Saxon Female Founder Award goes to Chemnitz

Anett Drechsel

It could also be a huge children's room that Anett Drechsel has furnished in Zschopauer Straße. Friendly colours, bright rooms. Cloths, rattles, dolls and balls lie in the centre of the room. The children and mum have not only come here to play, but above all to exercise. Anett Drechsel offers sports courses for mums and children in her company Mamiinform. In mid-January, she received the Saxon Female Founder Award for her concept.

The trophy for the Saxon Female Founder Award, a dandelion, now stands proudly in your rest area. The champagne bottles are still there too. Was it a big surprise for you to emerge as the winner? And how did you convince the jury?
Anett Drechsel: I honestly didn't expect to win. Many other women who do interesting things in other areas had also applied. My rapid growth was probably a big plus point. And, of course, my positive attitude. I've always seen the glass as half full.

How did you start your own business?
I started in November 2011 - with one course and four mums a week. I rented a room in the Kinderbewegungswelt centre near Chemnitz city park. Of course, I had to drive all my stuff, i.e. mats and sports equipment for the exercises, back and forth by car. As the number of courses and locations increased, I really lived out of my car.

Was it clear from the outset that you wanted to work independently?
There's almost no other way to do it in this field. I wanted to do it full-time, started small and gradually made more and more of it.

What happens in the Fitdankbaby classes?
The Fitdankbaby concept comes from Augsburg and is a franchise concept. I liked the idea of mums and children doing sport together and I started with this course idea. The children are actively involved in the exercise. There are different exercise songs. And in the mini course, for example, the mum can strap her child to her with a harness and do various sports exercises.

What else is there besides the Fitdankbaby courses?
Of course I thought about what else I could offer the mums I met in the first courses. When the child is a year old, the mum wants to continue doing sport. That's why I offer the courses Mamifit. or Buggy Workout - a course with a pushchair outdoors. Many other courses have grown around the Fitdankbaby. Now there is also a children's back school and sports courses for children.

What distinguishes your sports classes from other programmes, such as postnatal classes or children's gymnastics?
Postnatal courses start much earlier in terms of time. It's also important that mums first attend the postnatal courses and rebuild their pelvic floor before they come to our sports courses. But it's also not as anonymous as perhaps in a fitness centre. It's important to me that the mums feel comfortable here and are happy to come. Mamiinform simply offers a wide range of sports activities for mums and children - with the focus on exercising together.

Are the mums able to concentrate enough on the sport? The distraction is certainly great.
That works. If the children weren't there, the mums would worry about how their child is doing without them. Here they can see that they are doing well. And it's also a nice shared experience. It's good for the bond.

You originally come from near Annaberg and came to Chemnitz to study. Why did you realise your dream of running your own business here?
After graduating, it was clear to me that I wanted to stay here. It has become my home. What I have built up here has made it my home. Of course, I needed a certain city size. And at the same time, I found a gap here in Chemnitz that I could fill.

Why did you move your company here to Zschopauer Straße?
I've been in these premises since 2014. I found the offer online. But it still looked desolate here. But my landlord went along with it straight away, gave me a lot of support and I had a good feeling when I took the plunge.

Now you are very much there for the mums, but you are now one yourself. How do you reconcile that?
During my parental leave, I had other course leaders run the courses. I then did the office work at home. My daughter was also involved in the courses when I returned. There's no better place to do that than here. Now she goes to a childminder and that also works wonderfully. I enjoy the self-determined work, even if it means that I have to go back to the office in the evening when the little one is asleep.

Do you have plans for the future of your company?
I still have a lot on my mind. The floor below us is still empty and there would be space for a therapy pool. Then I could offer a Fitdankbaby aqua course. Another course room for Pekip and a toddler group would be conceivable, or a baby sauna and baby café. And I would also expand the area even further. So far I have run fitdankbaby courses in Freiberg, Schwarzenberg, Annaberg and Flöha. And I would like to expand the health and vitality theme, and am currently doing additional training in nutritional counselling myself. A nutritional counsellor will be running courses with me from March.

You have a lot planned. Do you understand people who say that nothing is happening in Chemnitz? Do you have to encourage the people of Chemnitz?
Yes, I could always get upset when everyone rants about how bad Chemnitz is. You only see what you want to see. Of course, some things take time. But you should open your eyes to the beauty in the world. I think the Küchwald forest, the city park and the castle pond are beautiful. There are lots of green spaces in the centre of the city. I also love being on the beach. I have so much laughter and joie de vivre around me. I prefer to see beauty, and Chemnitz has a lot of it.