The Places That Built My Business

People often think about strategies, business models, or productivity systems.

But when I look back, there is one thing that has influenced my business, which is not obvious at first sight:

The places I worked from.

Each of these places unlocked a different version of me and brought my business on a new level.

FREEDOM: The coffee shops in Vienna

I actually started my business sitting in coffee shops around Vienna.

It sounds ordinary, but for me it represented something I had wanted for years.

When I was still working full-time for a company, I loved the idea of spending a weekday morning in a café, slowly drinking coffee while doing meaningful work. It always felt impossible. Weekdays belonged to my employer, and weekends meant every café was packed.

When I became self-employed, I suddenly could.

Almost every day.

Finally I was living a life that had once only existed in my imagination.

Those cafés became the place where my business was born.

MOMENTUM: Coworking space

As much as I loved working alone, there were days when I simply worked better around other people. Especially as I started my business during Covid, it was quite challenging.

But eventually I joined a coworking space and it finally gave me the structure of energy flow, that I needed at that time.

Being surrounded by people who were also creating something helped me focus and keep moving.

Sometimes we just need to be in a room where momentum already exists.

JOY: Portugal

Portugal entered my life during a very different season.

Projects had ended. Revenue had dropped. I was worried.

Going to Portugal helped simply because there was sun, the ocean, and a slower pace.

And people are totally fine it things don’t work out perfectly.

Portugal was also the place where most of my fashion line was produced.

A business that was not driven by making money, but by pure joy.

Creating something just because it excited me reminded me why I had started building my own business in the first place (besides the frustration ;).

Portugal is still a place that I feel drawn to — it opens up a part of me that is simply at ease with life.

My Home: INSPIRATION

Over time, something shifted.

I developed my own rhythm.

And for the first time in my life, I genuinely loved working from home.

Before becoming self-employed, I always thought I needed external structure to get things done.

Instead, I discovered something much better.

My home became a space where creativity flowed naturally.

I could work intensely, take dance breaks in the living room, and return back to my screen with fresh ideas.

It felt like I had finally learned how to create from my own energy instead only receiving it from the outside world.

Salzburg: STABILITY

Then came perhaps the biggest surprise.

I spent three months living beside a mountain in Salzburg.

And slowly something shifted.

For the first time, my business became consistently successful.

High-income months stopped feeling like lucky exceptions and became my new normal.

Interestingly, that consistency stayed even after I returned to Vienna.

It's like I still carry the calm and grounding presence of those mountains within me. That's what fascinates me.

Sometimes a place opens something inside you.

And once it has opened, you get to keep it.

Your body knows your places before your mind does

Looking back, I don't think these places were successful because they were objectively "better."

They were simply the places my body wanted to be at that time.

Each one offered exactly what I needed in that chapter of my business.

• Freedom.

• Momentum.

• Inspiration.

• Joy.

• Stability.

Today, I pay much more attention when I feel drawn somewhere.

Often it's just a different café or place close by.

The place itself isn't the point.

The point is listening.

Because I genuinely believe our bodies often know where our next chapter is waiting long before our minds can explain why.