Inspiring Women Magazine May 2023

Hollis Vaughen Marketing Manager
AWC Berlin
I am originally from Kentucky and went to
college in Virginia. I have lived, worked and
studied in North Carolina, Japan, California,
Germany and Washington State. It’s hard to say
exactly why I moved around so much – some of
it was by design, some by circumstances out of
my control – but it’s been an adventure to
experience a teeny portion of the world this
way. My number of moves pales in comparison
to those who relocate every two or three years,
but as someone who didn’t get to explore much
beyond the southeastern US for her first 25
years, it’s been a wild ride.
November 2021 – my favorite SDGs at the FAWCO Region 5
meeting in Vienna;
photo credit My-Linh Kunst (top left)
May 2022 with AWC Berlin FAWCO Rep Frances Durocher at the
FAWCO Interim Meeting in Luxembourg;
photo credit My-Linh Kunst (top right)
April 2022 with my family in Madrid, Spain;
photo credit Jovan Gibson-Aviance (bottom)
Career-wise, I’m a Recovering Engineer – i.e. I
have the degree and two-plus years of work
experience but it didn’t suit me. So, I left the industry and went to business school for an
international MBA. I sort of fell backwards into marketing and have done a wide array
of jobs for a wide array of companies. About ten years ago, I started doing social media
management, first for my kids’ school and the non-profit organizations I belonged to,
then later for paid clients.
My husband and I have three kids, ages 13, 15 and 18. We lived in Berlin from 2017 to
2018 and moved back in August 2021. We really like living in this one-of-a-kind European
capital and exploring the surrounding continent. In addition to going to many places
within Germany as a family, we’ve visited Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, France,
Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Cyprus. (We’ve all been
able to take some solo trips as well.) Most recently was spring break in Switzerland
because our oldest was a FAWCO Youth Cultural Ambassador Volunteer in Zurich!
We’re hoping for more trips in the second half of 2023, because our list of places to visit
is very long.
I love conversation, traveling, volunteering, reading, walking, yoga, and swimming. I’ve
always been interested in learning about other cultures and languages. In Berlin, I
relish trying new-to-me cuisines and visiting at least one museum per month. My
German classes are another source of enjoyment.
When we first moved to Berlin, the wife of my husband’s co-worker was an AWC
member and I joined on her recommendation. I have been the club‘s treasurer, the
Nominating Committee Chair, and have been the co-Social Media Manager since 2020.
The Marketing Manager role for Inspiring Women is my first FAWCO position.
I wasn’t able to attend any FAWCO events until the Region 5 meeting in November 2021
and am excited to make up for lost time! They check so many boxes for me –
travel, community, education and more. In 2022, I attended the Interim Meeting in
Luxembourg and the Region 5 meeting in Frankfurt. This year, I went to the 2023
Biennial Conference in Bratislava and plan to attend the Region 5 meeting in the fall.
As part of the Inspiring Women magazine team, I’m excited to try and learn new things,
as well as getting to know my fellow FAWCO members. There’s still so much I don’t know
about FAWCO and the amazing work our organization does!
116 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 117