Amena Lee Schlaikjer

A world traveler from her father’s background in diplomacy, Amena grew up moving cities every 2-3 years since her birth to an aboriginal Taiwanese mother and Danish-Dutch-American father.  Having spent 20 of those years in different parts of Greater China, she returned in 2004 to pursue a career building expertise in brand marketing for the Health/Beauty/Lifestyle sectors.  Combining her China Studies from Columbia University and Fashion Marketing from the Fashion Institute of Technology, she started off her career working on marketing and operations projects for small boutiques in New York and Shanghai, learning the ins and outs of building new businesses.  She worked on the launches of Vogue, M.A.C and Zagat Survey in Shanghai before being lured by the innovation world to help open ?Whatif! 's first China office and growing the team to 20 people, helping to lead their creative team for 4 years and learning what makes Chinese consumers tick. 

Tired of incremental, bandaid solutions for multinational brands, she has since moved on to start her own creative initiative called THE WELLNESS WORKS, crafting ideas and events that inspire others towards living healthier in a more sustainable world.  She is the acting Shanghai manager of Asia-Pacific LOHAS where she gets much of her research support and works with several ad hoc teams in her co-working creative  space GRASSLANDS on projects that colour the world of  wellness; be it lifestyle, hospitality, travel, food or entertainment. Frequent traveler, known ‘hustler’ on occasion, and fond of diving, archery and yoga, she lives in Shanghai with her husband and two cats, Sheba and Spirit.  

www.lohas-asia.org
www.the-wellness-works.com