By Cassell Ferere originally published on Forbes.com

Ever wonder who influences the influencers? Then meet Julia Lang, founder, and creative director of VEERT. The entrepreneur and designer made her way from Germany to New York City and would manifest a career that most every kid ventures there to the Big Apple to achieve. It started after graduating from a University in Nuremberg, Germany, flying to New York for a four-month internship with a ‘no-name’ marketing agency over 15 years ago.

Julia Lang, the Tanzanian-German marketing specialist turned creative director, was born in East Africa and migrated to Germany with her family at the age of 4. Today, she is working her magic for bigger corporations and small-business brands on social media, and other platforms and outlets. In 2015, Lang would receive an O-1 Visa, designated for “individuals with extraordinary ability and achievement.” This would give the entrepreneur an advantage in positioning her business in a global hub. 

“As a European, it was super hard to actually move permanently to the U.S. without being married or tied to a company,” she describes. “I work for myself, I’m not tied to anyone. Once I got the Visa - which is not easy - it was a no-brainer to move to [New York City.] Been thriving ever since.”

Notably working with music mogul Kareem “Biggs” Burke, Lang won over the hip hop businessman with an ‘elevator pitch’ by Lang as a branding expert. Shortly after she would no longer have to even introduce herself to the gamut of influencers in street culture. VEERT happens to underline all of her efforts - attending and networking at fashion weeks in Milan and Paris, entrepreneurship, and manifesting a particular ‘cool’ that other businesses would be hard-pressed to try and replicate. 

She dives deep into her brand over the phone during our Saturday call, explaining “work never stops. I work every single day. I run 3 companies, so it never stops. We also work on global time. I’ve always had the philosophy [that] ‘I work hard now, so, later on, I can live comfortably.’ The past ten years for me - I don’t know what a weekend is.”

Lang continues by stating “at this point, I’m kind of like a workaholic. It pays off, but I’m used to it. In New York, the work you put in here really shows. I also lived in London and Berlin, and I had the same work ethic, but it really didn’t give me the same results. In New York, if you’re a hustler, and you just work hard, you can really go - far. That’s why I love New York. ”

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