From a World Map on My Wall to Fundraising Mentor: My Origin Story

There was a world map on my bedroom wall in my small town in Southern Brittany, France.

I would spend hours staring at it, daydreaming about the places I’d visit and the people I’d meet. I didn’t know where life would take me, but I knew one thing: I wasn’t going to stay put.

That restlessness has defined my career. Over 20 moves across five countries. Languages picked up out of necessity. Jobs found in cities where I knew no one. And eventually, a career built at the intersection of everything I’d learned along the way.

But let me rewind.

London: Where Fundraising Found Me

In 1997, at age 20, I moved to London. After a few years of back and forth between London, Bordeaux, and even Berlin, I returned to London in 2001 to study business at the University of Greenwich.

That’s where I fell in love with the London art scene. My dream was simple: use my marketing and communication skills to support artists.

And that’s exactly what happened. My first role after university landed me in the Development office at the Royal Observatory Greenwich and the National Maritime Museum, one of the UK’s largest museums. For five years, I learnt about donor management, grant writing, corporate sponsorship, and organising fundraising events. I was surrounded by colleagues passionate about the arts, time and space. Their energy was contagious.

Then I moved to Cancer Research UK, one of the largest charities in the UK, where I led a brand new stewarding programme for high-value legacy supporters.

I was building a solid fundraising career. Everything was on track.

But something in me was itching for change.

The Leap: Spain, Argentina, and Starting from Zero

One day, I packed my bags and moved to Valencia, Spain. Without speaking Spanish. Without a job. Without knowing a single person.

Within weeks, I’d picked up enough Spanish to find work. I eventually landed a sales role at an international magazine headquartered in the city. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was proof of something I’d always suspected. I could figure things out wherever I landed.

In 2010, I moved to Argentina. And I made myself a promise: I would use my laptop and my marketing skills to build something of my own.

Within six months, I had three websites live. I discovered blogging. I started helping others navigate the online world. And at the same time, I joined a translation company as their Business Development Manager, spending seven years working with clients across the US and Europe.

Those years in the for-profit world taught me things that fundraising alone never could: how to prospect, how to position an offer, how to build systems that don’t fall apart when you’re a team of one.

But here’s what I didn’t expect.

The Turning Point I Didn’t See Coming

By 2018, marketing consultants, coaches, freelancers and small business owners were reaching out to me for help. One of them was Karina, an Argentinean graphic designer trying to grow her business. She was passionate but overwhelmed.

Then in 2021, Ciara reached out. She was a digital communications officer at a charity in London, and she was struggling. Not because she lacked talent, but because she had no comms or fundraising colleagues to lean on. She was dedicated but isolated.

I started working with both of them. And something shifted in me.

I watched Karina’s business flourish. I saw Ciara gain confidence and clarity. I realised I wasn’t just giving advice. I was listening, understanding, guiding. And it was transforming me.

I had doubted my ability to help others. Their growth proved me wrong.

That’s when it clicked. The people I was happiest working with, the ones who lit me up, were passionate changemakers trying to do meaningful work with limited resources. And so many of them were in the nonprofit space, doing it alone.

Coming Home to Fundraising

In 2021, I returned to the world of fundraising. Not as a fundraising officer this time, but as a mentor and consultant.

And here’s what I found: most fundraising advice out there assumes you have a full development team behind you. A major gifts officer, a grants writer, a communications person, a database manager.

But that’s not the reality for most of the people I work with.

They’re the solo fundraiser carrying the full weight of their organisation’s revenue. They’re the Executive Director writing grants at midnight after a full day of programme work. They’re the founder who started a charity because they cared deeply about a cause, and now they’re drowning in donor management, CRM headaches, and campaign planning.

I know what that feels like. Not because I read about it. Because I’ve lived variations of it. Building things from scratch in countries where I didn’t speak the language, with no team, no safety net, and no one to ask.

What I Believe

You don’t need advice telling you to “do more.” You need clarity, structure, and support that makes the work feel manageable again.

That’s what I bring. Over a decade of fundraising experience across major institutions. Fifteen years in digital marketing and business development. Three languages. Five countries. And a deep, personal understanding of what it takes to build something meaningful when you’re doing it on your own.

I’m not here to hand you a generic strategy and wish you luck. I’m here to help you execute it. Step by step. With someone in your corner who gets it.

Because I’ve been where you are. And I know the way through.