safest, especially for soft publishers. You don't really have a money out, you only get a percentage, let's say through amazon and stuff. But. But thankfully I didn't go down that road, that that route, that the route, but because I really wanted mine to be a board book and you can't do print on demand with board books in amazon no okay, I think.
Speaker 2:I think if you wanted, like a hardcover, at least I think you need to have a specific number of pages, okay, but in Amazon it's always the softcover books and they have predefined dimensions.
Speaker 1:Okay, I think I know those books. I have a lot of those books, yeah.
Speaker 2:And so I was I mean me being the creative. I said no, I want mine to be a board book, and so that's how my self-publishing journey started, and my business started with just with one book. My first book was sold on Valentine's Day, february 2023. So that's really great.
Speaker 1:Okay, I have a lot of like business questions, tactical questions. So okay, so you ordered 1,000 books, which to me seems like a lot, but I'm sure in printing that's like maybe not a huge batch.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, it's intimidating for a self-publisher, especially for a first-time publisher. So last year we also pivoted our services to providing printing services to self-publish, especially for a first-time publisher. So last year we also pivoted our services to providing printing services to self-publishers.
Speaker 2:I don't just print my own books but now last year in May, we started doing the publishing. I'm not a publisher, I'm just a printer. So I always tell my customers that I am not a publisher. I'm not going to buy your rights. Your rights remain with you. I'm not going to buy your rights. Your rights remain with you. I'm just going to help you one custom book printing services and two if you would want to bring one of your characters to life. I can also help you with stuffed toy creation, because I also created my own stuffed toy. But a lot of the anxiety of my customers is like you know. First, where am I going to put a thousand books? That's about like 12 boxes, you know, and two, of course. That's a big commitment. You're looking at about a thousand to two thousand euros of investment yeah, and it's quite a lot and that doesn't include okay so.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you you order these books, then you've got to get them shipped to Germany, so there's like shipping costs and then, like what is? Is there like import tax duty, like how does that all work?
Speaker 2:So, my partners that what do you call this? My partners that helped me print the books. So I've been. They're the ones who printed my books and now I've been working with them for my other clients. We actually provide a door-to-door shipment, so you don't have to deal with any taxes. It's already pre-calculated in whatever quotation we give you. So that's the best thing about it, because you don't have to get bugged by the customs and say, hey, you need to pay X, Y, Z before you have your books. The best thing is, yeah, we tell you it's on the way and you wait for about a month, a month and a half, and they're right there on your doorstep.
Speaker 1:Okay, but when you did it for yourself, you had to deal with all that, but you were familiar with it. Well, you couldn't have been familiar with the German side, like what was involved, like, so were there any surprises there?
Speaker 2:I mean, the main surprise is the amount of regulations in Germany. Yeah, I surprises the amount of regulations germany. You know, I mean I'm not used to. Yeah, I mean, first of all, this is my first business, so the business technicality and the how to run a business is already new to me. But then, doing it in this in germany was a lot of learning data, data privacy and collecting yeah, um, and for private information of customers and, and these things you shouldn't be, you shouldn't take lightly. You also impress them. You know, being the, who do they go to if, if something goes wrong, right, I try to do it myself. To tell you honestly, however, we, we decided to also just now outsource it. So we, I do have an insurance, I do. I did decide eventually, like last year, especially when I felt like my business was growing, that I seek for professional help. Yeah, yeah, and especially that I don't. Yeah, sorry, good, finish your thought. No, I know, I mean especially that I don't. I'm not very fluent with with the language you know?
Speaker 1:Did you so the order of events? Did you like order the books and then launch the website and then start the business? Were you a? Did you have a gui and biha a uga, a uge Like. What did you do? Just individual sole proprietor, like what did you do?
Speaker 2:I'm a client unternehmenden, so just like a freelancer, like a small business do? I'm a client entrepreneur? So just like a freelancer, like a small business. So I'm not a GmbH. We are in the process of changing my business to a UG or a UG at the moment Because, of course, right now the risk is if something goes wrong, you are reliable as a private person, and so right now we are switching it to a UG and we will put it in an umbrella company like a GmbH. We have a GmbH and we will just put it there, because now we want to separate now Polkadot and Polkadot Publishing, and then, of course, later we will talk about Mama Mac Mart. So we want to put all of that in a separate business entity.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker 2:And so did you have. Did you order the books and then launch the site, or did you launch the site, order the book Like? Did you do any pre-sales Like? Nor was I confident that this would be something. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:So my first website was a free website. It was just supposed to house one product. So I was under Jim Doe and I made it myself. And then I did that when I ordered my books, because that would buy me two more months, because it takes about a month to produce the books and then about a month, a month and a half, for it to get to me. So I used that time to register the business and to make my website.
Speaker 2:And then I did social media. So I went into Instagram and then I made my account and then I tried my best to build traction and do kind of like a hype up with my network in the beginning, um, until like, trying to do kind of like a pre-sale um promotion before it, before february 14 hit. So that was at least in the marketing side, which I was, I would say would be more of my area. I did that until it reached. Yeah, actually, the books reached just about a week before February 14. So there was also a lot of tension in the back and trying to see oh no, can I really launch in 14? But yeah, so everything worked out.
Speaker 1:And so Instagram. Okay, so who were you targeting, like who was your ideal client? And obviously it's in English, so you were like a global audience, or how were you? What was your strategy, and was it primarily an Instagram strategy?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my first one was Instagram strategy and I just felt that because my book was first published in English, my strategy was to do a global reach strategy of parents, caregivers, that still believed in the importance of books, especially now in the era of technology and you know ipads and all that. So I did gear my my ads to to moms predominantly, and caregivers to I research, where there's a little bit more of an english-speaking cities in germany and as well as the countries that were not too expensive to send to.
Speaker 1:That was my next question. So you did try. Like you were mindful of shipping costs and distance. Absolutely Did you need to stay in the EU.
Speaker 2:I will tell you honestly, actually, most of my customers are from the US. However, there was really a big shift in the beginning because, yes, most of my customers were in the US but I had to price it in a way that the price would cover a little bit of the shipping fee. But then I cannot charge free shipping because then I would just lose a lot of money. But then a lot of people really frown on whenever they see you know, I need to pay for shipping still, you know. So after a couple of months I had to shift it to EU, because EU didn't really cost so much. Actually, it's just about two euros per euro. So now I'm trying to target. Before I launched my German book, I shifted it to more of like English speaking filters, or yeah, filters in the Instagram when you, when you do your ad, yeah, yeah, let's talk about ads.
Speaker 1:I'm I'm always like scared of meta ads. Years and years and years ago, I like experimented and lost a lot of not a lot of money, but more than I wanted to on Facebook ads and so and I've tried to hire people and just going through the meta business manager has just been a headache. But, like, what was your experience?
Speaker 2:okay. So in the beginning I did not want to really, uh, invest in in a lot of meta ads, um. But then I realized I was starting to think the wrong audience. There were a lot of clicks, you could see, you could see what's happening in the back end, but it's not revenue generating. And then I turned to hiring an external source last year, but it also didn't turn out great. So now I'm really learning and studying more of the market behavior. Where are they at? Are they in Facebook? Are they in Instagram? And then I have also realized that the bigger you put your audience, the more dispersed it is. So the chances of you getting something is really, I don't know, 2 to 10.
Speaker 2:So, now I've learned to kind of like narrow it down. It could also be I don't have to spend like, yeah, 50 euros per week, but narrowing down the audience, because then it's really knowing about the exact topics that you put as markers and when you put that yeah, so those and what I've learned that, especially in our other accounts now that what I've learned to be more effective is it's because I used to lead them straight to my website. More effective is it's because I used to lead them straight to my website, but now I start leading them back to my Instagram account and that, for me, I felt was more effective because it leads to interaction, it leads to trust, it leads to a little bit more sincerity of what you're trying to offer and that I think for me, is working right now.
Speaker 1:So instead of like here, come to my shop and buy something. It's like a little bit of a warm introduction and then engagement yeah.
Speaker 1:Send us a message. Yeah, so did you. I see this pattern a lot. Did you hire somebody and then it didn't, it went like whatever, not great. And then did you teach yourself how to do it and you did this. I see this so much. People will hire somebody and it either doesn't work or it works, but then they're like it stops working and they're like I need to understand how to do this. And then they start managing their ads themselves. Was it hard to learn?
Speaker 2:Yes, because I mean I thought I learned it like last year already, but it turned out no, I didn't, and now I'm still learning, but I could see a progress in really trying to take the time to read about market behavior. I think that's the most important thing. You know, you cannot just say, oh, I think my audience likes DIY stuff or children's literature or whatever. But I think what really helps is you really look at, you take the time to look at and read statistics of what is out there. You know external sources. I mean the analytics in your advertising. No, external external sources. Look at market, the free marketing. How do you say surveys?
Speaker 2:and what is that? Yeah, and for me, that's for me, that's for me. That really helped a lot. So, yeah, I may not, I don't have to spend about 20, 30 euros, but, like in every ad run, I can just pick the exact days where I think it would get. I don't have to make it run the whole week. I pick the exact days where I think, okay, now is the time they're going to look at their phones or look at something that they can buy for the weekend or not.
Speaker 2:I did have a lot of mistakes, and it's a lot of painful, expensive mistakes. I used to sell on Amazon. I took it out. I just feel there's also a big saturation of books there and I cannot compete, and I used to try to compete, and then you just start kind of like emptying your inbox kind of thing, you know, like trying to see what works, what doesn't work and it's. And I think the one thing that I've learned is to react faster, you know, and not wait it out and say, oh, maybe next month it might be better. But if, if you already realize that in you give yourself like two months, oh, this, this channel doesn't work, I think you should just let go of it and then focus on, on the things that that actually really give you some turn, turnover or income okay, so essentially and I want to turn to mama mock mark in a minute but your polka ducks is both an e-commerce, but also you work as a liaison to help German producers or people that want to make books or toys.
Speaker 1:You connect them with vendors in China.
Speaker 2:No, actually. So OK, so to give you an idea, so I did start PolkaDucks with just my products, you know. So it is still on the pillars of trying to give values to our children, and so all of our products are centered on that 24 days of acts of kindness and five languages. And I have two other books. And then last year, around March, I started, and also just celebrating our anniversary, I started, you know, giving back in a way, that I started an initiative called Polk Collaboration in March, wherein I opened Polkadox's social channels, like our social media and also our shop, to helping mama-owned businesses get either featured for free or help them sell their products, and just to really hope to inspire or encourage someone else out there who is probably, hopefully or maybe in also the same rut, like should I start my own business? Should I quit my nine to five? And so that's where it started.
Speaker 2:But, because of Paul's collaboration, I started meeting more and more and more women who were also in the same boat as I was in November 2022, like being a self-publisher or wanting to be a self-publisher, and so I started offering hey, I can also help you print your books, so I have book printing services, but I don't have the printing machine. I have my partners in China. So now I also service self-publishers not just in Germany, but also in America or in Asia. Let's say, hey, I want to print my book in this format you know, sky's the limit. You know, embossed, glittered hardcover, whatever I can help you do that and then I help them print their books. So it's kind of like a printing service and also because I have experience in creating my own merchandise, I have a microwavable stuffed toy that comes with my book. I've also now I've also hand-in-hand helped them create their characters and bring them to life. So that's where I am right now. So we're not just e-commerce, but we're also now also in service.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, Okay, oh, that's cool. It's sort of it's not really import-export, but like consulting and All right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's still a little bit of consulting, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but also leveraging just what you learned working in China.
Speaker 2:Leveraging I think that's a good word Leveraging my experience and my resources. Yeah, because not a lot of people would be willing to go through all the suppliers and reach out to them, and they don't know if they can trust the supplier that was exactly the word I was going to use, like that's what people are really like, the work and the trust, like basically the relationships you built there.
Speaker 1:That's really interesting. Okay, but before I don't want to run out of time, why don't you tell me a little bit about your upcoming event called Mama Mocked Marked?
Speaker 2:Yeah, mama Mocked Marked, it's just fun to say. But so, as mentioned earlier, because of my Paul Collaboration initiative, I really had this dream and this kind of end goal of creating an event around it, you know, putting up a whole market that would feature in the beginning mama-owned businesses, mama-owned businesses. And so last year, second half of last year, I said you know what, let's do it. I started asking people who were well-versed in creating these kinds of events, because I did make an effort last year in joining events in Germany, in Austria and also as well as in the Philippines, because I also have now a corporation back home in the Philippines. I brought Polkadot home in the Philippines, and so last year was really about getting best practices and learning and what can I do in my own event? And I said, okay, let's do it. I want to create a community and kind of like a physical execution of my collaboration initiatives with other businesses.
Speaker 1:Okay, so it's going to be an in-person market Kids stuff or handmade or like. What is the angle here?
Speaker 2:Okay, so our goal in Mama Mac Mart is to give space to women-owned businesses, regardless of what industry you're in, and that is why I chose Alte Kongress Halle, because Alte Kongress Halle it's huge and it has all the space that is. It's just it's kind of like a blank canvas. They have a blank, they have a space for retail, gastronomy, they have so many rooms that can be used as a gallery for photographers or even workshops, service-oriented businesses and travel, yoga, wellness, and I think that is what is lacking right now. I don't want to compete with the existing markets. You know, for me, what I'm trying to build is it's not just a market, I'm trying to build a community, a platform that, whatever business you have, you have space here, and so this is what we are working on from now until May to be able to cater to as many kind of industries as possible.
Speaker 2:Okay, so this Go ahead, philippe. No, but also there is a stage area in the Aalto Congress Halle that we are now transforming also. So this venue is not just you know, you can sell and and offer your services, but we also want to use mama mcmart as a venue to to say, hey, this is a place where you can find mentorship or guidance or help and how to start your own business, because we are going to be transforming the auditorium to key speaker areas and panels, yeah, so we are pivoting in that direction as well. So it's not just, you know, a commercial space, but it's also really a place for development and growth, for the women.
Speaker 1:So it's sort of like a conference and a market combined. Yes, yeah, that's a cool idea. Yeah, we're actually like my wheels are turning. Um, now see, this would make me nervous because I mean that's a big deal. When you told me, like when we talked before, that you got the congress holland for people, not munich, this is like a big this is. I've gone there for like design conferences that happen there, like toka may happens there every year. It's right by where they have the Oktoberfest. That's like a, that's an investment, that's an outlay, so you have to book it and then, like, get all your vendors booked so you can, I mean, at a minimum, cover your costs and, hopefully, more of them, break even. So how have you been approaching that?
Speaker 2:Okay. So yeah, that's really interesting that you asked that. So I mean, when you were asking me about my journey and how I've done things, and the one thing that I think is always important for a person is to neverkadot, and my journey as an entrepreneur is this whole insecurity to think big. It's like I want to do things small scale because it's safer that way. But right now I believe in my vision and I believe for what my goal is, and I also believe that the more risks you have, the more reward, and for me to make an impact in this community and to build this community, I need to be true to what I'm trying to say, which is I want to give space to as many industries, as many businesses, as many women as possible, and this area and this venue just presented itself and it was very intimidating in the beginning. I will tell you honestly.
Speaker 2:I was sitting there. I remember having my cup of coffee and just sitting at the bench looking at it and I'm like, yeah, I rent this whole thing. You know, I'm not like what you said. I'm not even an OG, it's me. You know, it's quite gutsy, maybe borderline managed, I don't know. But yeah, I feel that I have a better plan now. I feel that I've learned more than I should have or could have learned before and, yeah, I'm taking the risk to build this community.
Speaker 1:And how are you doing that? What is your outreach like? How are you finding people to book and book for the market?
Speaker 2:okay. So we, we signed the contract around just even just in january and I have a team now. We're a team of three ladies. I had to outsource tasks.
Speaker 2:So one girl is helping me with content creation because I have more than enough Instagram accounts that I need to handle. So I need a different feel, I need a different vibe and language, and so she's helping me with that. And I have another lady. She's a really good friend of mine. She's a marketing specialist and also is a retail store owner.
Speaker 2:She also pivoted her career but she's really she's at least more in like, in the more how do you say? Because she's German and so she knows a little bit more like the local lingo and the networking and all that. But in terms of getting this vendor signups and all that, I really think it's a teamwork from all of us. So it comes from the content creation and then her local network. But for me, I'm doing, of course, yeah, 80, 90 of the job, operations and personally messaging and going, reaching, reaching the businesses myself. So we've been running around the city since January meeting with different ladies from different career paths and, yeah, it's a lot of work but it's really rewarding because you know, you start seeing businesses and meeting women that you're always asking where were you all this time?
Speaker 1:Yeah, totally so. Why don't you tell us also when the market is going to be? And if people want to reach out and participate where they can do that, I'll put that in the show notes. Great.
Speaker 2:Yes. So Mama, math, Math, it's open for all women. It's made by women for all women. We've always had this question I'm not a mom, can I join? Of course you can join. It's in May 18, from 1130 to 7 pm at the Alta Kongress Halle in München, and if you would like to be a participant or if you think that you would have something important to share as a key speaker, we would love to hear from you. You can either reach us through our email at community, at mamamacmarkde, or visit our website at mamamacmarkde or our Instagram, mamamacmark, and we would be more than happy to receive your message and reply to you guys.
Speaker 1:And so the market slash conference. That's good to know that you don't have to be a mom to be a mom? No, but also, are you going to have tickets? If somebody wants to just go and hear the talks and look at all the vendors, is that free or is there an entrance fee?
Speaker 2:Yes, so we have not announced it yet, but we will be announcing it before March ends. There is a minimal entrance fee. It's a minimal entrance fee of four euros, however, four euros for 14 and above. However, this 14, four euros is we have this thing called one euro for one euro for Frauen, this thing called one euro for one euro for Frauen. So 50% of our ticket sales we will be donating to a cause. So this we will be announcing to whom or which organization we have partnered with soon, but yes, we are committing to donating 50% of our ticket sales.
Speaker 1:Okay so there is so much, I'm just getting overwhelmed thinking about it. So not only yes, we are committing to donating 50% of our ticket sales. Okay, so there is so much, like I'm just like getting overwhelmed thinking about it. So not only do you have to like, do all the logistics of the conference and get all the vendors and book all the speakers, how are you getting the word out just for people to come to the market?
Speaker 2:Yes, thank you for asking that. So, yeah, this March we are going to be actively now shifting our marketing strategy Because, of course, when we started only in February actually we just started launching our market in first of February we focused on, of course, the signups and the vendors and now, in just less than a month, actually we are about 70-80% full and we're really happy. Fantastic. We are about 70 80 percent full and we're really happy. Fantastic, I know it's, it's. There were a lot of sleepless nights and me having like hyperventilating, I have no idea, but yeah, it's really great. So now we're really down to the the program of the key speakers and the panel. Hopefully we will get a panel, but for for the marketing, for the visitors. Now we are going to shift that our strategy. Now, end of March, we are going to be actively posting flyers, posters and, as well as looking into newspaper ads, of course, aside from the social media push and also tapping into the network of our participants of information dissemination and in their own networks as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, cool. Well, as we wrap up, I'm going to ask you the question that I like to end with. So I mean, there's, you can pick any one of these businesses or activities you've got going on, but are there any lessons learned or what advice would you give to other entrepreneurs in Germany that are not German?
Speaker 2:I mean honestly, I could go down to technical lessons, but the one thing that I've learned to be very important in whatever business or venture that you decide, I always believe that you have to surround yourself with three kinds of people all the time. And one is your natural cheerleaders, who generally knows you and who generally knows your strengths or weaknesses, who would give you not just criticism but constructive criticism. I think you need that as a foundation. And then the second you need to stop all of this social media nonsense and all these scrolling, but focus on on on valuable content and surrounding yourself with real experts and mentors that you you can learn from. Use your extra time to, to connect yourself with them, because you know, you think you know, but you don't really know, especially in starting a business in another country that you don't even speak the language of. So that's two.
Speaker 2:And third, you need your community. You need to surround yourself with people who are either on the same level as you, a little bit more experienced or a little bit who's just starting, but you need this rock that think the same way as you have the same goal, because then you guys will be pushing yourself up, whether you're in a different industry or whatever, there's always something that they can contribute to your success and, the same time, that you can contribute to theirs. So that's the one thing. I can go to technicalities, but for me, I think for me, this is my framework now and this is what I would like to advise anybody who would want to start something other, because if you missed one, you don't have have your natural cheerleaders, you're not happy. You don't have your mentors, you don't really learn anything valuable, you don't know the best practices of a certain industry, you don't have your community, you're alone, and that's not always a good thing. So, yeah, that's my thing.
Speaker 1:Jalene. That was really a great note to end on and fantastic advice. So thanks again for coming on the show and, once again, where is the best place for people to find you? Best place, Steve. Best place, I mean I have like so many. Again, we'll put it all on the show notes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I mean, if you want the children's products, I am at polkadocscom that's my Instagram or polkadocscom for our website. And if you really want to join the Mama Mac Mart community, please reach out to julene at mamamacmartde I think Eleanor would tell you how to spell my name. It's a little bit difficult or just community at mamamacmartde. That would be amazing, okay.
Speaker 1:Thanks so much for coming on. Thank you, Anna, for having me. Thanks for listening. You can find this and all other Germany Expat Business Show podcasts at thegermanylistde Bye.