“It's easy to focus on numbers when you're growing, but I believe you can maintain high standards even if you're serving 6,000 customers at a time.” Charisma, resourcefulness, and international vision: the story of a woman who turned her passion into a successful brand.
The story
Chic, passionate, cosmopolitan, and enterprising: this is Johanna Von Müller-Klingspor, who found her home in the warmth and dynamism of Madrid. Of Austrian-Venezuelan origin, she grew up in Caracas, Vienna, the United States, and Asia, and arrived in Madrid twenty-three years ago to attend a master's program at the Instituto de Empresa (IE). Initially, she dreamed of an international career, perhaps at the United Nations, but it was the vibrant energy of the Spanish capital, that perfect mix of European culture and Latin passion, that revealed a different destiny to her. “Madrid was what I had always been looking for. It's not Venezuela, it's not Austria; it's the perfect balance. It has order and system, but also joy and vitality. I wanted to change the world. Then I discovered that those organizations were a huge bureaucracy, but I still felt the instinct to do something that focused on people,” she confides to El Pais.
As time went by, however, she gradually began to understand that her approach would be more direct: “creating spaces of joy and connection through hospitality.” With her charisma and natural talent for relationships, she started by organizing university events - “I was a big party girl,” she confesses - until she signed collaborations with magazines such as ¡Hola! Living. From there, the step towards entrepreneurship was natural: first a home catering business with a friend, then, fifteen years later, the opening of Café Murillo and later el Velázquez 17, in the elegant heart of Salamanca.
Today, Johanna is the head of Coolinaria, which she runs together with her cousin Katerina, with whom she forms a complementary and infallible duo. Their signature can be found at iconic events, such as the Mad Cool Festival, where they served 12,000 people in three days with meticulous care: “From the last toothpick to the last olive, everything was personalized.” This venture has been further strengthened by the recent arrival of Ucalsa as a strategic partner.
“I always wanted to build something of my own. As a Venezuelan, I know you have to be resourceful: everything is there, waiting to be created. In Madrid, I found a blank page on which to write my story, without conditions,” she says. A page she filled with courage and determination. “I learned that fear, if managed, becomes a driving force. The more afraid I was, the better I did. Emigrating means facing the void and discovering that on the other side there are friendships, alliances, and new possibilities.”
Her empire in luxury hospitality may already seem impressive, but Johanna has no intention of stopping: "As long as I enjoy it, I'll keep going. It's hard work, but it's my life, it gives me energy. It's like jumping without a parachute and knowing you'll land on your feet. Here I've learned that you can start from scratch and go far. The secret? Never stand still. It's easy to focus on numbers when you're growing, but I believe you can maintain high standards even if you're serving 6,000 customers at a time."
