Mina Scheurer

Why this persona fits the audience

Supports a two-person D2C shop in Berlin and prepares receipt copies for customer service cases, returns, and a handful of retail-style test orders. The workflow already includes a browser-based receipt tool for quick formatting when the shop needs thermal-style or store-style examples.

• Age: 29
• Location: Berlin, Germany
• Occupation: Ecommerce operations specialist
• Income: €48k
• Education: Vocational degree in e-commerce
• Company size: 2 full-time employees (co-founder and herself)
• Years in role: 3 years

“‘I don’t mind fixing things. But when the fix becomes the daily work, that’s when you know the system’s broken.’”

Mina Scheurer, 29, is the operational backbone of *Mountain Stride*, a Berlin-based D2C shop selling compact gear for urban trekkers. Having earned a vocational e-commerce degree, she joined the two-person team three years ago to streamline operations—only to find herself buried in repetitive tasks. Her current toolbox includes a free browser receipt generator, a patchwork of Google Docs for templates, and a shared Trello board that’s ‘held together by sticky notes and goodwill.’ Despite the clutter, she’s built a system that works *enough*—but it’s far from ideal. Recently, she spent a weekend recreating 50 return receipts after a botched bulk export, which reignited her hunt for a better solution. ‘I could teach a course on how to manipulate this tool by now,’ she jokes, though she’s serious about upgrading. Her co-founder’s fiscal caution clashed with her pragmatic urgency, so she’s been quietly experimenting with alternatives in their sandbox. Outside work, she’s a minimalist by habit but a hoarder of digital workflows, archiving every tool she’s tried (even the ones that failed) ‘for reference.’ Her biggest fear isn’t inefficiency—it’s the creeping realization that her shop’s growth depends on tasks that shouldn’t scale. A planned condo purchase looms over her savings, and she’s determined to ‘automate herself out of this burnout cycle’ before her 30th birthday. For now, she cycles through Berlin’s side streets, humming indie tracks, and dreams of a receipt tool that doesn’t feel like a compromise.

Background & daily life

A day in their life

Mina’s day starts with a 7:30 AM coffee ritual (Oatly barista-style, no sugar) at home. By 8:30, she’s at her standing desk, kicking off the day by sorting customer service receipts. The browser receipt tool loads slowly, so she multitasks by listening to an ecommerce podcast. Around 10 AM, she schedules batch print jobs for thermal receipts—always double-checking margins. A quick lunch (prepped overnight: tabbouleh and hummus) is eaten at her desk while skimming a Reddit thread about Shopify scripts. Afternoons are for returns processing, where she manually adjusts 15% of receipts for inconsistencies. By 4 PM, she’s fielding last-minute co-founder questions about inventory before winding down with a yoga video. She avoids late-work emails but might jot down ideas for tomorrow’s receipt automation hack in a notes app.

Lifestyle

Mina lives in a compact but well-organized Neukölln flat, where she balances work and personal space with rigid routines. She bakes sourdough once a week for the satisfaction of a tangible, controlled process. Her social life revolves around a small group of ecommerce-adjacent friends met at local meetups—dinner chats inevitably drift to Shopify APIs or logistical headaches. She cycles everywhere but prioritizes sleep over late-night networking. Financially, she’s comfortable but hyper-aware of €20 expenses, having merged personal and professional accounts during the shop’s early days. Health-wise, she’s vigilant about ergonomics (knows arm position for RSIs) but neglects dental checkups ‘until they hurt.’

Work life

At the Berlin-based D2C shop *Mountain Stride* (demo gear for urban trekkers), Mina’s mornings are spent batch-processing customer service receipts—a tedious but critical task for returns. The current workflow involves a clunky browser receipt tool, which she tolerates but often tweaks manually for consistency. She collaborates loosely with the co-founder on operations, but he’s more hands-off, leaving her to optimize workflows solo. Her biggest pain point: thermal receipts for test orders feel like ‘a hacky workaround,’ and she’s been noting edge cases (e.g., mismatched font sizes) in a shared Trello board. Deadlines are self-imposed, but client requests can disrupt her rhythm. She refuses to use Excel for anything beyond basic tracking.

Relationships

Her closest confidante is Lena, a freelance web developer who shares her love of functional workflows. They meet every other Thursday for vinho verde and vent about client demands. Her family in Bavaria assumes she’s in a ‘stable office job’ and don’t understand why she ‘complains about automation.’ She follows a few ecommerce Twitter accounts but rarely engages, preferring to ‘see what sticks’ before weighing in.

How they decide

Research-heavy but leans on peer validation from niche communities. Tests tools in sandbox mode before committing. Prefers free trials to sales demos, and her decisions are rarely impulsive—even small purchases (e.g., a new phone charger) get compared across 3-5 options. Dislikes being ‘sold to’ and prefers neutral, technical framings.

How they sound

Speaks in measured, practical cadences with occasional dry asides (‘I could *build* this tool in my sleep, but then who maintains it?’). Avoids corporate jargon but uses precise terms like ‘the discrepancy rate’ or ‘batch workflow.’ Her messages are concise but warm, often closing with ‘Lmk either way’ or ‘Happy to loop back later.’ She pronounces ‘receipt’ with a hard ‘t’ (like the German *Quittung*) and hates when people say ‘just automate it’—knowing it’s never ‘just.’