In conversation with Kaddie Rothe
“I’ve turned my back on the gatekeeping girlboss or entrepreneur culture. I don’t think businesses are run on the back of a single entrepreneur. It’s a shared vision - always.”
-Kaddie Rothe
Image: Kaddie Rothe
Kaddie Rothe is the co-founder of goalgirls. She is a freelance creative director and copywriter from Berlin who has embarked on The Unsettling Project.
Tell us about your business, how did you come up with the idea or concept?
I studied Design at progressive Goldsmiths, University of London and left with a rebel mind. It took me about 6 months in a traditional advertising agency to decide that I don’t want to work in the creative industry. The pale, male, stale attitude bothered me. My sister and I founded goalgirls as a blog to follow our journey as female founders in a male dominated start-up culture. We tried out a lot of different ideas before I realising that finding out what we DON’T want led us to finding out what we want: To have an impact in the creative industry. And found a creative agency run by a new generation of women. We kept on growing into the task and ended up with a community of over 250 inspiring female creatives.
What are your brand values and what is your ethos?
The goalgirls attitude is that of a sassy 90s girlband - we’ve got 99 problems but a pitch ain’t one. We took that girlband vibe to the next level when we produced our own song for International Women’s Day: (in collaboration with the fantastic Bonaparte). In a way we’re not a company but a breathing ethos.
Our manifesto contains three important things we live by:
Less elbows, more heart. (very important in the creative industries)
Radical vulnerability. (we always have each other’s back)
Take what you need to get what you want. (applies to how we work as a collective, nothing is given or taken for granted)
Were there any obstacles you faced whilst creating and growing your business, if so how did you overcome them?
We never had a 5 year plan which means we never really had ‘goals’ to reach or a roadmap to where we’d want to be (ironic, since our name would suggest otherwise). We only had our mission to build the coolest, most rebellious creative agency in Berlin. That means ‘obstacles’ were not ‘obstacles’ as much as they were challenges we had to find solutions for. Every ‘obstacle’ became ultimately part of our company culture. Like: The way we communicate and stay on the same page with a constantly growing community. I think every obstacle is core to our identity.
What’s been the most rewarding moment of your journey as a founder?
We rented this huge, empty space at Alexanderplatz to have more space for our community. We called it the co-creagency and wanted to combine the idea of a co-working space and the agency office. Before we opened, I posted into our community (back then it was 90 girls) that I’d need some help building and creating the space. When I arrived with furniture and equipment, I saw 15 girls waiting outside our doors to support. Most of them had never met. Together we built the most beautiful space. It was such a rewarding moment to see what can be achieved. Our year in this space is still the most magical, empowering time of my life.
Do any past or current entrepreneurs inspire you?
I still love any entrepreneur that creates a brand that pushes society’s comfort zone and breaks some taboos to change the narrative: like The Female Company or Estrid. However: I’ve turned my back on the gatekeeping girlboss or entrepreneur culture. I don’t think businesses are run on the back of a single entrepreneur. It’s a shared vision - always.
What’s been the biggest lesson - about yourself, your abilities or just general life lessons - you’ve learnt since starting your business?
It’s all about quick decisions. Don’t doubt yourself.
Be radically vulnerable and soft. Not cool but warm. It’s what the economy needs right now.
Charge the fee you deserve.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Generally I’d say listen to advice or read the instruction but don’t follow it. That’s why:
Mindset: People keep saying it’s all about the mindset. And that’s the single worst advice. There’s a lot people out there who have set their minds and are still not achieving their goals. Sometimes because they are simply not privileged like us. But it led me to the epiphany that success is really all about keeping your mind unset. To always be willing to experience the worst, twist the plot and to keep growing and changing.
Good Advice I got:
Finance: Keep it variable - don’t bind yourself to long contracts and fixed costs. Your finances will always be in flux.
Abilities: Stop being humble. Nobody benefits if you stay lowkey and dim your light.
Tell us about The Unsettling Project?
When the pandemic hit we decided to close our space and took everything digital. Being stuck at home, without the everyday buzz of our business was a big blow to me. I had built my whole self-worth on my work. It took a global lockdown for me to see that being the ‘girlboss’ of a company is not the same as having a personality. That’s why I decided to go on a journey. At my point in life you’d be expected to settle, but I wasn’t ready for that: So I decided to unsettle. I packed my baggage into a cabin-size suitcase and got rid of everything else I owned. I have been on the move ever since. Travelling the world. Meeting Strangers. My goalgirls always with me right inside my laptop case. It seems quite impossible to perpetually travel and still run projects from everywhere. But I also thought: What if it’s possible but I just haven’t tried?
What does your typical working day look like?
The beauty is: I haven’t got one. I have decided to never work unhappy. This sounds a bit lazy but actually: I love my work so much I get up at 04:30 every morning, work until 11:00 and then try to take the rest of the day off. I’d like for this to be the typical day but different projects require different things, so (in line with everything I do): I keep it variable. Only happiness is a constant.
Image: Kaddie Rothe, goalgirls launch event for Bumble Germany, September 2022, © Lisa Kempe
What are some methods you like to use to spark creativity?
To me my brain is so madly wired and unstable, I have no idea how neurones come up with ideas. I am internally grateful to be able to just sit down, get excited about the vision of a project and pour ideas into it unfiltered. I like to work like that with clients: don’t worry too much about the bureaucratics and rather focus on finding the best bad idea (meaning: something that will be a pain to produce but eternally rewarding).
What advice would you give anyone building a brand?
It’s storytelling. You don’t start with a logo, you start with the story you want to tell. Find the things that your brand can move besides your own product.
What do you love about London?
I’m all about London. I moved to Britain when I was 15 years old and to this day I have never felt anywhere more at home. London is the perfect combination of grungy and bougie. Should I ever decide to settle, it will be there.
Can you tell us about upcoming projects?
I tend to take January and February a bit slowly because it gets so busy in Summer and around Christmas. So agency-wise: We’re shooting a cool campaign at the beginning of March for a vitamin gum brand. We’ve worked for half a year on a brand story that is going to have a big impact. I can’t wait to see it come to life! Besides that: I have just finished writing my first novel ‘Kondo Chaos’ - now I’m in the middle of a challenge to build my Tik Tok in order to find people who’d want to read it. So I’d be eternally grateful if you give me a follow on this new, scary journey.
Website: goalgirls: goalgirls.de, personal: kaddierothe.com, writing: thegirlunsettled.com
Instagram: goalgirls: @heygoalgirls, personal: @kaddierothe
Tik Tok: @girlunsettled
