#56: Christina Skoeries, Director E-Commerce at camel active, on leading a modern D2C brand

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How do you lead a legacy brand through real transformation, without burning out your team? In this episode, host Janine Vanessa Heinrich sits down with Christina Skoeries, Director E-Commerce at camel active, to unpack how the company is evolving from wholesale heritage to a modern D2C engine, by centering people, culture, and clear decision-making.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janine-vanessa/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-skoeries-expert-for-e-commerce/

From vulnerable leadership and “make yourself redundant” management, to building D2C infrastructure, marketplaces-first expansion, and weekly KPI transparency (plus walk-and-talk standups!), Christina shares practical ways to keep teams motivated, creative, and accountable. We also dig into community-building, quality vs. sustainability signals, and why customer service is a strategic asset, not an afterthought.

You’ll learn how to:
- Lead through change with clarity, ownership, and psychological safety.
- Stand up D2C: marketplaces-first, then scale your own shop & stack.
- Balance high standards with autonomy (and ship without perfectionism).
- Use transparent KPIs to create real team ownership of outcomes.
- Build community: discovery + togetherness as emotional brand drivers.
- Turn customer service into product input and loyalty fuel.
- Stay energized: rituals, walk-and-talks, and external inspiration (e.g., OMR).
- Empower others: giving stage time to new female voices in e-commerce.

???? Want to be a guest on our podcast? Reach out to us at pr@ecommerceberlin.com.

00:00 - Passion, people & intro to Christina
01:22 - Rapid fire: routines, advice & hardest lessons
06:07 - Trends, focus & camel active’s shift to D2C
09:02 - Building D2C: infra, logistics, marketplaces & team
11:53 - Leadership style: redundancy, autonomy & failure culture
20:19 - Vulnerability, transparency & KPI ownership (walk & talks, pace, OMR)
33:08 - Balancing wholesale legacy, D2C, community & younger audiences
45:33 - Quality, sustainability, future vision & advice to emerging leaders

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