Bibi LeBlanc was born in the American Sector of West Berlin, Germany. She usually has to explain what that actually means. She owns a marketing agency that creates coloring books for businesses!
Bibi shares her experience of homeschooling her three boys and taking them to Costa Rica so they would learn Spanish. But also a question she was always asked that threw her off guard because she was a homeschooled mom.
Lastly, Bibi was still in Germany when the Berlin Wall was torn down. She shares her powerful testimony of experiencing this magnificent event in world history.
Growing Up Behind the Wall
Bibi was born in the American sector of West Berlin, a city literally surrounded by walls and watchtowers during the Cold War. Her childhood was shaped by restrictions many of us in the U.S. can hardly imagine—checkpoints guarded by soldiers, visits to family in East Berlin that required permits, and a very real fear of the Stasi, East Germany’s infamous secret police. She described not being able to speak freely in her aunt and uncle’s home because they knew it was bugged. Even going for a simple countryside drive was out of the question.
As someone who grew up in the U.S., it hit me—this is the freedom we take for granted. At that moment, a line from Think and Grow Rich suddenly made sense in a way it never had before.
Witnessing History: The Fall of the Berlin Wall
When Bibi described the moment the Berlin Wall came down, I had chills. She was working as a flight attendant in Frankfurt when her mom called to say, “The wall just came down.” It was so unimaginable that she had to see it for herself. She and her friends drove through the night, witnessing East Germans crossing into the West for the first time in decades. Strangers greeted one another with hugs, cocoa, and tears. She literally walked through the Brandenburg Gate—a place that had been closed to both East and West for years.
Falling in Love With the U.S.
After visiting California, Bibi fell in love—not just with the palm trees and ocean, but with the warmth and friendliness of the people. That was something completely different from her experience growing up in Germany, where it’s not the norm to strike up conversations with strangers. She ended up returning as an au pair, which helped her improve her English and fall even more in love with the culture and lifestyle.
Eventually, skydiving (yes, skydiving!) brought her to Florida, where she met her husband, got married, and settled down. And get this—Bibi and her husband both worked in the parachute industry. She even became known as “the skydiving flight attendant,” jumping all over the world. Her favorite? Hawaii—freefalling at 120 miles per hour over the coastline. Just amazing.
Homeschooling, Culture Shock, and Costa Rica
When Bibi became a mom, she homeschooled all three of her sons. Her approach leaned more toward unschooling, filled with real-life experiences, travel, and immersion in other cultures. One of the most beautiful things she did was take her sons to Costa Rica. This was so they could learn Spanish through full immersion.
She also shared the cultural adjustment of being asked what church she went to after moving to Florida—a very “new” concept for someone raised in a largely secular Germany.
From Photographer to Coloring Book Publisher
Here’s where Bibi’s story takes another turn. After showcasing her photography at a gallery in California, she was inspired by a local coloring book and thought, “Why not do this for my town of DeLand?” That first project in 2018 sparked something huge. Since then, she’s created books for Mount Dora, New Smyrna Beach, and even Berlin—specifically telling the story of the Cold War through a bilingual (German and English) lens.
What started as a creative project turned into an award-winning brand. One of her books, Endangered Animals of North America, is now available in English and Spanish and was created during the pandemic to uplift people in nursing homes and hospitals.
Culture to Color: Where Art Meets Business
Now, Bibi’s business, Culture to Color, focuses on using custom coloring books as marketing tools for businesses, organizations, and destinations. From real estate guides to restaurant kids’ menus (shoutout to DeLand’s La Vina!), these books are not only visually engaging but also educational and culturally rich.
She even did a project with San Francisco’s Chinatown to bring positive awareness during the pandemic. That experience sparked her desire to start a podcast of her own—because as she said (and I deeply agree), “Everyone has a story if you’re just willing to ask and listen.”You can learn more about her work at culturetocolor.com. Trust me, her coloring books are unlike anything you’ve seen before.
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