Impact & Community
What I was given, I try to pass on.
One sentence has stayed with me for years:
“If you’re lucky enough to do well, it’s your responsibility to send the elevator back down.”
Kevin Spacey, expressing a principle he later credited to his mentor Jack Lemmon
I believe it. I did not build my career alone, and I do not see useful knowledge as something to hold back.
Where I can, I try to send the elevator back down through free workshops, volunteer coaching and informal mentoring.
What sending the elevator back down means to me
I started working young and was often the youngest person in the room. At McDonald’s and later at Dell, people shared what they knew, answered my questions and gave me room to learn.
Their support did not do the work for me. It gave me context, helped me see what was possible and allowed me to move forward without having to work everything out alone.
Sending the elevator back down is not about presenting myself as someone who has all the answers. It means sharing what I have learned, making unfamiliar systems easier to navigate and offering time or perspective when it can genuinely help.
Sometimes that happens through a structured workshop. Sometimes through volunteer coaching. Sometimes quietly, one person at a time.
These are the three ways I currently try to put that belief into practice.
Knowledge shared with me.
Knowledge shared forward.
Current contribution
Three ways I contribute
The format changes, but the purpose remains consistent: helping people recognize what they bring, navigate unfamiliar systems, and move forward with greater agency.
Free workshop
#IAmRemarkable
Official Facilitator
#IAmRemarkable is a 90-minute workshop about self-promotion and the social and cultural biases that can make it difficult to speak about our achievements. It is open to everyone, with particular relevance for people whose contributions are too often overlooked or understated.
As an official facilitator, I offer the workshop free of charge. The session gives participants space to reflect on their experience, practise articulating their achievements and leave with language they can use in their professional and personal lives.
- Free
- 90 minutes
- Group workshop
Volunteer coaching
Imagine Foundation e.V.
Volunteer Fellowship Coach
I volunteer with Imagine Foundation as a Fellowship Coach, supporting international professionals as they navigate career development and the realities of building a future in Europe.
Depending on what the fellow needs, our conversations can cover confidence, self-advocacy, career materials, professional expectations and the next practical step.
This work is personal to me. I know what it means to build a career across cultures and to learn a professional environment without sharing the same starting point, network or local context as everyone else.
- Volunteer
- One-to-one
- Career development
Informal support
Mentoring and coaching
Private and capacity permitting
Some support sits outside a named program and away from public view. I also make time, when I can, for private one-to-one conversations with people navigating a career transition, stepping into leadership, trying to articulate their experience, or facing a decision that feels difficult to untangle.
There is no fixed script. I listen, ask direct questions, share what may be useful from my own experience and help the person identify a next step that remains theirs to own.
Because these conversations are private, I describe the approach here rather than the people or their stories.
- Private
- One-to-one
- Capacity permitting
What sending the elevator back down looks like
I do not see this as a separate version of leadership. It is the same belief applied at a more personal scale: people do better when they have access to clear information, useful context and room to use their own judgment.
Access
Make useful knowledge and context easier to reach, particularly when they would otherwise remain hidden behind networks, titles or familiarity with the system.
Recognition
Help people recognize and articulate what they already bring without minimizing it or inflating it.
Agency
Offer perspective and practical support while leaving the choices, decisions and ownership with the person.
Free #IAmRemarkable workshop
Bring the workshop to your community
If you support a community, nonprofit organization, employee network, or team that could benefit from a free #IAmRemarkable workshop, tell me who the session is for and what you hope it will make easier.
I will come back to you to discuss the audience, format, timing and availability.
Request a free workshopLooking for structured leadership mentoring, keynotes or facilitated sessions?
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