Freitag, 26. Juni 2026
“I just didn’t want the fruit to be thrown away,” Zhu says when she talks about how it all began. When Zhu Xiao speaks about sustainability, she does not start with concepts or buzzwords. She starts with fruits.
“I grew up in a small town in China — we had enough,” she explains. Her mother was a teacher, her father also employed. It was a stable life where fresh fruit was a given. But not everything was always eaten. Some of it went bad — and had to be thrown away.
“I saw that other classmates couldn’t afford fruit,” she says. “So I gave them what we didn’t eat.”
A simple thought — and her first encounter with what she now describes as a live circular economy and sustainability. Not driven by theory, but by humanity.
Later, in Beijing, sustainability became not a social issue for Zhu, but a physical one. The air pollution was so severe that she could barely breathe.
“The air was so bad I could hardly breathe,” Zhu recalls, this time without a smile. “There were periods when I couldn’t go outside. I couldn’t even open the windows.” Air filters became part of everyday life — and a symbol of a much deeper problem.
That time shaped her. “That’s when I understood how much the environment affects our health and our lives.”
Zhu’s academic path began in a conventional way: a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in Beijing. But after volunteering for an international student development organization and participating in a Corporate Social Responsibility learning program in the university as well as doing an international internship in Poland, her perspective shifted.
“That’s where I first came into contact with sustainability management — and I immediately knew: this could be it."
What followed was a period of exploration: a role as an IT service management specialist in an American multinational manufacturer, as well as Corporate Social Responsibility activity manager for the department. Her career path was anything but linear. After structural changes at the company and an unsuccessful application to a global environmental campaigning organization, she eventually moved into IT project management at a multinational technology company.
“I worked a lot,” she says. “But I wanted to do something more meaningful. And I didn’t want a life like that.” During her spare time when she was working in IT management, she was actively involved in many learning activities organized by environmental NGOs, which motivated her to make a big career change.
The answer came from a place many would not immediately associate with sustainability: a restaurant chain in Beijing. “I was the environmental manager there,” Zhu says. “That role didn’t really exist.”
The restaurant was one of the first in Beijing to systematically integrate sustainability into its business model — a pioneering project shaped by international founders with a clear focus on sustainability management. “That was a key moment for me,” she says. “I saw how sustainability can actually work in everyday operations.”
What moved her most was what happened next: the head chef left to open his own restaurant — and implemented the same sustainable concept. “He adopted everything. Sustainability, processes — all of it.” Zhu smiles. “That’s when I realized: ideas don’t stay in one place.”
As her practical experience grew, Zhu realized she was missing a strong theoretical foundation. Together with her family, she moved to Germany to continue her studies in sustainability.
After her study, and during the period of learning German language, she worked 4 hours per week at Oxfam secondhand shop in Potsdam as a volunteer. One moment, in particular, stayed with her: “An older woman once told me how nice it is that I could help in the shop. It was such a small moment — but it meant a lot to me.”
Today, Zhu works as a Sustainability Coach in a hotel in Berlin and is also self-employed, supporting hotels and restaurants. Her focus: sustainable management and circular economy. “Sustainability is not an add-on,” she says. “It affects everything.”
What drives her has not changed. “I’ve been thinking about how to prevent waste since I was a child,” she says seriously.
For Zhu, sustainability is not a trend or a job title. It is a mindset that runs through every part of life — from childhood memories of uneaten fruit to transforming entire business models.
“Circular economy is not just about products,” she says. “It’s about all of us.”
More informations about Zhu Xiao you find on her website: https://impactstayhub.com/
© 2026 R. Bittner, Gründungszentrum Enterprise
