We recently connected with Anke Bodack and have shared our conversation below.

Anke, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

I would change the educational system to have a more holistic and inclusive learning style that views the entire student as a human being and not so much all based on knowledge and test scores. Also less on competition, but rather on building community, helping each other thrive and well being. I feel it’s too much centered around test scores and less about building children up in their confidence and to trust that they will find the right career and personal path. I was lucky enough to attend a Waldorf School in Munich, which I have to say win Germany they have a sliding scale, so anyone really can attend and it much ;less or a system of private school, where only the wealthier children and teenagers can attend. I really loved going to school for mopst part, we we also did so much by hand. For example we worked in gardens, we had extended theatre sessions that involved the entire class for two years out of the school time. We worked with wood, clay, metal, fabric and learned how to knit. But most importantly I feel our brilliance and creativity was fostered. As we grew up with no fear of failing the class and we learned and experienced to be successful is all based on our own motivation and not from external pressure. Obviously we also had to have exams at the end of the school, in order to be able to study. But that was not the core of the schools mission.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

It’s a funny story, because I feel I am doing now with sustainable small Design Hotel, what I grew up with in Germany. My father was head of the DB (German Rail) design Department and we were always traveling and here and there he invited people he met on his travels, to come home and stay at our sustainable house. For example these very nice Japanese ladies, who could not find a hotel room when they arrived during October Fest Times, my dad said we had a B&B. Which was a bit exaggerated, we had a nice large home and my mom is an excellent chef. So on a regular basis my dad invites amazing and interesting people and friends, my mom cooks and then if needed, they can spend the night. The only difference is, I built the Twelve Senses for hosting and I charge money for the overnight stay and the breakfast. My career before was in Car Design, I had been designing the color & materials for over 2 decades for OEM’s such as Nissan Design and then later on when I started consulting for companies such as Zoox, Nuro, Icon Aircraft, Pebble and Aptera. My passion has always been the sustainable materials. It’s been an amazing journey, to realize at some point, I needed to build my own little brand in the hospitality space. It is also super interesting to me to find out how well my past career has set me up for building the sustainable Retreat. As well as the background of the Waldorf Education, which also inspired the name and the concept of Twelve Senses Retreat. In a way, all we do and learn are beautiful stepping stones onto the next chapter in our lives. I am proud that I have been able to use as many sustainable materials and products as possible for us and I am constantly seeing and learning where we can improve and make better choices. As it will be good for the guests and the team, as well as for the environment. Zs so many things, it is all full circle and I love experiencing this with the Retreat.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

In a way my hobby/ side hustle turned into my full time business. I have always loved to cook and I loved to host Breakfast brunches for friends. One of those days I had the spark of an idea that I should have little huts and make breakfast professionally. As some of my friends wanted to have a photo taken of a beautiful little Bali hut, that is now my office. In grant movement I thought how cool it would be to have a business in the hosting space. I then kept this head ver close to my heart, mediated on a regular basis for good clarity and to stay confident, that this was the right decision. I always kept developing a bit of the idea, for example with a logo, various ideas on what the structure would look like and who to possibly do the business with.
I also always was looking for nearby properties, to keep the lead alive and to see possibilities on how it can manifest. Then one day my 11 year old son, asked why I was not doing the business at our house. I had not really thought about that possibility and it turned out it was a brilliant solution. I was able to pay off my mortgage and take out a bit for the planned tear down plus remodel. I also had to use my retirement savings, because I dod not want to have a huge financial commitment starting out my new business.
I was very lucky to then connect with my dream company, Design Hotels, through a wonderful friend of mine, Julie Gonzales. I was able to land a meeting in Berlin and showing my concept, they felt comfortable proceeding with an application. I had to go through many steps with the City to convert my property and the new built into a 4 bedroom B&B, as well as fishing the right fit and budget for a builder. But all did align somewhat magically, that in fall 2019 we were able to open. We then were hit with a challenging year of COVOD 19, but that year also helped firn tune and figure out a lot of things that come up in the first year. In retrospect it still was a great year and we had incredible guests and connections, some who had travelled the first time and felt safe at our place.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.twelvesensesretreat.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twelvesensesretreat/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/twelvesensesretreat
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankebodack/
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/kOlRbRGwNhw?si=h_XdR9J8OI6Si_QX

Image Credits
The photo of Anke Bodack I Mandy Oliver Photography All other photos Austin John & Ohiko Co &