Saskia Laporte

Background

About Saskia Laporte

What does “selfmade” mean nowadays? And what does it mean for women in the business world? To me it is a scale for what I have succeeded in so far compared to what is considered success in general. Why is that? My start in Life wasn’t too hard. Born in Osnabrück and not the third world, I went to good schools, had great parents, could express myself and was loved. Still challenges would arise eventually. I would lose my greatest mentor, my father, even before making my first step in the business world. He died in 1998 in a car accident that was followed by three years of agony. At 20 I went to Paris to pursue my dream of becoming a fashion designer, but under rather difficult circumstances. I left Paris in feeling like I had failed and switched to studies at the university of Cologne. It was only years later that I realized the value of my experience in Paris. This was followed by a few years in the business travel industry where I ended up working in start-ups. When I started at eWings.com in 2018 I first widnest the development of a business from its first years on. Before that I tried to see if I could be successful on my own and pursued different projects as a self employed author, translator or even production manager. I was still very much driven by the idea of becoming a founder. Selfmade. The most valuable experience I made during my time at eWings.com was the peak behind the curtains of an enterprise. While being a commun thing for all these privileged young people who go to business schools it was something very new to me. The most difficult step along the way of making my dream come true was still to come. Even nowadays our business world is male dominated and it should come as no surprise when I say that women still need a lot of support if they want to make it in that particular world. Usually it is only granted to women from privileged backgrounds with sufficient resources. But there are pioneers and I hope to be able to look back at my life someday and say: I was one of them. Without a father, money, the right studies or the necessary network I came as far as becoming the lead of the client service department in one of the most exciting and innovative start-ups currently on the market. I had support. People who crossed my path influenced and encouraged me. Some also put hurdles in my way, but ended up being helpful too. The journey continues… I am a soon-to-become founder.