Mentorship Blog

Habits are the building blocks to achieving goals. In this blog we discuss the relationship between goals, behaviors and habits, and why focusing on changing habits is the key to achieving your goals. Habits are a powerful force in our lives. They shape our behavior, influence our decision-making, and ultimately determine the results we see … From goals to habits,...

Powerful speeches have shaped history and continue to shape the world around us. In this blog, we share 10 famous speeches by women that you might not have heard about. Our intention here is to showcase historical role models, to celebrate the women who have helped to shape our society or are shaping it right … 10 famous speeches by...

An end-of-year personal review can be a helpful way to reflect on the past year and set goals for the future. Here are a few exercises that you might find helpful as you conduct your review: Reflect on your achievements: Take some time to think about the things you accomplished over the past year. What … Completing a personal end...

November marked some important milestones for OneUpOneDown. Our Co-Founders met in person for the first time and we took OneUpOneDown to the world, presenting at two conferences, The Cardano Summit in Laussane, Switzerland, and The Women in Silicon Roundabout Conference in London, UK. Our Co-Founders First In-Person Meeting OneUpOneDown’s Co-Founders, Natalie Robinson and Dzhuliana Nikolova … OneUpOneDown – Founder’s first...

OneUpOneDown’s Co-Founders, Natalie Robinson and Dzhuliana Nikolova, will be bringing mentorship to the Women of Silicon Roundtable Conference 2022, delivering a workshop on the topic of “How To Become An Effective Mentor”. Founded in London in 2015, Women of Silicon Roundabout is the flagship event in the Women in Technology World Series and the original … OneUpOneDown at Women of...

A multicultural and multifunctional start-up enthusiast – this is Tiffany Monteverde. Read her career story and see how the biggest challenges in her life made her the strong and motivated person she is today. In 2-3 sentences, please tell us a little about you! Half Italian and Japanese with family in Argentina; a self-starter moving … Every move I have...

Meet Natassja Aleksy – a problem-solving entrepreneur reaching excellence using words, education, and creativity. During the Covid pandemic, out of necessity, Natassja set up her own online teaching business which uncovered her passion for marketing. By pursuing the work that she loves, she landed in Web 3 and the Blockchain industry where she is now … A transition from Тeacher...

We’re excited to announce that we’ve launched a Women in Web3 Mentoring Pool to support more women to build, launch, grow, invest in and lead Web3 projects. Web3 is one of the fastest-growing industries at the moment and the opportunity to create and contribute in this space is huge. Yet the representation of women working … OneUpOneDown Launch Women in...

How well you perform in your career hinges on more than just your technical skill. You can tick all the boxes, complete your tasks to a T, and still find yourself struggling to advance, gain confidence, and step into your full potential. This becomes more apparent as people start to move from operational to leadership roles. … Is your approach to...

If you’re an avid podcast listener, it’s likely that you’ve heard guests introduced as polymaths. Polymaths feature a lot on the Tim Ferris podcast. A polymath also referred to as a Renaissance Man, are people whose knowledge spans several unrelated fields. As I was listening to a brilliant podcast with a male polymath, the question … Where are all the...

Dive into the different ways networks and mentors can help women achieve their professional development goals  We’re all familiar with the old saying “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. At its worst, it explains nepotism hires, while at its best it encapsulates the importance of connection – that building relationships with the … The two types of...

Our shared understanding and appreciation of what it means to be a leader is constantly developing as the values of our culture change. As the opportunities for women to hold leadership positions begin to balance out, organizations and individuals are starting to pay more attention to the valuable attributes women bring into positions of influence. … Transformational leadership characteristics and...

Take a minute to think about the best mentor you’ve ever had. It could be your boss, a colleague, a parent, a friend, a coach, or a college professor. Then, you reach a point in your life where you have the chance to do the same for someone else. It can be both exciting, and … How to Be an...

When we ask women who have an interest in being mentors, why they haven’t put themselves forward, one of the most common responses we hear is that they don’t think they have enough experience to share. You wouldn’t believe the credentials and experience of the women who are saying this. We are blown away by … How becoming a mentor...

In our new blog, you will learn about an interesting interview about Cardano Project Catalyst that our CTO, Dzhuliana Nikolova, gave to the biggest Cardano Blockchain influencer in Latin America – Maria Carmo. Dzhuliana is presenting One Up One Down’s proposals to Project Catalyst with a clear concept – How to build a culture of … OneUpOneDown’s proposals for Fund8:...

Meet Hesha Irani, a truly inspiring businesswoman who immigrated from India to New Zealand with a clear life goal – to follow her dream and build a strong career in the finance industry. A series of exciting job experiences, including positions out of the finance industry to other industries such as hospitality, retail, and IT, … Go big or go...

Mentoring is a two-way value exchange. The mentee gains benefit through the experience and knowledge the mentor shares. The mentor gets benefit by developing their skills as a leader and guide, as well as many other benefits, which you can read more about here: Providing feedback to the mentor is one way a mentee can … How to give feedback...

Nikoletta Ventura is a Hungary-based entrepreneur who has developed and refined the FLOW-PROCESS, based on positive psychology, a practice first described by an American-Hungarian professor, Prof. Dr. Mihály Csikszentmihályi. She launched her international PR & PA activities with this methodology, specifically developed for tech companies with high growth potential. Her talent has been recognized on … Success, motivation, values –...

At OneUpOneDown our mission is to transform the way people connect, by facilitating and teaching the profound practice of mentorship. A wonderful thing about mentorship is the rich learning experience it offers, not only from the direct advice that is shared but also through the development of practices to build effective relationships.  Learning to give … Learning to give and...

Self-improvement is a fundamental lifelong process for each one of us. We are here to learn every day. There is no way that you will wake up one morning and tell yourself “Okay, now I know everything!”. There is always something new and exciting to discover, both in your personal and business life. The thirst … New Year, New Muses...

We all have a lot of mentors throughout our lives. Our first mentors are our parents – they show us what the world is and teach us how to walk, speak, express ourselves. Our mentors then become friends that are older than us, a brother, a sister, teachers in school, colleagues at work, bosses. Mentors … Mentorship, the forgotten foundation...

Meet Tatiana Tikhonova, a self-made Senior Business Analyst who works the data as well as the ambiguity of everyday life with equal enthusiasm. Living in New York for the past 10 years, she continues to pursue the never-ending path to growth and to develop herself and her skills. She is a firm believer that everyone … Success is about making...

Feeling exhausted after a day of Zoom meetings? You’re not the only one! Zoom Fatigue is the new term given to the feeling of being drained and lacking energy following a day of virtual meetings. In this article, we unpack a study presented in the Journal of Applied Psychology to help you understand why you … What is Zoom Fatigue...

Meet Amanda Dutko, an avid weightlifter and runner and the newest addition to the OneUpOneDown team. She is originally from a Swiss town but currently lives in France, where she constantly develops herself. She has worked in different fields and now specializes in supporting and boosting startup projects using her outstanding leadership skills to help … How to Bring Authenticity...

Many of us want to become more confident. In fact, confidence is one of the main personal development areas that OneUpOneDown mentees are looking to get support in from mentors. Confidence is a state of being that is heavily influenced by many factors – the environment, experiences, health & wellbeing, friends, family, peers, state of … The power of courage...

What does being productive mean for you?  Maybe it has to do with getting more things done in a day. Or it is connected to figuring out ways to be more efficient in your work while using fewer resources. For some women, being productive may be related to the specific ways in which they order … Top 3 Productivity Tips...

Living your life on an endless to-do list? Not feeling like you are ever really getting on top of things? Moving slower than you’d like towards your big plans and goals? Welcome to the club! The club of ambitious women who are looking for support to improve their own productivity, get more out of the … Top 3 tips for...

One of the surprising realizations we’ve had since starting OneUpOneDown is that the experience of being a mentor is as valuable as being a mentee. Most people think that mentorship is primarily for the benefit of the mentee. However, this is not the case. It’s a rich learning and joyful experience for both mentor and … The benefits of being...

The following steps will quickly show you what you need to complete in order to get matched. When the 3 steps are completed you are ready to go and we will match you as soon as possible. You will get an email from us when we find a mentor/mentee for you. Be aware that you … A step-by-step guide on:...

Rebecca Caroe is a strategic marketing and the voice behind ‘Creative Agency Secrets’, a company focused on Business to Business marketing and effective copywriting. After being made redundant three times in one year during a recession, she started to approach prospective employers from the perspective of them being customers rather than employees. From here she … Career Stories: Rebecca Caroe...

One of the values OneUpOneDown is built on is lifelong learning. That is, to never assume you know, or should know, all the answers and instead seek opportunities to learn and improve. This underlying belief about learning is what Stanford researcher Carol Dweck describes as the “growth mindset”, which is contrary to the “fixed mindset”. … Maintaining a Growth Mindset...

Meet Swathi Suman, a former architect and current founder of an agriculture startup based in the Netherlands. She joined OneUpOneDown to be connected with other entrepreneurial women, to gain and share a different perspective on how to build ventures. We love her practical advice for maintaining balance, not getting stuck, and the experience she’s shared … Career Story: Swathi Suman,...

We all have emotions, no matter who we are or how well we have trained ourselves to manage them. They come and go, all the time. What sets people apart is their ability to understand their emotions, see them for what they are and respond accordingly. The Observer and the Reactor are two different states … The Observer vs. the...

We’re excited to announce the launch of our new web app! 🎊 Now mentors and mentees can create their profiles, update and prioritise the tags that describe the experience they have or want to gain and access the mentorship training materials we have available. We have exciting features planned for the future to help mentors … OneUpOneDown launches new web...

In our previous article, we discussed how to build a habit of journaling but we didn’t go much into detail about the actual process of journaling. In this article, Dzhuliana Nikolova, Co-Founder & CTO of OneUpOneDown shares her experiences making journaling a regular habit, including the trigger that kick started the habit and questions that … How to make journaling...

Being in tune with how you feel and the challenges you’re grappling with will help you to get the most out of your relationship with your mentor. It will help you to bring the real issues to the table, so you can shine a light on them with your mentor and find solutions. This isn’t … Building the habit of...

Conversations with your mentor will become richer and more meaningful when you say what you mean, rather than what you think you should say. Speaking openly and honestly is a practice that you can develop through mentorship, which will serve you well in other areas of life.  I struggled with being able to communicate effectively … Improving your ability to...

Our mission at OneUpOneDown is to help women develop themselves through mentorship. This development comes directly from the support and advice shared by a mentor and, as importantly, from the experience that showing up as a mentor or mentee has on both participants – not only the specific knowledge shared but also the connection and … The Dance of the...

From an agent/producer/art buyer for commercial photographers and illustrators to building a tech start-up from just an idea to an exit, and other impactful roles since, Paula Nightingale’s career story is wide-spanning and diverse. It’s no surprise that Paula has some wonderful wisdom to share about how she has managed herself during this process. Find … Career Story: Paula Nightingale,...

We were fortunate to have Cathy Scharetg, VP of Operations at Intero Real Estate, Director of Women Wise & Worthy and valued OneUpOneDown mentor, run a webinar on the topic ‘ The Essence of Connection’.  In this webinar, Cathy introduced us to the concept of image management vs essence management. It is a profound concept … Essence Management & Image...

Meet Kathryn George, Digital & Motion Designer at Stuff Media, New Zealand’s largest and most popular news media company, and a mentor through OneUpOneDown. Kathryn spent a large part of her career working in print media in London. As the media industry started to shift from print to digital, Kathryn knew she needed to reinvent … Career Stories: Kathryn George,...

Anna took a brave leap out of a career in software and product development to pursue the work most meaningful for her. She realised that, despite having a good job title and the lifestyle she thought she wanted, she still felt unsatisfied and this wasn’t a feeling that was going to go away if she … Career Stories: Anna Resnick,...

Each mentor-mentee match made through OneUpOneDown lasts 3-months. This is to promote rapid learning and development and to keep each relationship fresh, focused and engaging. Once the three-months is over, mentors and mentees can be re-matched with someone new. This is a highly effective way of gaining a wide range of perspectives and getting exposed … Completing Your Three-Month Mentoring...

Marisa Sires was most recently the Vice President of Product and Innovation at agile workspace company Hana. She’s also a OneUpOneDown mentor, and a great one at that! Marisa jumped into the startup world feet first when she made her first big career move, deciding not to pursue a literature-related career after graduating with a comparative … Career Stories: Marisa Sires,...

Elle Bell, OneUpOneDown mentor and Managing Director at SpacetoCo reflects on how people have experienced lockdown, and how we navigate going forward, together.

5 quick-fire tips for marketing during covid-19 The world has faced and come out the other side of virus outbreaks, world wars and natural disasters, but Covid-19 is different. It’s the first of its kind to take place in a time where technology is so readily at our disposal; connecting all of us around the … How to mindfully market...

After graduating from university, Kelly knew she wanted to work in the social enterprise space and to experience the challenge of starting her own business. She formed her company Her Energy in November 2019 with a mission to shake up the electricity industry and turn a necessity into a force for good. As a mentee … Meet Kelly Johnson; Mentee...

Most people think that mentees are the only ones who gain value from mentorship, but you’d be surprised at how much the mentor can gain too. Not only do mentors get the joy of seeing someone else progress as a result of their support, but mentorship is also a valuable way to develop leadership and … The benefits of being...

It’s been a busy few months over in our camp, as we wrapped up our first round of mentorship, ran our first few events and started our hunt for a technical co-founder. We’re learning and growing quickly (walking the talk some might say), as we understand what you (the women in our community) want and … Meet our new technical...

Improving communication is a common area that women who have signed up to OneUpOneDown are looking for support with through mentorship, and honestly, we’re not surprised! Effective communication skills are important for self-esteem and self-actualisation, and play a vital role in overall wellbeing and ability to make an impact. WHY DOES COMMUNICATING WELL MATTER? Communication … How to be a...

When you sign up to OneUpOneDown you will be matched with a mentor and/or a mentee for 3 months. Creating a 90 day plan together is a useful way to get thoughts out of your head and down into something you and your mentor can work with. Even if you don’t end up sticking to … How to create a...

Are you feeling a bit nervous about meeting your mentor for the first time and a little unsure what to expect? We hear you, your first meeting can be a little daunting. But with a little bit of preparation beforehand, you’ll be walking in there feeling confident and ready to take full advantage of the … Getting prepared for your...

A RESOURCE FOR MENTORS So you’ve been matched with a mentee and you’ve got your first session coming up. You haven’t been a mentor before and you’re a little nervous about how to manage this first session. No worries, we’ve got you covered! We’ve put together a guide to how to manage your first session … Getting prepared for your...

A big part of our mission at One Up One Down is to teach more people to become effective mentors. Mentorship is not only a way to give back to others, it is also a way to learn about yourself both personally and professionally. It can provide the mentor and mentee with an opportunity to … How to be an...