Fenja Vespermann

Founder / 3D Designer + Creative Director @hooraystudio / passionate about interactive fashion design, new technologies and web3

Every founder I know built the thing they were missing.
For me, that was a faster, less frustrating way to prototype 3D ideas without killing creative momentum.

I come from the trenches of digital production - building for clients, pitching at midnight, re-rendering scenes till they looked just right.
Now, I'm building Mimikry.ai with focus on integrating responsible AI into brand-specific pipelines that let brands move faster, explore more, and still own their vision.

I’m not here to automate away the craft.
I’m here to make space for it.

If you want to see more what I am currently building, check here: www.mimikry.ai

Founder, Digital Designer

hooray is a global new media creative studio with a pioneering innovator in the creative field. The studio brings together abstract, elemental, and contemporary artists with a futuristic approach, creating excellence in areas such as animation, house mapping, and AR/VR applications. Together they create a place where art and technology finally find a home. 


I got rejected by my own life 5 times.
Then I glazed ceramics for a living to pay my rent. 

Now, the biggest companies in the world pay us to build their AI.

Here's the real story:
At 19 I started my first company. At 22 I was leading a tech team in Berlin.
I had a huge run but in the end it failed. 
Then I tried again. 
Failed. 
Again. 
Failed. 
Again. 
Failed.
5 startups. 5 times, everything I built turned to nothing. 
Can you imagine what my mother went through?

2 years ago I glazed ceramics as a mini job to get some money. Not for fun. Not for "the experience." Because I had zero left. 

I remember thinking: "Am I brave or am I just too dumb to quit?"
I didn't have an answer. But I started over anyway.

This time, something was different.

I stopped building what excited ME. 
I started solving what frustrated THEM.

A brand told me: "We spend 6 weeks and €500K on product images nobody outside this building ever sees."
So we built a system that does it in 15 days. and 60% cheaper.

5 failures taught me 3 things:
• Fall in love with the problem. Never the idea.
• If you can't sell it before you build it, don't build it.
• Being busy and making progress are two completely different things.

The gap between a minijob and a Fortune 500 boardroom isn't talent.

It's getting up one more time than you fell.
If you're on failure number 2 or 3 right now, keep going.

Your story isn't over. 
You're just in the ugly middle chapter.

Connecting data, technology, and creative systems | Building vertical AI

Last month I went to a female founder dinner. A woman who used to build in tech looked at me and said:

"I quit. I'm done fighting this system." It hurts me so much to hear that people quit dreams because of that. 

Cause it's not one meeting where they look past you to the man next to you. 
It's 100 meetings.
It's not one person assuming your male co-founder does the real work. 
It's most of them. 
It's not one guy deciding "I'll do the talking part because understand their tech needs better." 

It's years of assuming you're the support act in your own company. lol

I don't want to see the same founding stories recycled by guys who started with warm intros and golf buddies. 

I'm done working 5x harder to get the same chances men get handed.

The fight doesn't have a finish line. 
Ah and yes it IS a fight. And no, not against men. 
But against a system that still doesn't understand that we are here. 

Some days you're exhausted before the morning starts. 
Some days you think maybe she was right. Maybe quitting is the safe choice.
But the more I talk about this publicly, the more I realize, i want to help changing it. 

For every person that quit.

For every fucking little girl wanting to build the next Google. 

The system doesn't change because we leave(even if its ok to do so if you want to). 
It changes because we stay and refuse to shut up about it.

To every woman reading this who's tired of the fight: 
You're not crazy. 
The game is rigged. 
Play anyway.



Where are the tech divers and female founders? I want to see you, hear you and connect with you. What are you currently building? I believe in you!

I still don't know what I'm doing half the time.

Even if: 

I've built a team. 
Six figure monthly revenue after 8 months. 
Fortune 500 clients.

But last week I sat in a hotel bed at 2am thinking this was all a mistake.
Because there are weeks where everything breaks at once.
Pitches that go nowhere.
Smiling on calls when your bank account says you shouldn't.

Before mimikry there was a 3D studio that didn't work out. Ideas that never left my laptop. Starting over at 24 with no plan B.

The hardest part wasn't any of that.

The hardest part was thinking I was the only one going through it.

Which is so stupid, I know.

The doubt doesn't go away when the money comes in. You just get better at building with it. And when I stopped pretending I had it figured out, better conversations happened. 

Better decisions too.

The founders I respect most say "I don't know" out loud.

If you're building something right now and it feels like a mess: that's not a sign you're doing it wrong. That's just what it is sometimes.

What are you going through right now that nobody sees? DM or comments.

I would rather see 1000 women who don't like me win than 10 more men take another seat.
 
They gave us one seat at the table. 
So we compete instead of collaborating. 
We doubt each other before we doubt the system.
 
And it worked.
 
I've been in rooms where I was the only woman more times than I can count. And the hardest moments weren't the men who underestimated me, it was the women I hoped would have my back and didn't.
 
That used to break me. 
It doesn't anymore. 
Cause it was never personal. 
It was the system working exactly as designed.
 
The women who didn't believe in me never stopped me from believing in them.
 
Not because I'm endlessly forgiving. 
Because I refuse to let a broken system turn me into someone who tears other women down if I like them. 

Why the fuck should I? 
 
So yes: I'm rooting for the woman who ghosted me. 
For the woman who doubted me. 
For the woman who never gave me a chance.
 
You're fighting in a system that was never built for either of us.
 
Let's fucking change it.

Tag a woman you're rooting for. She probably has no idea. 
I tag rei ‎ even though she didnt ghosted me haha

𝟲 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿:

1. Stop comparing your Chapter 1 to someone else's Chapter 20.
   
2. The "overnight success" you're jealous of took seven years.
   
3. Say no more than you say yes. Especially in Year 1.
   
4. Every "no" is just information. Collect enough of it and you'll find the "yes."
   
5. The hardest conversation you need to have is usually the most important one.
   
6. You'll say "this is the hardest thing I've ever done" at least ten times. And you'll mean it every time.


What's your tip?

Most AI startups in media and content are solving problems that nobody has. 

I know because I almost built one of them.

Early mimikry days, we had a choice. Build something that demos well but nobody can actually plug into how they work. 

Or build what nobody wants to build : the backend, the pipes, the boring parts that actually get stuff out the door.

We picked the second one.

The real problems in media, off-the-shelf can't touch them. 

It breaks when your brand has 47 rules for how a logo can sit, when a color needs to be exact at 4am, when legal says nothing goes live without a paper trail. 
And when it breaks, you're the one on the call. Not the tool.

So we stopped adding features and started fixing bottlenecks. 

One setup per client, built on their material, running on their machines. Because when someone needs 500 shots by Friday that actually hold up, fragile doesn't work.

Three things I learned the hard way: 

Your first big client will break everything you built, and that's how you learn what delivery actually means. 

If your pitch starts with "we generate content," you sound like everyone else.  
We don't want that!

And something that works in a demo but dies on a Tuesday night when the campaign drops is not a product. It's a screenshot.

Content doesn't need more tools. 
It needs people who build things that don't fall apart when it matters and establish a save environment for it. 

What's the most fragile thing in your setup right now?

Shapes & Forms

- Curate talent roster and new working relationships through outreach to over 2,500 artists per year through multiple platforms
- Oversee global studio project timelines and resourcing, identifying potential instances of under/overutilization, and actively work with department leads to address and solve those issues
- Lead strategy for all studio resourcing needs
- Manage and organize all holds, bookings, and scheduling
- Collaborate with producers to determine resource gaps and manage discussions with freelance
talent regarding project scope, rate negotiation, and provide strategic solutions
- Oversee all stages of the candidate and freelancer experience
- Manage scheduling for 15+ freelance artists and internal staff of 7 artists across multiple projects
- Forecast hiring needs based on business growth plans
- Implement process improvements for resource management and overall studio workflow
- Participate in and host recruitment and networking events to drive company awareness 
- Lead twice weekly meetings between production and creatives to communicate and manage overarching team resource needs
- Oversee award show entry strategy and pipeline
- Supervise social media strategy
- Facilitate onboarding and virtual machine assignments for artists and producers
- Maintain constant knowledge of current and upcoming projects and business development activities as they relate to resourcing
- Maintain intimate familiarity with internal creative talent and appropriately place team members on projects
- Foster and develop the culture of the creative department

Creative Talent Director

Deutsch LA

- Oversee process, timeline, and budget for all case studies and award shows
- Responsible for gathering, reviewing, and submitting necessary assets for case study development and award show needs
- Plan and schedule kick-offs, review sessions
- Organize and lead meetings with production and creative teams
- Confirm all requirements and specifications are accurate for each project
- Work closely with producers, creatives, and editors to ensure each project is up to highest standards
- Manage agency social media content and posts
- Liaise with CCO on refining strategy across all show categories

Awards Manager

Badger & Winters

- Provide day-to-day administrative support to President, including scheduling, personal assistant tasks,
and coordinating with C-suite executives
- General office management tasks including, organizing lunch catering, and greeting guests
- Work with creative teams and account managers to strategize award show submissions
- Field and manage incoming RFIs under supervision of Marketing Director
- Coordinate PR coverage and social media strategy for 2020 Super Bowl LIV
- Collaborate with creative and account teams to produce case studies, extensive
portfolio write-ups and awards submissions to Cannes, Ad Agency of the Year,
etc., resulting in winning awards across 5+ shows
- Increase agency social media presence + activity
- Coordinate New Business meetings

Executive Assistant To The President

Lime Crime

-Clean, organize, refresh product displays
-Maintain superior time management for travel time, in store visits, etc.
-Manage own schedule and communicate efficiently between stores and corporate office 
-Ability to quickly and professionally assess challenges within store ie: inventory, corporate information
-Educate clients and store staff about products and new launches
-Assist clients in testing products and cross-selling with favorite pairings to increase UPT and KPI

Freelance Merchandiser, Product + Education Specialist

Cutler Salon

- Implement structural system for desk staff to promote organization and efficient communication
- Assist in interview/hiring process
- Manage flow of 45 employee’s schedules
- Address client concerns and challenges
- Oversee weekly/monthly salon budget
- Maintain billing/invoicing
- Maintain supply orders for front desk and color/retail inventory
- Main contact for PR/Influencers, as well as internal exclusive collaborations (i.e. Dyson)
- Assisted in building social media and internet presence (yelp, instagram, facebook) 
- Oversee front desk and assistant scheduling
- Book, confirm, reschedule appointments via phone and e-mail
- Manage co-owner’s schedule due to travel, events, etc.
- Maintain sense of urgency
- Anticipate other's needs

Salon Manager

Bumble and bumble

Front Desk Coordinator

My interest lies within experiential production, beauty, fitness & wellness, post production, and strategy. Areas of experience are: production, community building, social media growth & management, award shows, strategy, and project management. I'm passionate about brand growth/development and purpose driven causes.

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