A life with the family on the Atlantic coast of France - an interview with Kathleen from Rosemood

Kathleen is a German marketing manager who lives with her family in France and works at Rosemood . Together with her husband and two young children, she has mastered everyday life at home, including working from home, and shares her experiences.

We've known the mother of two for quite some time now and have worked together repeatedly over the years. We're all the more excited that this year, in keeping with mara mea's 5th anniversary and despite the coronavirus pandemic, we're launching a wonderful mara mea x Rosemood product collaboration. Until we can reveal and show you more, Kathleen talks about her connection to France, her environmental awareness, and her job in Nantes.

1. Dear Kathleen, after several years of wonderful collaboration, we're really looking forward to an interview with you! You're a mom, Head of Marketing at Rosemood , and live in France. Would you like to introduce yourself?

Yes, of course! I'm 33 years old and married to a Frenchman. I have a 5-year-old daughter and a 13-month-old son. I've been working at Rosemood in Nantes on the Atlantic coast for 4 years, where I handle marketing for the German-speaking region.

2.  Rosemood is a well-known card manufacturer for various occasions, with whom we have collaborated several times. For example, our beautiful Bugaboo x mara mea Pop-Up Shop "Thank You Cards" were printed by you, and we are currently planning a wonderful anniversary edition together. What does your work, your daily routine at the company, and how did you get into this job?

My work at Rosemood is very diverse. I and my small team take care of communications, advertising, and collaborations. On some projects, such as product development, we collaborate extensively with our French and English colleagues. My daily life is accordingly diverse and trilingual.

3. Your company is very committed to environmental awareness and sustainability, even though you work with paper a lot. Therefore, you have launched various projects, such as offsetting your carbon emissions, using clean energy, etc. Can you tell us a little about this?

Yes, we calculate our carbon emissions every year and fully offset them. To this end, we finance a project selected by our team to combat deforestation in Congo, which is supported by a local development program. This project protects sites from deforestation, plants trees, and funds schools and clinics. Furthermore, all our papers are FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified. The goal of this ecolabel is to ensure that wood production adheres to procedures for sustainable forest management.

4.  Do you also have a personal connection to the topic of sustainability and do you pay attention to certain things in this regard in your private life?

Yes, of course! I'm especially trying to reduce our waste. With four people, it quickly accumulates, but it's relatively easy to be mindful and find other solutions. And I make sure to buy seasonal and local produce. For example, I would never eat a New Zealand kiwi in the summer! The French ones taste wonderful from November to March.

5. You live and work in France. What do you like best about it, and have you always lived there? Could you imagine living anywhere else in the world? And if so, where?

My husband is French, and we lived together in Paris for eight years. We studied and worked there, then moved briefly to northern Germany, and now we're in Nantes. We'd like to move to Germany long-term, even if we might not stay there permanently. It's important to us that the children get to know the language and culture better, and not just through holidays with their grandparents. Even if they grew up bilingual, I think it's important to have German friends and attend school there.

6. Now you're a mother of two. How do you balance being a mother with your career?

Here in France, children can attend preschool as early as three years old, and these programs are offered full-time. My son also attends a daycare center, who fortunately happens to be my neighbor.

7. In France, maternity leave is quite limited. How did you cope with this situation?

My daughter was born while we were in Germany, so I had 12 months of parental leave, and my husband had an additional two months. That was great! For my son, I added six months of parental leave to the three months of maternity leave. Even though you get very little money in France, it was more important to me to enjoy the time with my little one and stay at home.

8. How do you feel about the current situation during the coronavirus crisis with your children and your job? What has changed in your daily life?

From mid-March to mid-May, all four of us were at home. My husband worked 100% from home during this time, and I worked about 12-15 hours a week. Mostly during nap time (my little one still sleeps twice a day). But my daughter also needed attention and entertainment, of course, and then there were the everyday things like cooking, doing laundry, etc., just like any other mother. It was exhausting, but we also had many enjoyable moments, like gardening.

9. Is there anything you are most looking forward to after this time?

Here's to a relaxing barbecue evening or a picnic in nature with friends!

10. And last but not least: What is your absolute favorite mara mea product and why?

Oh, I love everything you do! But especially the embroidery like this and on your mara mea bags and the parrot embroidery on the third eye maternity and nursing dress . This will also play a role in our mara mea x Rosemood card collaboration as part of your 5-year mara mea anniversary. I'm really looking forward to it!

Oh and my little Theodor has the Treasure Island children's backpack in dark blue, which he loves to wear on trips.

Thank you for the inspiring and interesting interview, dear Kathleen!

PS Dear friends, very soon we'll reveal and show you more about the wonderful collaboration we're currently working on with Rosemood. It's going to be colorful and very mara mea :)