Born in Switzerland in 1972, Katja earned a degree in performing arts in Zurich and worked for a few years as an actor in the German-speaking countries. In her mid-twenties, she traded Shakespeare and Goethe for a backpack and never looked back. 

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Living in Italy since 1999, Katja has worked as an olive picker, wedding planner, and life coach before running a refugee home in a small Tuscan hilltop town. Her memoir 'Across the Big Blue Sea: Good Intentions and Hard Lessons in an Italian Refugee Home' has been optioned for a film and was a Guardian Best Summer Book.   

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In 2022, Katja founded Zenkafilms.com. She's the creator and writer of $HARE (working title Doing Good), a TV series set in the Swiss Alps. Katja's pilot screenplay for the $HARE pilot won the The Writers Lab Europe & UK. Press release ScreenDaily.

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For updates from Zenka Films and Katja's journey as an entrepreneur, read Startup with 50 on Substack.

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Katja is the mother of two teenagers and together with her family divides her time between an olive grove and a national park beach in Tuscany, and a winter campsite in the Swiss Alps. 

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Follow Katja on Instagram, connect on LinkedIn, read behind the scenes from the startup and film worlds on her Substack, or check out her hashtags on IG (#alpenglow, #fourseasonsatficari).

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For speaking engagements and book club discussions get in touch here. 

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