Monique
was born in Switzerland; and prior to the start of her kindergarden
year, Monique
and her family moved from the French part to Zurich, the Swiss German part.
At the age of 20, graduated with a Master Degree in Business, she began world-wide traveling.
Her first destination to Australia included the breath-taking underwater paradise of the Great Barrier Reef and the deserted sands
of the Northern Territory where she spent several weeks with Aborigines and learned all about
living off the land & living in harmony & balance with
the environment.
In 1998, Monique went
to Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu to get her English proficiency degree in 'academic speeches' during a summer vacation
- But although the degree was very important, she was more into surfing and the Aloha spirit
which later inspired tremendously her artwork.
She later worked several years for Swissair where she gained valuable experience
as Human Resources & Office Manager. Besides her job she attended flying lessons and joined the Swissair Emergency Care Team
to support families who lost their beloved ones in a plane crash. She helped after the plane tragedy in Halifax in 1998, in New York after 9/11 and during the Swissair fleet grounding. She also supported employees during the
mass-dismissal within Swissair Group and during its dissolution in 2001 and 2002.
After Swissair's
close-down she found another challenge as Human Resources & Office Manager for Central Europe within Moneyline
Telerate GmbH, responsible for Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France & Hungary. In 2005 Moneyline Telerate was taken over by
Reuters and that was the moment Monique chucked in her
career and left corporate business.
In 2005 Monique changed her life completely and moved to Miami Beach. She studied Feng Shui and the 'Ancient Chinese Art of Placement' guided her
into the world of Interior Design. In 2007, she graduated as Interior Designer and
by then she had the time to be more creative. She loves
the fact that 'ART opens heART' and that ART has no boundaries. She has designed and created
her own jewelry collection under copyright that hit the headlines immediately.
Between October 2007 and March 2008 Monique attended vocational training
in Motion Graphics & Avid film editing at Video Symphony in Burbank (Los Angeles) and learned the craft of 'Bald Caps and Old Age & Maturity/Prosthetics Makeup' for
film.
Monique registered the
film treatment in English (Kurzfassung des Drehbuchs) of her book 'MAHALO SUNRISE' with the Writer's
Guild of America West, Los Angeles on December 31, 2008. The registration# is 1322103. Film production companies are
more than welcome to contact her.
In January 2009 Monique was spotlighted in the 'Film Maker's Magazine Edition January 2009' (P.49) together with 'The Wrestler'
and 'Slumdog Millionaire'.
Monique published her book
'MAHALO SUNRISE' in German (978-0-557-37646-9) and English
(978-0-557-85218-5) in 2010. Her true story being involved in money-laundering, drug dealing, murder, prostitution
and the FBI... The largest FBi operation in Hawaii's history!
On May 11, 2011 Monique received the Award 2011 for her 'MAHALO SUNRISE' in the
category 'True Crime/Non-Fiction' of the International 2011 Book Awards!
Monique launched 2 Hawaiian perfumes for Women 'Mau Loa' (forever)
and 'Kipona Aloha Nui' (very deep love) ~ made of pure
perfume oil essences from Grasse, South of France and 2 perfumes for Men 'KOA' (warrior)
and 'ALAKA'i (leader).
Monique's collection of photography at a glance. Please click on this link.
