Meet Manja
Harvard-certified environmental educator, founder of the Green Tour Berlin, unshakeable optimist and your new green BFF dedicated to making your life greener, guilt-free and full of purpose.
About me
From fighting the bad guys with advertisement psychology, ditching the corporate world, to broke backpacking in Myanmar, being blessed by a monk in Cambodia, teaching children English in Bali, to living in a 4-wheel-drive on the vast West Coast of Australia - it’s safe to say I’ve been on quite the journey before I landed here in Berlin, only to stand in the streets crying on my first day here! Today I‘m an environmental educator, have consulted companies on sustainability, run a green tour company and live an impactful life feeling like my most fulfilled and morally-aligned self. I know what you’re thinking - ‘wait what happened with a monch?!’ So let’s start from the beginning.
My Story
When Corporate Taught Me I’m A Rebel
I initially studied business and advertisement psychology. I knew early on that my mission after uni would be to fight the corporates that sell people crap and push overconsumption. My thought was: beat them at their own game. I was amazed how powerful the mind is in changing with new information. But after my first internship and later my first corporate job, I quickly realized - nope! This is not for me. I didn’t know it then, but corporate showed me that I was a rebel personality type and the change I wanted to see in the world wasn’t going to happen with tons of rules and slow processes.
Picture: Mexico, semester abroad, winning the Harvard Case Study at Tec de Monterrey
Witnessing Environmental Problems First Hand
So with no money and no real plan of what to do next, I decided to backpack through Asia. A new perspective and low living costs sounded like a good deal! I volunteered in a small town in Bali where I taught English to children. During that time I spent my weekends on the beach only to see diapers and plastic wrappers swimming next to fish. I would wake up to the smell of plastic being burnt as there was no way for the community to get rid of it. When it rained, piles of trash would flow down the streets while the weekly markets where jam-packed with new plastic crap, reaching from clothes to children’s toys. It was in that moment that I understood and saw first hand that we are in crisis.
Picture: Bali, volunteering, teaching English to children
Finding Purpose Thanks To A Monk
As my travels continued, I met inspirational people from all over the world. One of them was a monk called Kong San, who started a conversation with me at a temple in Cambodia. We went on to visit his monastery and received a blessing. When we talked about his community, he told us that they build water wells for communities without access to clean drinking water. He asked if we could help, but being as dead broke as we were, we didn’t have the funds. I’m proud to say that we have since built 7 water wells! Thanks to Kong, I was inspired and determined to start my own business when I returned to Germany to bring about the change I wanted to see.
Picture: Visiting Kong San’s monastery in Cambodia
When Living In Nature Finally Made it Click
But as life goes, it wasn’t that easy. German bureaucracy made life hard and financing life made it harder. I was frustrated and not quite sure what the plan was and how I was going to make a difference. I needed a change of walls, well I guess more a change of countries, and traveled as far away as I could - Australia. We bought a car with a rooftop tent, leaving us exactly 2000 dollars in our bank account. We worked odd jobs and traveled down the whole West Coast of Australia for 10 months, living in our car most of that time. And all I can say is, this time changed me. I loved waking up to the cockatoos at 6 am and practically living outside all day. I built a connection with nature, devoured book over book on animal rights, environmentalism, minimalism and knew what I had to do when I got back.
Picture: Australia, our 4WD home for 10 months
Environmental Education in Berlin
I came back to Germany and knew Berlin was the only place that had the world changing mindset and people that I needed. I got a job in a PR agency for sustainability, only to find out they were closing down and I had been cheated! Yup, so that solves why I stood in the streets crying on my first day in Berlin. But it was more than meant to be, because from there I decided within the week to quit that job and do my own thing. I studied hard, I shared my knowledge, I teamed up with 2 women and started consulting businesses on sustainability with them, got involved in several sustainability movements in Berlin, started coaching people on living greener, went on to found the Green Tours in Berlin, got certified by Harvard and finally started the Green Living Academy to offer all my knowledge to everyone around the world online! So here I am today, living a green life filled with purpose, healing the planet and teaching you to do the same.
Real talk
I want to be 100% honest with you as I believe that this is the foundation of building trust between you and me. So I won’t tell you that I know everything there is to know about sustainability. Do I know a whole lot? Yes. Will I get you to a place where you live the green, guilt-free effortless lifestyle you dream of? Absolutely. Can I tell you how much oxygen the fig tree in your backyard emits? Nope (I’d google it, just like you). But those that have known me for a bit longer know that I am extremely practical and get people from A to B with humor, efficiency and most importantly without judgement.
I think people are way too busy putting other people down instead of redirecting that energy to provoke change in our world. But we don’t all enjoy the same privilege of time, money and other resources. So I want you to know that I’m not here to shame you into anything. I’m here to empower you. I have shitastic days, I am human and I make mistakes just like you. But I will always do my absolute best to make you feel understood and I will do everything I can to make you thrive.
And this is a business, yes. I have to survive in a current capitalistic world just like everyone else. But I want everyone to get a chance to learn so I offer scholarships you can apply for under scholar@green-living-academy.com. Lastly I want to make sure that you take away one important thing today: Environmentalism is not White and never has been. The founders and biggest activists of the movement to heal our planet are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. I am most grateful to learn from them and pass on their knowledge.
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I love to connect on a human level
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Now you!
As I said, I love to connect on a human level with people so I’m curious to find out your answers to some of these questions. Dare to share?
Send me an email to manja@green-living-acadamy.com or use the chat button on the lower right side of this page.