Werner

Mother from Surinam, father from Germany - European sales director

Being mixed race is just what - as opposed to who - I am: a colour on the outside, and bleeding red on the inside as everyone else. That said, being of European and Latin American descent and upbringing does mean to me enjoying several cultures as my own and the ability of having a broad and open mind about others and their ways of thinking and doing, though I also acknowledge that that is not necessarily the case for everyone of mixed race, or the opposite the case for those that are not. On the outside, I love my colour for the access it gives me and the compliments I get - 'You never have a tan, you're always beautiful!' - And I've never consciously experienced the negativity that others attribute to it. Or is it my attitude? Colour and descent have not defined who I am. The two are the tools I have to work with, by default, in addition to all optional ones, having made me who I am today and who I want to be.