Blog #fuefzgi_undmeh on Facebook, written by Julia Hofstteter, Grün und Gemeinderätin Stadt Zürich,
introduces women who still tackle something new in their careers, doesn`t matter their age.
“A nightingale can not sing in a cage,” says Karin Reinhard, “it really was not an easy year for me.”
Karin promovated in architecture. She worked In this profession in her home country, in Poland.
Then in 1994, “a tsunami of emotions”. In love, then pregnant, saying goodbye to Gdansk, by the Polish Baltic coast, leaving friends, family and work behind and starting over in Switzerland. Joy and pain of parting: all at the same time. In Switzerland the birth of her daughter: “The first seven years were like a gift and when my daughter went to primary school, I started looking for a job. As an architect with experience, I thought – easy, I’ve worked in Poland, Germany and Finland and you actually build houses the same way everywhere. ”She thought, Poland or Switzerland, it can’t be that different. But it was different. Suddenly, her education and work experience didn’t count anymore. The seven years away from the job market didn’t help either. “A housewife was not an option for me, although I like to cook, bake and make chriesigonfi. The perspective of rotting at home was terrible. ”And because she kept hearing that she was insufficiently trained, she took the CAS postgraduate diploma in spatial planning at ETH Zurich.
But then she heard that she was too old. With forty!
“At some point I gave up, it was really a shock to me, I was frozen. I felt like a total failure. “
She did voluntary work again and again and worked as a supervisor in Haus Konstruktiv.
“I took many language courses at the Migros Club School and was often a helper in my community center. Then I hit the bull’s eye,” she remembers.“Since I was a child I had always sewn, knitted, tinkered and painted.I designed the first goldsmith jewellery in San Francisco in 2011 by myself.I was lucky enough to live in North Beach Quartier for months, an area rich in art and where I met a lot of interesting people on the “Monthly Art & Culture Walk.I took a jewellery course by my neighbors – Emma and Daniel Macchiarini, the 2nd & 3rd generation of goldsmith & artist and that was love at first sight.And now I had discovered something new in Switzerland a few years later – designing jewellery, elementary level 1, Migros Club School.It was really a direct hit. ”Elementary level 2 never took place, so I slipped into a goldsmithing course and has been continuing my education for last 5 years. “I was very lucky, I learned from the very beginning with what was for me the best master in her field. I got wings. The ideas came from themselves and are everywhere, all around. At first I only dared to do simple things, now I get orders from colleagues or they recommend me to others.
“This year Karin Reinhard would like to finish her website, found her own company, definitely have a jewellery exhibition and set up her own studio.“When I make jewellery, I forget the world and time. Shaping the “metal” is like meditating and writing a poem in one.It’s never too late to start over!“PS: we wish Karin Reinhard the best of luck!”
Blog #fuefzgi_undmeh on Facebook, written by Julia Hofstteter, Grün und Gemeinderätin Stadt Zürich,
introduces women who still tackle something new in their careers, doesn`t matter their age.