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My story

Invent yourself.Reinvent yourself.

I don’t believe in cookie-cutter careers. I believe in people who have the courage to go their own way.

I was an editor and worked for fashion and lifestyle magazines and in television. I spent many years in brand communication, most recently in luxury branding, and led marketing at a Berlin tech company as Head of Marketing. Eventually I built my own brand and business. I have told stories, spotted trends, staged brands and kept trying new things. Not because I never knew what I wanted. But because I always knew quite precisely what drives me: curiosity, passion and the wish to create something special.

Today I am a personal branding and marketing expert, editor and author. I combine strategic thinking with journalistic instinct, an eye for design with depth of content, and brand development with a fairly clear conviction:

We are not just one version of ourselves. And we don’t have to stay that way.

Melanie Heym in an orange suit

Passion first. Make life art.

Not always the straight path. But always the one that interested me.

In my career I rarely chose the most direct path. Usually the one that interested me most.

While studying German and English literature and philosophy at the University of Cologne, I wanted to understand how stories work. What moves people. Why some thoughts stay while others vanish instantly. And how language can change our perception.

I studied the great thinkers, philosophers and writers of our intellectual and cultural history and learned how much social and cultural meaning language and values can carry. And I fell in love with the beauty of language: the aesthetics of a precisely placed sentence that says more than any explanation.

At the same time, I was fascinated by the visual world. Images, aesthetics, design, the art of staging. I didn’t want to choose between content and form. I was always interested in both.

So I got to know different media worlds. In the culture department of WDR television, later as a fashion and lifestyle editor in Munich for ELLE, GLAMOUR and myself. I experienced how a good idea becomes a story, how to sharpen a topic journalistically and how much work goes into a publication that in the end looks effortless.

Later I moved into brand communication, worked with companies at agencies such as fischerAppelt and Meiré und Meiré and immersed myself in premium brand staging and luxury branding. As Head of Marketing, I eventually rebuilt the marketing of a Berlin tech company from the ground up.

The great international magazine brands shaped me in particular. Publications like VOGUE, AD or GLAMOUR show how powerful the interplay of journalistic substance, visual quality and a distinctive point of view can be.

A good magazine doesn’t just inform. It opens up a world.

That principle still fascinates me today – in brand development too.

Melanie Heym with one of her acrylic paintings

Form meets content

I love the moment when something good becomes something special.

I have a strong sense for trends, topics and visual tension. For combining things that may not seem to belong together at first glance and become interesting precisely because of that. For the moment an idea suddenly grabs attention.

But a wow effect alone isn’t enough for me.

I love beautiful design. I paint acrylic on canvas myself, think strongly in images and can get excited about exceptional typography or a clever composition. At the same time, I’m a literature person. I’m interested in what lies beneath the surface: the story, the values, the idea.

A beautiful shell without substance is decoration.

Is my message relevant? What really gets experts and personalities heard? The answer is rarely the prettier picture. Today more than ever: if you want impact, you need substance. Even some influencers have noticed that beauty content alone no longer gets them anywhere.

Only when both come together does a brand with meaning emerge. Strong aesthetics open the door and win the first look. But only content, values and a clear message make people stay, listen and trust. That applies to experts just as much as to companies.

Maybe this very mix is my greatest asset: the editor searching for the right story. The strategist who sees connections. The marketing expert who knows how to reach people. And the creative who wants to turn it into something original.

Strong aesthetics attract attention. But only substance turns it into relevance.

Reinvent yourself

The same person in three pictures.

2013Melanie Heym in 2013 at myself in Munich, with long hair
At myself in Munich
2021Melanie Heym in 2021 sitting on stairs, with short red hair
Going self-employedPhoto: © Peggy Schröder
2026Melanie Heym today in an orange suit
TodayPhoto: © Manuela Asmus

I made more and more of myself visible.

There are photos of me from my early thirties in which I look like a rather well-behaved editor.

Long hair, a reserved style, everything neat and somehow appropriate. That was one version of me back then. Just not the only one inside me.

Over the past ten years I have changed a lot. Professionally, personally and outwardly. I made new decisions, questioned old ideas, left some things behind and made other sides of me more visible.

At some point the hair got short. The style clearer. The colours bolder. A woman who in places still oriented herself strongly towards what was expected became, step by step, someone who more and more naturally allows herself to go her own way.

Today, short red hair, clean silhouettes and my vivid orange are part of who I am.

Not because I designed a striking personal brand on the drawing board. But because this look expresses what has developed over the years.

I didn’t suddenly become a different person. I made more and more of myself visible.

And I believe there’s an important insight in that: we don’t have to commit to a single version of ourselves. People evolve. Interests change. New skills, wishes and passions come along.

Sometimes growth means daring something new. Sometimes letting something go. And sometimes finally allowing yourself to be who you have long wanted to be.

A thought that stays with me

If you’re going to try,go all the way.

Charles Bukowski · Roll the Dice

To me it’s a call not to pursue the things that truly matter to us half-heartedly.

Not every attempt succeeds. Not every decision turns out to be right. I have taken detours along the way and learned lessons I would gladly have done without.

But I have rarely regretted following my curiosity.

Melanie Heym in a pinstripe suit with an orange blouse on a roof terrace

To stand out.And still fit in.

A strong brand has to stand out. But not at any price.

I believe in a style that is original yet fits the person, their environment and their goals. In positioning that is brave enough to make differences visible without artificial provocation.

My own brand is a rather colourful example. The orange, the clear imagery and my personal style are deliberately striking. They suit my personality and what I stand for.

That doesn’t mean I’d recommend an orange turtleneck to every client. Quite the opposite.

Good brand work doesn’t mean imposing my style on people. It means bringing out their own.

For a leader this can look completely different than for an artist, a consultant or a company. The task is always the same: understand your identity, recognise what makes you special and translate it into a clear, convincing form.

That’s exactly what I help with.

A life that suits me

Passion first.
Make life art.

New York
New York
Sydney
Sydney
Cologne, home
Cologne, home
On the road in Rio
On the road in Rio
Cape Town Love
Cape Town Love
Working where it inspires
Working where it inspires

I love discovering new places, working in other countries and being inspired by people, cultures and perspectives.

For me, remote work is more than a practical way of working. It’s a piece of freedom to shape my life so that work, curiosity, creativity and personal interests fit together.

I like my colourful life. Not because everything is always easy. But because I can shape it consciously.

I firmly believe we have more influence over our path than we sometimes dare to think. Of course we can’t control every situation in life. There are limits, obligations and circumstances that can’t simply be wished away.

But within our possibilities we can make decisions, learn new things, change direction and take responsibility for what we want to create.

Passion first. Make life art. To me this isn’t a call for constant self-optimisation. It’s a lovely reminder to value your interests and passions as much as you take them seriously. Because they often show us the right way quite reliably – towards where we come alive.

Melanie Heym with four women in front of the Female Empowerment Dinner wall “Empower Your Drive!”
Female Empowerment Dinner
Female Empowerment Dinner

Founded 2022

To me, female empowerment is not a buzzword.

In summer 2022 I founded the Female Empowerment Dinner.

The idea was simple: bring women to one table who want to make a difference. Who share their experiences, inspire each other, make new connections and empower one another. This idea has led to wonderful evenings and encounters in various German cities.

Why does this matter so much to me? Because I know how quickly we women can tend to play down our abilities, adapt or let others go first. How easily we believe we have to achieve more, know more or be more perfect before we’re allowed to really show ourselves.

I know these inner limits from myself too. And I know the liberating feeling when you start to question them.

With the Female Empowerment Dinner I want to create spaces where women encourage each other to think bigger, share experiences and walk their own path with more confidence.

Not every woman has to become an entrepreneur, stand on a stage or be especially loud. But every woman should have the chance to take her abilities, wishes and ambitions seriously.

And not to make herself smaller than she is.

femaleempowermentdinner.com Instagram LinkedIn

Own who you are

When I look back on my path so far, I don’t see perfect career planning.

I see a series of decisions that kept bringing me closer to what truly interests me. Journalism. Literature. Art. Communication. Brands. People. New ideas and new perspectives.

Today all of this flows into my work. I develop brands for people and companies who have something to say – and whose presence should finally show what they’re really made of.

It’s not about the loudest show or the next marketing trend. It’s about identity, substance and a presence that is unmistakable because it’s based on something real.

I’m convinced: the most exciting brands don’t emerge when we try to be someone else. But when we look more closely at what makes us who we are – and find the courage to create something of our own from it.

Own who you are.And never stop becoming.

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Melanie Heym in an orange suit on a designer chair
Let’s develop your brand