How does my life-long passion for travel, exploring and living in other countries help your business?

How discover this amazing world of cultural intelligence and how can I use my knowledge, research and experiences to help you successfully step into the global market.

Already stepped across that global bridge? Let me strengthen your ties by speaking and reacting to your target-country colleagues in the language and with the manners they understand and value.

How?

I compare the six significant cultural markers from your home country with those of your target market.

It's all about cultural awareness. First—yours. Knowing your cultural heritage is the first crucial step to understanding the differences between countries and cultures—then working with that knowledge for better understanding and business success.

My cultural markers are based in my Norwegian-American heritage and culture: no matter how far I travel or what language I speak, they burst up to the surface when I encounter a new situation. Knowing why my initial reaction stems from my culture, I can then use my CQ to move forward to avoid misunderstand: this is the essence of cultural intelligence.

My global life:
Born in a community comprised mainly of Norwegians—of adventurous individuals who left the confines of a small, beautiful country—I have always yearned to be multilingual and live in a multicultural world.

And this Norwegian-Viking heritage has kept me traveling, moving, researching, learning and meeting new people my whole life. A traveler—never a tourist—I relish living in different and diverse countries and cultures, getting to know the peoples and their lifestyle.

I thank them.

Back when I started travelling globally, it was done mainly by the rich: few did it. Now, travelling around the world is no big deal. But not back then.

When I traveled and lived in other countries, I became immersed in their cultures, gathered knowledge of the people and their languages. An ever-increasing desire to learn and understand each culture drove me to include cultural intelligence as an integral part of my profession.

Norway: home of my maternal grandparents where I quickly picked up bits and pieces of the 148 dialects spoken in this beautiful, mountainous country—I bought an old motorcycle and drove all around the country. Hitchhiking around Europe and returning to USA by a student boat (which later sank) ended my first international experience.

But once bitten, always infected with the desire to keep traveling.

New Zealand: my next 10-year stop along the road of life: Aotearoa, land of the long white cloud—long before this beautiful country became a popular destination for Lord of the Rings and Bilbo Baggins. M.A. in Russian in Christchurch before it was shaken badly by earthquakes.

As the years increased, so did the number of countries in which I lived, researched, worked, biked—ten in total—including US, Canada, Norway, Scotland, England, New Zealand, Russia, Czech Republic, France and Italy. And the 40+ other countries I traveled to and through.

My professions include university teaching of Russian language, literature, culture, Norwegian, ESL, working in GILT (Globalization, Internationalization, Localization, Translation), editing and writing (3 books and counting...) and specializing in cultural intelligence.

How does this help you?

Exploring, learning and trying to learn about cultures throughout this world are part of my DNA. It is incredibly important to know and understand peoples from other countries—to recognize and respect their differences.