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Sonja, let’s start at the beginning. When did diabetes come into your life?
Sonja: “I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was seven. So I don’t really know life without diabetes. At home, though, the condition was never the center of attention, and looking back, I feel very lucky about that: I could play sports, try everything and grow up completely normally. Nobody wrapped me in cotton wool. That sense of normality was a gift. As a child, I learned that diabetes is part of me, but it doesn’t decide who I am or what I can do. I think that idea is the reason why I later wanted to actively make something of it instead of just managing it.”
How did you deal with diabetes as a child and a teenager?
Sonja: “To be honest, for a long time I preferred to hide it. I’ve always been someone who wanted to take things into her own hands. Sensors and insulin pumps didn’t exist back then. I was on intensified insulin therapy with fixed mealtimes, fixed amounts and a strict ban on eating anything sweet. Yes, it really was that strict ‘back then’. I measured and injected in secret, ideally where nobody was watching. I simply wanted to spare myself the same questions over and over from classmates who didn’t know what type 1 means. Better to stay invisible, I thought.”
Was there a time when things got really hard?
Sonja: “Yes, at 18. My levels just wouldn’t fall into place, no matter how hard I tried. My long-term value, the HbA1c, kept landing in the eights, well above what I wanted to reach. My doctor at the time dismissed it quite matter-of-factly and in the end blamed my lifestyle. That hurt. You make an effort, you follow all the rules, and you’re still told that you are the problem. Especially as a young woman just starting out in adult life, that’s a bitter message. That experience showed me how much depends on whether someone really takes you seriously.”
What brought the turning point?
Sonja: “Switching to a different diabetes practice. My new doctor moved me to insulin pump therapy and really took the time to find the right basal dosage together with me. Suddenly my levels were right, and I could finally eat more flexibly. Before, I was stuck in a very rigid corset; afterwards, I had room to move. That showed me that diabetes therapy isn’t one size fits all. It has to fit your body, your everyday life and your pace. Without that individual support, I would never have got to where I am today.”
How did your relationship with diabetes change when technology made it more visible?
Sonja: “Back then, I was teaching aerobics, Zumba and Pilates on the side. When the FreeStyle Libre came out at the end of 2014, I absolutely wanted one: finally measuring without pricking. And at the same time, an old worry came back. I had always found my insulin pump aesthetically disturbing and could never really be open about it; only close friends and relatives even knew about my diabetes. With the sensor, what I had kept to myself for years was suddenly visible to everyone. Before my classes, I stood there in my workout gear, and that small, clinical white dot on my upper arm was impossible to miss. Finally good levels, and at the same time this new visibility. I first had to bring the two together.”
How did that turn into Zuckerschmuck?
Sonja: “2015 was the point when I took action. I searched online for ways to decorate my sensor or at least liven it up a bit. What I found was pretty expensive and not my taste at all. So I thought: if I have wishes like this, others surely feel the same. I put together some designs, found a print shop and had the first FreeStyle Libre stickers and tapes printed. When I showed them in a diabetes community on Facebook, the first batch sold out within a few days. At the latest then it was clear: this is a real need, not just my crazy idea.”
And then things moved pretty fast?
Sonja: “Pretty fast. I built my own website without any background in web development, simply by trial and error. We started with fifteen products; today there are thousands. Over time, the range grew beyond the FreeStyle Libre to other CGM systems, insulin pump catheters and patch pumps. We now even design matching tapes on behalf of major sensor manufacturers, also beyond Germany. What I’m especially proud of: with Zuckerschmuck, I founded the very first German online shop for diabetes stickers. Of course, a lot gets copied these days, but we have a loyal community and a team that puts its heart and soul into it.”
What do you hear back from your customers?
Sonja: “What touches me most are the messages from people who write that, thanks to our products, they experience their children’s diabetes as more cheerful and colorful, or can simply wear it a little more discreetly. Some send photos of their decorated sensors, some write me entire life stories. And both are completely fine. Some want to be visible, others don’t. We don’t tell anyone which way is the right one. That was my vision from the very beginning, and you can see it in our designs too, from bold and colorful to subtle and concealing.”
Is there a motto that guides you?
Sonja: “My motto is: ‘When life gives you lemons, ask for salt and tequila.’ There’s a bit of defiance in it, to be honest, and a good dose of self-irony. I’m incredibly grateful that I was able to turn my condition into something beautiful and productive and that I can help others with it today. Sometimes I say: I made peace with diabetes by making it my job. It may sound small that a piece of printed film on a sensor can move so much inside. For me, that’s exactly how it was. Today I wear my diabetes openly, and that has a lot to do with what Zuckerschmuck has become for so many people.”
Who stands behind Zuckerschmuck with you?
Sonja: “A large part of my team lives with type 1 diabetes themselves, and that shapes our work enormously. My right hand Julia, for example, advises our customers with a lot of heart and real experience. She developed type 1 diabetes during a pregnancy and recently switched from a pen to an insulin pump. When someone asks how a tape does in the pool or how the adhesive behaves in midsummer, we don’t answer from a data sheet but from our own real everyday life. You can feel that in every email, and that authenticity is exactly what matters to our community.”
Which product are you especially proud of right now?
Sonja: “Right now, our lace briefs for women who wear an insulin pump. A pump needs a place on the body, ideally one that is comfortable, doesn’t get in the way and still looks good. You should feel comfortable and beautiful in what you wear. Our aim is always to develop products that don’t exist anywhere else in the world yet, creative and functional at the same time. For me, exactly this combination of function and aesthetics is what Zuckerschmuck is about. With the lingerie, we managed both.”
You were an aerobics instructor and you’re a mother of two. How much of all that is in Zuckerschmuck?
Sonja: “Honestly, quite a lot. With many products, I think of very specific situations from my own life. The pump during sports, the question of how the sensor looks under tight clothing, my two children, who have seen from an early age how naturally I deal with diabetes. As a child, as a student, at work, in sports and as a mother of two, I collected countless little wishes and ideas. In the end, Zuckerschmuck became the place where I can make them all happen. None of it was created on a drawing board; everything comes from real everyday life.”
How do you handle your own diabetes today?
Sonja: “Much more relaxed than before. On the technical side, I now use a loop system, an insulin pump that works together with my sensor and regulates a lot automatically. That takes a lot of mental load off me in everyday life. But honestly, the biggest change isn’t the technology, it’s the attitude. I don’t hide anything anymore, I’m happy to explain when someone asks, and I’ve learned that my diabetes can also open doors, to other people and to new ideas. I would never have dreamed of that at 18.”
What do you wish for the future?
Sonja: “That we can keep encouraging people, especially children. Diabetes is exhausting, I won’t take that away from anyone. But it can also be the reason for something beautiful. My big goal is to improve acceptance of type 1 diabetes in society. When a child proudly goes to the pool with their pump thanks to a favorite sticker, or an adult wears her sensor openly for the first time, then a lot has already been won for me. I wish the whole community the confidence to take up space and stay visible, in everyday life with sports, at work and in relationships. Diabetes is part of it, but it doesn’t decide everything.”
Dear Sonja, thank you so much for this open conversation!
