Profile: Sheila Loewe, of Spanish luxury fashion house's fifth generation

Loewe was founded in 1846 by my great-great-grandfather, Enrique Loewe Roessberg. He emigrated from Germany to Spain because he was a craftsman working with leather and Spain was known for specialist leather curing.

I was born in Madrid, the middle of three sisters. My upbringing was very normal. My parents didn't want us to think we were at all important despite being well known. My mother is Spanish. My father's mother was Irish and my grandfather, who turned 102 (late last year), is half German and half Spanish.

When I was born, my father told my mother that he had a wonderful Irish aunt called Sheila and that, in her honour, I must be called that name. In Spain, it is a difficult name. You write it and people always mispronounce it as "Shayla". As it turns out, the Irish aunt doesn't exist. I asked my father about her one day and he confessed he'd made her up to add force to his campaign for the name. Actually, I am the only Sheila in the family!

I have two (young) sons. I have purposefully called them very easy names to say in Spanish: Juan and Pedro.

I didn't ever really want to study law; I just didn't know what to study and my mother, who is the boss in the family, suggested it. My university results were so good that I won a scholarship and ended up doing a master's. That was amazing, because I got to live in Heidelberg (in Germany) for a year. It's a beautiful and romantic city. When I returned to Madrid, everyone expected me to work as a lawyer but I didn't want to sit at a desk leafing through papers. I asked my father to help me find a job but he refused. At the time, I thought he didn't love me enough. Now I am a mother myself, I understand that he wanted me to find my own path.

I always wanted to work for Loewe. It was my dream but my father didn't like the idea of any of us working for the company just because of the family name. He thought we should have our own professional experience and recognition. I saw an advert for a marketing and sales assistant at furniture designer Vitra and went to work there, ending up as their marketing director. So, I did have my own career.