Janina Uhse is a successful actress, cookbook author and self-made woman. In the big BRIGITTE interview, she told us how she found her way, what helped her and how she is doing with her pregnancy.
The Lancôme testimonial Janina Uhse has shown courage several times in her life: she started an acting career while still at school, published a cookbook on her own – to name just two. Now the first offspring follows. Here you can find out how the actress is doing, what she is already looking forward to with her child and how she is preparing for her new role.
Janina Uhse on courage and self-doubt
BRIGITTE: In the panel talk #ChallengeYourself by Global Digital Women and Lancôme you talked a lot about your time at GZSZ. In 2017 you ended your career at GZSZ, at the same time you had started your own business with a cooking show and your cookbook – now there are offspring. These are all steps that require courage. How do you approach such decisions? And how has courage paid off for you so far?
Janina: It was something very special for me because it was the first time that I was allowed to take part in something like this. I find it exciting to sit with inspiring women because completely different things come to light about you. What struck me in this conversation is that I’m not a person with a strategy. I made a lot of decisions just because I felt it and I didn’t think too much about the consequences. And if you add everything up, the consequences are often limited, or you take a different path that you might not have planned before. I then make myself aware: I do not operate on open hearts.
You dropped out of school for an acting career at GZSZ. Do you think your behavior has changed over time? Are you still as willing to take risks as you were then?
It’s not that I didn’t consider that beforehand. I reassured myself at school that I could come back at any time if it wasn’t the right decision. I owed that to my parents alone. I’m not a risk-taking person, but I believe that if you’re unhappy, you should change something urgently. We only have this one life and when you realize you have the potential to be happier, then you should pursue it. As I get older, I don’t want to ask myself the question: What would have happened if…? When I think about it, it doesn’t feel like a risk anymore.
Do you have tactics to filter out what is important to you at the moment? People often find it difficult to filter out priorities. How do you deal with such situations?
I have a pretty good connection with myself. What I’ve learned and built up over the years is just allowing myself to see fear and really question it. I have a great environment to talk to about it. My husband is my best advisor, or rather I often notice in conversation: ‘Aha, I know the solution, everything is great. Thank you very much’.
Everyone probably knows doubts. How do you deal with it when doubts creep up on you?
Doubts are totally human and normal. It helps when you know you’re not alone in this. I’ve learned in the meantime that it’s a strength when you express your insecurities out loud – also in castings, when I have the feeling that I’m excited, to then deal with it aggressively and turn my supposed weaknesses into strengths. Not taking yourself too seriously might also be a good tactic that makes it easier.
You became self-employed with your cookbook. This is an area where you probably haven’t had that much experience. How do you approach such new situations?
First of all, intuition! I feel things and I’m an incredibly creative person. Sometimes it just bubbles up with me and I don’t get it all going. But I have people around me with whom I can structure it well. First and foremost my husband and my “Janina and Food” team. Of course, I met with publishers and then realized that if I make a cookbook, it has to be 100 percent my handwriting and I wasn’t willing to compromise on that. And then I counted and calculated and got people on my side who implemented my heart project with me. That was the best decision!
You then bring people into the team who fill in gaps where you lack the know-how, for example, or who could inspire you?
Absolutely. It would be illusory to think that I could have finished this book without a capable team. I needed the best graphic designer, my friend Joanna who did the wonderful illustrations and someone who could put my thoughts into words better than I could. The basic idea came from me and I got people on board who are professionals in their field and with whom I was able to implement the book exactly as I had imagined. It is important to me to work with a team that I like to have around me, both professionally and personally, and that together we can exploit the maximum potential. I am firmly convinced that this feeling is also transferred to the end consumer: good attracts good, which means that if I am happy at work and put my heart and soul into a project, the reader will feel it too.
Fears, confidence and lots of joy: Janina Uhse is becoming a mother for the first time
You will soon be a mom. For many women, pregnancy is a time of joy, but also a time full of fears, among other things because of disadvantages in professional life. How was or is it with you?
Great joy indeed! I’ve always said that if I meet the person I can imagine doing this with, I would very much like to start a family. It is and I couldn’t be happier. Naturally, questions arise: What does that mean for me and my professional life. But how great it is that, in addition to acting, I have built up a second mainstay with “Janina and Food”, which I can do independently. As for acting, if I had just that, I might have given some thought. You don’t know how you can and would like to function physically and mentally immediately after birth.
Appearance, with all the advice, has a big impact on expectant mothers. How much does that affect you? Can you hide that?
I don’t read anything. Not even the best advice or encouragement, I don’t watch birth videos and I haven’t attended a birth preparation course. I’m just trying to listen to my body and that’s great. He tells me exactly what he needs, and I’m now able to perceive it much more consciously. Maybe also because I subconsciously feel that I’m not only doing this for myself, but also for my child. When I’m hungry, I eat. If I notice that exercise or a walk is too much, I lie down and sleep. How often do you ignore your body and think there is more to it!? Experience has shown that far too often. I would like to keep this wonderful connection to my body in the future.
A really nice approach. You do a lot of things intuitively right. Or how do you see that?
I also don’t know what happens once the child is here. It’s possible that we’ll talk again and I’ll say to you, ‘Ilka, do you remember when we were so relaxed back then? It’s all changed’. But I don’t want to believe that. I just want to believe that if you trust your intuition, every woman will find her own way. If the parents are happy, then the child is happy too, and we all want the best for the children anyway.
It’s always a bit about what parents can do at all. Or?
That is individual for everyone. I will be careful not to give advice to other expectant mothers and I believe this is the best way. Everyone has to find their own way and have their own experiences.
It all depends on the right angle!
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At Brigitte we now regularly post mindfulness tips for everyday life. Just stop for a moment, think about what is already good in the now and not always think about what is next. Over time, you can condition yourself to see value in the little things. How do you feel?
You speak to me from the soul. My husband said the same thing to me, somehow it’s funny that you tell your children that we have to go to the circus quickly instead of watching the birds here on the meadow. It’s so much nicer to watch the birds eat the breadcrumbs and be in the moment than always suggesting what’s to come is so much nicer.