NAVIGATE INTERNATIONAL MARKETS WITH CONFIDENCE
When your company enters new markets, you are expected to solve problems that don't have clear solutions. They often lie at the intersection of strategy, operations, finance, marketing, brand, product, design, language, culture, and human resources.
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Helping managers and teams solve such problems is what I have been doing (and enjoying) for over a decade. Having built international muscles while working abroad, with established global brands, and at the forefront of an accelerated global expansion, today I share what I have learned with those who are just starting their international journey.
MY PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2020 – now
Based in London, I run a localisation management consultancy (Grow-thru) which I started with the purpose of setting businesses and teams up for success in new markets.
Working for and with strategy, operations, marketing, product, content, and localisation teams and executives, I have advised a global workplace provider, a Scandinavian consumer electronics unicorn, a US health tech scaleup, and one of the world's largest enterprise software companies.
My assignments often include recruiting localisation managers and vendors, designing and optimising processes, and improving performance of translators, so I often collaborate with language services providers and translation technology companies, as well as HR teams and recruitment agencies.
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I've been a lecturer in intercultural communication at University of Strasbourg since the 2021–22 academic year.
2018 – 2020
As a consultant on the international expansion and business operations team at the world's largest fitness and wellness marketplace, I designed and implemented a localisation programme that spanned 20 functions – from engineering and CRO to analytics and legal – to enable the company to launch its platform in 20 non-English speaking countries within 12 months.
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At the same time, I was pursuing an Executive MBA at Bayes Business School where I spent two years focusing on business and corporate strategy, and solving business and management challenges with a team of 45 senior executives from 17 countries and 13 industries. For my final project I explored the do's and don'ts of international expansion for digital and platform businesses.
During my studies, I advised the CEO of a Vietnamese menswear franchise on how to increase its competitiveness against international brands.
2012 – 2018
As a project manager and strategist in a cross-cultural marketing consultancy, a transcreation agency, and a creative services agency, I helped 60+ international and global brands (see some of them below) fine-tune, adapt and implement their go-to-market, brand, marketing, and communication strategies to reach customers in 60+ countries and languages.
I built and led global virtual teams, recruiting and managing 2,000+ communication specialists as well as business, marketing and brand strategists.
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2003 – 2011
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Earlier in my career I worked in retail, hospitality, and travel and tourism in product development, sales, and customer service roles, as a translator of Sanskrit manuscripts for Italy's biggest publishing company, as a florist, as a gym instructor, and as an assistant to a carpenter.
SOME OF THE BRANDS I HAVE WORKED WITH
LANGUAGES & MARKETS I HAVE WORKED WITH
Arabic (Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE), Azeri, Basque, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified, Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, UK, USA), Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, Flemish, French (Belgium, Canada, France, Luxembourg, Morocco, Switzerland), German (Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland), Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian (Italy, Switzerland), Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Mongolian, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Angola, Brazil, Portugal), Romanian, Russian (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine), Sanskrit, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Spain, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Turkmen, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese