Why did you decide to become a mentor?
I had a great mentor early in my career. He was energizing, and our sessions helped me become the person I am today. He was someone I looked up to, and I was lucky he took the time to help me figure out what I wanted to do in my career.
Fast forward 5–6 years, and my colleagues started asking me questions, giving me the opportunity to mentor them. I decided I wanted to give them the same great experience I had, so I focused on understanding how to do that as effectively as possible.
Now, after mentoring close to 100 people, it still gives me great energy to make each mentoring experience exceptional.
How did you get your career start?
I earned my first paycheck washing dishes at a restaurant in the U.S. It was a summer work-and-travel job. At the time, I was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in IT. When I got the chance to stay in the U.S., I asked myself what I really wanted to do—live in the U.S. and work in restaurants or pursue a career in IT?
I enjoyed my super dynamic restaurant job, but in the end, I chose to return home, finish my degree, and start my career with a large international company as a software developer.
Coming from a hard, long-hours kitchen job to a desk job was an incredible change. I promised myself I would always work as hard as I had in that kitchen and never take anything for granted.
How do you usually set up mentorships?
In the first session, I focus on listening and clarifying intent. We explore the reasons behind mentoring and what my mentee wants as the next step in their career. What do they want, and more importantly, why do they want it? Understanding the "why" is important, as there are many paths to a goal.
I also aim to understand their learning style, what works best for them, and how they envision getting the most out of our time together. Then, we usually tackle an existing problem or opportunity to give them a sense of my approach to mentoring.
I like starting small, testing things out, running experiments, and learning quickly what works and what doesn’t from the feedback we exchange. I approach things with curiosity and work with my mentees to create the best solutions.
What’s been your favorite mentorship story so far?
It’s hard to pick one. Most mentoring journeys have something unique and worth celebrating.
The story that comes to mind is of a Scrum Master who was considering quitting and changing roles. Due to a series of setbacks, she had lost confidence but wasn’t quite ready to give up.
Our mentoring sessions helped her reconnect with what she truly wanted—to continue as a Scrum Master—and gave her the strength to excel in this role. She’s now mentoring other Scrum Masters and helping them develop.
I’m so glad she didn’t give up because she’s exceptional at what she does.
What sets you apart from other mentors?
My dual experience.
I worked for eight years in product companies, delivering solutions used by millions. For the other eight years, I worked in service companies, interacting with clients across various industries, which helped me understand both common challenges and unique ones.
Also, half of my experience was spent in individual contributor roles and the other half in management or executive roles.
I interacted with thousands of professionals in software development:
- from clients wanting to create great products in short timeframes
- to executives wanting to re-structure their department of 1000+ developers
- to team members searching for ways to achieve excellence without losing their work-life balance
- to investors in need of technical guidance to evaluate investment opportunities.
I use this experience to help my mentees reach further and achieve more than what they think possible.
What are you getting out of being a mentor?
The best part is meeting new people and having the privilege to support them on their growth journey. I feel lucky to be part of that.
I’m also humbled by the feedback I receive. It’s inspiring when people say that our discussions have helped them grow or become more confident.
I also love doing a “new-more-less-not anymore” analysis with my mentees every 3–6 months. We list behaviors in these four categories, reflecting on what has changed since a previous point in time. For example, if they started assessing their skills every month, it goes in the "new" column; if they’ve reduced time in meetings, it goes in the "less" column. This exercise is a great way to see how mentoring impacts their daily life and to celebrate progress. Seeing these results gives me a lot of positive energy.