Bernadette Böllhoff

- Built a fashion brand from the ground up (identity, product, marketing and operations) - Designed and produced a first collection and validated market demand through direct sales channels - Applied AI tools (e.g., Claude, GPT) to optimise daily workflows and validate design ideas

- Delivered reporting projects for clients across industries, leading stakeholder workshops, defining governance and steering models, and preparing executive presentations - Led a workstream for 10+ months on a sustainability implementation project. Coordinated a team of three, managing client relationships, and overseeing deliverable quality - Supported clients on translating complex regulatory requirements (CSRD, ESRS) into practical, actionable roadmaps - Coordinated sustainability-related marketing acti

- Closely collaborated with the founder to steer daily operations and strategic initiatives, contributing to team leadership, recruiting, business development and partnerships. - Secured two new retail partnerships and one pro-bono consulting engagement to drive business development. - Built and delivered investor pitch deck; submitted applications to 10+ accelerator and grant programs. - Contributed to brand-building activities: supported during photoshoots, pop-up stores, and social media productions. - P

- Implemented the sustainability strategy within the Category Women buying team, including delivering product sustainability trainings and facilitating technical enablement. - Supported the Category leadership team with documenting strategic meetings and preparing all-hands presentations. - Conducted market and trend research and created a database of sustainable fashion brands. - Planned and executed two flagship partner events (incl. NEONYT brand breakfast and Zalando's key strategic partner event). - Su

Master Thesis: "Upcycling in Fashion: Niche or Sector with Potential to Scale Up? A Single-Case Study" / Supervisors: Florian Andrews & Prof. Dr. Florian Lüdeke-Freund Relevant courses: Strategic management, Problem solving and Communication, Entrepreneurial finance, Business Modeling for Sustaina

Relevant courses: Sociologie du travail, Développement international, Éthique et pratiques professionelles

Thesis Title: "A Circular System for the Fashion Industry: Business Case or Trend?" / Supervisor: Dr. Serdar Türkeli Relevant courses: Sustainable Development, Globalisation & Inequality, Sustainable Entrepreneurship, European Environments & Principles of Economics, Statistics, Introduction to Gam