Cristina Galie is the Community Manager at Kittl, shaping one of the most engaged, generous, and fast-growing creative communities in Europe. Her path began in New York at Levine/Leavitt, where she learned what it means to treat creatives with respect, attentiveness, and genuine care. Now based in Berlin, she brings that same ethos into her work—centering people, celebrating talent, and making creativity feel accessible to anyone, regardless of background or training.
Can you tell us a little about your first few steps in your career. Was there a moment or experience when you realised this was what you'd do as a career?
While at the School of Visual Arts, I snagged an internship at an artists management agency called Levine/Leavitt. It massively changed the course of my life and challenged everything I thought working in the creative industry would be like.
Liz Leavitt and Jeff Levine are two of the most creative, quick, and respected people working in the biz. They gave everyone — from their artists to their employees to producers — their full, undivided attention.
Most notably, they treated me like an equal. Imagine! They brought me along to agency showcases, included me in industry happy hours, and cared about my development. To this day I can’t believe how lucky I was to have them as mentors. And of course, I was also surrounded by portfolios from esteemed designers, illustrators, photographers, and directors. It was a magical year.
I graduated and moved to Berlin knowing I wanted to work alongside creatives forever in some capacity. Becoming the Community Manager for a design-focused community has felt like a natural progression.
What lessons from your career have most shaped your style and approach?
Tell us about the core values or philosophies that guide your creative practice.
- Creativity belongs to everyone regardless of socioeconomic, academic, or geographic background.
- Everyone starts somewhere.
- Be generous with your kudos. We should be celebrating each other and giving each other more shoutouts. I think film and ad people are actually pretty great at this. I love to see a long Instagram caption for a project where each and every person involved was tagged.
What needs to change, so emerging and under-represented creative professionals have more opportunity, are seen and heard?
How important is it that creative professionals find their unique voice?
Looking ahead, what do you think are the key factors that will influence change for creative professionals?
A willingness to learn about new technology, specifically AI. Whether or not you ultimately decide to incorporate it into your workflow, it's here, and chances are you're already dabbling in it without realizing. It's important to understand its creative use cases and limitations. There are levels to this, and knowledge is power.
With the rise of AI, empathy becomes even more important. We demand so much of creatives and there's comparatively little understanding of what it really takes to make great work. The process is holy and deserves respect. So do the people.
How much does your city influence your work?
How much does your culture influence your work?
Tell us some of your favourite, creative professionals and inspiring places in your city!
Otto Sauhaus is an independent studio run by Sarah and Nastya, two of the coolest women in the world with incredible personal taste.
Marco Land Marco's work is serious and sarcastic and delightful. It's art.
Eduarda Monteiro My colleague Duda, who runs Kittl's Instagram, is an amazing designer and just a delightful young person. She gives me hope for the future generation!
Kleine Weltlanterne A pub with live music on the weekends, the lantern is a real Berlin institution. I hope it's around forever. I think as a society we need more intergenerational friendships, and this is a place to cultivate them.