I’ve always been drawn to languages and communication, which led me to complete a master’s degree in translation studies and interpreting. Over time, my professional work expanded into teaching English to adults and working closely with IT professionals as a trainer, translator, technical writer and cross-cultural communication consultant.

Through this work, I repeatedly encountered highly skilled tech leaders with excellent English, strong local reputations and impressive results — who still struggled when working globally. They couldn’t understand why partners agreed but didn’t deliver, why contracts were interpreted differently, or why motivated team members disengaged in global settings.

What was missing in these situations wasn’t competence or commitment. It was trust — and more specifically, an understanding of how trust is built, tested and sometimes broken across cultures.

To let me help them, they invited me to observe them in their meetings. Together, we analysed the way they communicated via chat and emails. Then we supplemented it all with cross-cultural data and personal communication preferences of people they worked with. Having cleared the way to building more trustful relationships, they were able to aim for more professionally.

Using my experience to support leaders navigating such challenges, I created Trust for Global Tech Leaders — a one-to-one programme that combines cultural intelligence insights with ongoing, context-specific support. The work is grounded in real situations and focuses on helping leaders build, maintain and repair trust across cultures in their daily work.