nushu - the business club for women
Originally, "nushu” was a Chinese secret language used by women to communicate in a male-dominated world.
While launching the female network nushu, founder Melanie had a vision in mind to create the coolest business club for women – a business club quite contrary to typical Old Boys Clubs. nushu connects ambitious women, regardless of job position, experience and background, in order to inspire each other and grow together.
1. Please introduce yourself.
Annelies: Hi! We are Melly and Annelies. Melly is founder of the female business network nushu and my partner in crime.
Melanie: Annelies joined me on my mission shortly after launch. Together we head the company and the network. We are both natural born networkers and work everyday to make the economy more just and more feminine.
2. Tell us a little bit about nushu – what’s your mission and what can nushu members expect?
Melanie: nushu stands for more femininity in the economy! nushu is a probably the coolest female business club in Germany right now. We are an industry and position independent business network, aiming to provide an alternative to the “Old Boys’ Network”: it is our goal to make ambitious women visible, and actively accompany them in their careers. team nushu means: targeted networking, best practice sharing, inspiration and knowledge transfer. We offer meaningful exchange at eye level. Especially personally at different events, but also digitally via our app. nushu currently exists in Hamburg, Munich, and Dusseldorf/Cologne (NRW).
3. What is a nushu member like?
Annelies: At nushu we connect young, ambitious working women, who are driven and like to share their knowledge and experience in the network – no matter their level or area of expertise. We network self-employed people, employees, employers, or and founders with each other and with employers. We meet every possible nushu member for a cup of coffee – these meetings are called nushu coffee dates – to truly understand what the woman stands for and what she is looking for at nushu. We include the member’s topics and current issues in our ideas for exchange and events.
4. Is there any point where you would consider your mission to be completed?
Melanie: This is a tough one. I don’t think we will ever be done in our lifetime. However, ideally our work will result in the self-abolishment of nushu. That would mean that our working environment and our economy is just, inclusive and fair.
© Nico Pätzold
© Nico Pätzold
5. Who inspires you on a professional and on a personal level?
Annelies: Ok, this will sound very cheesy, but of course our members inspire us everyday. We are surrounded by so many different women who make bold choices, who fight for their rights and who are not afraid to speak up. We applaud each and everyone of them.
6. We can’t help but ask: Munich or Hamburg?
Annelies: Well… nushu was founded in Hamburg, so this is our headquarter and home base. But if we’re super honest: Melly’s heart beats faster thinking about Munich.
Melanie: And Annelies is and will always be in love with her hometown Hamburg. Thank god nushu has a third home in North Rhine Westphalia for diversion.
7. Part of your job is to travel a lot. Do you have any travel hacks or gadgets you’d like to share with us?
Melanie: We do travel quite a bit and we’ve both gotten used to being able to work everywhere – on the train, our so called train office, in the lobby bar atmosphere of the lovely Ruby Hotels or for example at the Lose Park, just around our office in Hamburg.
Annelies: As to hacks: find the perfect business bag with the ideal pocket ratio, be sure to always have your loaded power bank on hand, and invest in noise cancelling earphones. My favorite business bag for example is the Vollenweider Carrierista, the best business bag for women on the market right now.
Melanie: And I don’t go anywhere without my Horizon Studios suitcase. It’s beautiful but also functional, because the power bank is already included.
Thank you ♥
We're proud to support this amazing network with locations for their meet ups and coffee dates in Munich, Dusseldorf and Hamburg. And we're happy that since shortly even some women of our Ruby Corporate Office team call themselves proud nushu members.
Check out the nushu website to find out more about this project and how to become a part of it.
