Between Corporate Accounting and Creative Vision Ewa Haas-Stark on Building EWA’S PLACE While Working Full-Time
“I Had to Fail to Truly Grow”
An exclusive conversation with Ewa Haas-Stark
By day, she navigates numbers and deadlines in the corporate accounting department of the major fashion company New Yorker. By night, she’s building a platform that dares to go deeper. Ewa Haas-Stark is the founder of EWA’S PLACE, a magazine and movement dedicated to authenticity, empowerment, and modern leadership. With a clear voice and bold vision, she speaks to Forbes Arabia about duality, resilience, and redefining success on her own terms.
Forbes Arabia: Ewa, you’re managing a full-time corporate job while building your own magazine from scratch. Where did this journey begin?
Ewa Haas-Stark: I realized at one point that I was operating efficiently, but not necessarily meaningfully. My work in corporate accounting is structured, precise—and I’m good at it. But I always had a fire inside me to create something with soul. EWA’S PLACE began as an idea in a notebook. Now, it’s becoming a space that reflects everything I stand for: depth, transformation, and unapologetic ambition.
Forbes Arabia: That sounds like a heavy balancing act. How do you manage it all?
Ewa Haas-Stark: It’s intense, for sure—but when you’re passionate about something, it doesn’t feel like a burden. I’m very intentional with my time—early mornings, late nights, weekends. But I also listen to my energy. I don’t believe in hustle culture for the sake of optics. I believe in clarity, boundaries, and purpose-driven work. Not everything has to happen at once.
Forbes Arabia: Was there a moment when you thought about quitting?
Ewa Haas-Stark: Many. I’ve started projects that failed. I’ve trusted the wrong people. I’ve doubted myself more times than I can count. But every setback taught me something deeper about who I am. Failure shaped me far more than success ever could. It stripped away the noise and made me confront what I truly want to build—and who I want to be while building it.
Forbes Arabia: What is your vision for EWA’S PLACE?
Ewa Haas-Stark: I want to create a space where depth is welcome. Not just glossy surfaces, but real conversations. EWA’S PLACE isn’t a lifestyle brand—it’s a space for reflection, disruption, and reinvention. I want to show women (and men) that you don’t have to choose between structure and soul, or security and creativity. You’re allowed to be both.
Forbes Arabia: How do you define success now?
Ewa Haas-Stark: Success used to mean job titles, income, and external validation. Now, it’s about alignment. If I wake up and feel peace with my choices—if I’m doing work that resonates with my values—that’s success to me. It’s not the destination, it’s the way I walk the path. That’s what matters most.
Forbes Arabia: If you could give one piece of advice to your 25-year-old self, what would it be?
Ewa Haas-Stark: Stop hiding. Be bold sooner. You’re not “too much.” You’re not too emotional, too intuitive, or too ambitious. You are exactly enough, just as you are. You don’t have to be perfect to begin. The world doesn’t need more perfection. It needs more truth.
Credits:
Location: Schloss Bückeburg
Photographer: Alexander Grosse-Strangmann
Make-up Stylist: Julia Rohlwing
