The official biography and archives page of Swiss-Italian entrepreneur Xenia Tchoumi, born Xenia Tchoumitcheva — documenting her background, education, career milestones, press features, and public speaking engagements.
It serves as a reference hub for accurate information and verified media materials about her work.
Xenia Tchoumi
official biography & archives
Life & Career Timeline
Explore the journey of Xenia Tchoumi through key moments, achievements, and milestones that have shaped her life story & career.
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the full official biography of Xenia Tchoumi.
origins and background
Xenia Tchoumi, born Xenia Tchoumitcheva on August 5th, is from Lugano, Switzerland.
A Swiss citizen, she grew up in the Swiss-Italian canton of Ticino, where Italian was her first language and cultural environment from early childhood. Her family background is international: her stepfather is from Varese, Italy - a city a few km north of Milan, and lived with her from late childhood until her late teens after her parents separated. Her parents, while Swiss nationals, have Russian and Ukrainian origins.
Xenia is Swiss-Italian and has always identified culturally with northern Italy, with an international orientation.
From childhood into her teenage years and early 20s, Tchoumi went on to refine the ability to speak fluently in 6 languages - Italian (her main language), French, German, Russian, English and Spanish, later using them professionally across presenting, writing, and international work.
Xenia did all of her schooling in Lugano, in the Italian part of Switzerland, and graduated Cum Laude at Università della Svizzera Italiana, with a degree of Science in Economics.
During her high school and university years, she had become a recognised public figure first in Switzerland and then more broadly across Europe, so she was frequently travelling both nationally and internationally for her media jobs, for media work, including brand ambassadorships, shootings, autograph signings and VIP appearances, stage presentations, and television presenting.
While completing her university thesis, she studied acting at the New York Film Academy in New York..
In addition to media work, Xenia completed internships in finance, as a summer intern at Merrill Lynch Zurich, from the buy side at the hedge fund Duet Group London and on the trading floor of J.P. Morgan Chase in London — but ultimately decided to decline a full-time offer to build her first digital venture.
education
While studying at Università della Svizzera Italiana, Xenia was able to live and spend time between London and New York City, attending the New York Film Academy. She later made the independent decision to settle in London, the city she chose to call home.
She maintains an international professional life, working primarily across Europe and holding longstanding cultural ties to Switzerland, Italy, and the Dominican Republic.
city of choice & relocation
Xenia began appearing in front of the camera at age 12. After seeing a children’s fashion show in a shopping mall, she asked her parents to accompany her to a local agency, where she was signed and began working on early photoshoots and small brand testimonial assignments.
At age 17, while still in high school, she briefly explored work as a professional model through established agencies in Milan and Paris. She quickly chose not to pursue a traditional modelling career, preferring roles in which she appeared as a named personality and brand herself, rather than as a traditional model.
Some of her early commercial work included serving as the face of several brands as well as TV presenting and writing for magazines.
Although she is often associated with traditional modelling due to her fashion industry exposure and being in front of the camera, Xenia has consistently positioned herself and worked with companies as a public personality or brand figure rather than as a conventional model.
early traditional media brand campaigns
Tchoumitcheva began participating in local beauty pageants in her early teens in Switzerland, winning several regional “Miss Teenager” contests.
At age 18, she entered the Miss Switzerland competition and placed as first runner-up, also receiving the Miss Photogenic award. Although she did not win the title, her result drew an unprecedented high level of public and media attention for a non-winner, leading to an official contract with the organisation akin to the one of the winner and widespread national visibility across all of the country’s cantons.
The exposure generated sustained coverage in Swiss media and brought numerous brand deals, commercial collaborations, interviews, and presenting opportunities. This strong media exposure marked the beginning of a public profile with a strong reach. She spent much of her time travelling across Switzerland, Italy, and parts of Europe as well as the United States, for brand and media engagements while simultaneously preparing for her university exams.
beauty pageants
before digital business:
early brand deals & traditional media work
After the pageant, she gained increased media visibility. In May 2009, she was voted “Best Bikini Body” in a reader survey conducted by Schweizer Illustrierte, a family-lifestyle magazine where she appeared on the cover 3 times - the last time in 2021. In 2012, she was profiled in the Spanish edition of GQ. In December 2012, the Swiss edition of Maxim magazine featured her on its cover, awarding her the title “Most Beautiful Woman of the Year”.
In 2016, she was named among the 99 most influential women in the world in the AskMen annual list.
early brand deals
Xenia’s initial brand deals as the spokesmodel and face of companies included global campaigns and shoots for brands including Visilab Sunglasses, Audi, Burger King, and Casino Lugano. In 2012, she was an official brand face for Air Europa, Revlon, and Nikon. In 2015, she became a brand ambassador for Swiss Smile.
[ a comprehensive official list of Xenia Tchoumitcheva’s brand collaborations across digital and traditional media is available here. ]
acting
Xenia began appearing in commercials and music videos in 2007, including campaigns such as Candino–Festina. She starred in the short film Les Enfants de la Honte by French filmmaker Alain Margot, which was screened at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFF).
Between 2010 and 2011, she appeared in music videos, including one for Italian-Swiss singer Paolo Meneguzzi, and held acting roles in short films such as Lines. In 2011, she appeared in a role as a rock musician in the French feature film Bob et les Sex Pistaches, starring Jules Sitruk, and appeared in the Hollywood movie Without Men, alongside Eva Longoria and Christian Slater.
Xenia has however expressed no real interest in a full acting career, as she felt that the entrepreneurial journey was always more akin to her assertive personality.
tv-hosting
Tchoumitcheva has worked as a television host on several international broadcasts. In September 2011, she presented the Miss Switzerland pageant mixing Italian, German and French live on Switzerland’s three national television channels.
In March 2012, she began hosting her Italian tv-show L’Italia che funziona, a program focused on successful Italian businesses, broadcasted on the main Italian channels Rete 4 and Italia 1.
The same year, she co-hosted Miss Ukraine 2012 in Kiev, alongside the comedy group ProzhektorPeriskhilton.
In April 2013, she served as the official host and catwalk model for the Energy Fashion Night, alongside Russian model Irina Shayk.
Xenia had sporadically been the host of the international tv channel “Fashion TV”.
journalism and writing
Xenia Tchoumi has worked as a columnist and contributor for several European newspapers and magazines.
Tchoumitcheva has worked as a journalist for the Swiss business magazine Bilan and has hosted its business show “La Recette de Mon Succès”.
She authored a regular opinion and analysis column for Schweizer Monat, a Swiss monthly magazine focused on politics, economics, and culture.
She has also contributed articles to Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), one of Switzerland’s leading national newspapers. In addition, she held a permanent column with Corriere del Ticino, the largest Italian-language daily newspaper in Switzerland, which she maintained until 2025.
Xenia has also been a writer and contributor for the USA luxury magazine Haute Living.
pivot into digital entrepreneurship
& social media growth
After completing her academic training in economics and gaining exposure to finance and investment banking, as well as working extensively in traditional media as a television host, media personality, and brand ambassador, Xenia made a deliberate shift away from both sectors. In 2014, she left the conventional paths of finance and traditional media to start an independent digital business.
first digital business venture
As part of this transition, she founded the online magazine called Chic Overdose, an independent web publication focused on travel, art, luxury, and culture. The magazine featured multiple contributors, predominantly women, and was monetized through display advertising and brand sponsorships. While Chic Overdose functioned as an editorial platform, Xenia Tchoumi simultaneously promoted its content through her personal Facebook account.
As the magazine’s articles were increasingly shared on social media, audience engagement began to shift from the publication itself to Xenia personally. Followers showed growing interest in her individual style, including fashion, accessories, jewelry, beauty, and overall spoken presentation. This organic audience response marked the beginning of her transition from web magazine owner and media personality to a more digital, social media–driven personal brand.
social media & brand campaigns
Building on this momentum, Xenia Tchoumi launched her Instagram account, which became one of the primary platforms for her digital presence. Through consistent content and direct audience engagement, her following grew organically and internationally. The international scale of her online audience enabled her to collaborate with brands and partners globally in different countries, rather than operating on a local basis.
Xenia has worked and works with established brands including Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Bulgari, L’Oréal Paris, Samsung, Four Seasons, and Google among many others.
[ find a more complete list of brand collaborations here ]
Tchoumi regularly attends international fashion weeks and major red-carpet events, including the Golden Globe Awards and the Cannes Film Festival, and has appeared in fashion editorials and on magazine covers for publications such as L’Officiel, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, and Elle.
As of 2025 Xenia Tchoumi has over 10 million followers across social media platforms and continues to work with numerous brands for online promotions.
published author
In December 2020, Xenia Tchoumi’s book “Why You Should Empower Yourself” was published by Watkins Publishing, with international distribution by Penguin Random House.
The book addresses themes of motivation, empowerment and independent thinking.
Xenia is often invited as a keynote speaker by universities, conferences, and institutional events, addressing topics including female leadership, digital entrepreneurship, brand development, and online business models.
She has spoken at numerous events such as the Swiss Web Program Festival, the Cantonal Bank of Geneva, UBS bank, at the WEF’s events, and at the University of St. Gallen Alumni Conference, where she also conducted an on-stage interview with former Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann, among others.
Her very first TEDx talk is called “Self Determination is Freedom and a Tool Against Prejudice”.
In September 2015, she delivered a second TEDx talk focused on female leadership and the role of the internet in countering social prejudice.
In 2017, she spoke at the United Nations Headquarters on women and digital empowerment and was subsequently nominated as an ambassador for the International Trade Centre’s SheTrades initiative.
In her third TEDx talk called “the Hidden Power of Pain”,Tchoumi explores how personal adversity can be reframed as a driver of resilience, self-awareness, and individual growth rather than as a limiting factor.
In September 2021 she delivered her fourth TEDx talk titled “Physical Connection is Your Cure”.
public speaking