Meet our Top Mentors: Lena Popretinskaya from Munich, Germany

As we're approaching the 500 Mentors mark we recently spoke to some of our most active mentors about their experience and their reasons for donating their valuable time to others. In our second interview we spoke to Lena, a former CTO and Software Architect from Belarus now living in Munich who decided to focus herself on coaching and training others - especially women - to help them propel to the career and life success they always wanted. Lena became a member of The Mentoring Club during the first Corona-Summer and donated more than 50 hours to people from all Canada, USA, Switzerland, Mauritius, Dubai and other countries. 

Why did you decide to join The Mentoring Club?

I really love supporting people who want to grow. I felt and feeling supported by many people in my life and I picked up the torch myself.

Secondly, as a mentor you also learn and grow a lot. It was a perfect opportunity for me to meet many wonderful aspiring people. I was right: each of my mentees brought insight and inspiration for me too.

What was the most insightful / funny / enlightening session you had so far?

When I coached a wonderful young lady, who wanted to start her own online fashion business. I have no idea about fashion and very little knowledge about running e-commerce business. So I felt a bit like this dog on "I have no idea what I am doing" meme 🤣 But, I am a coach, and we don't have to have the answers. We help people to find their own answers. It's often not about practicalities/methods, but about mindset, beliefs and clarity. It was fun!

How many sessions do you offer per week?

In most weeks I ofter 2 or even 3 sessions per week. 

Why do you donate your precious time?

My personal purpose is to spread the ripple of kindness by helping people to help themselves, so they can also help others. Mentoring is a wonderful opportunity to do just that.

What do you think The Mentoring Club platform will be in 5 years from now?

Interesting question. Would be cool to be #1 pro-bono mentoring platform, known world-wide. So when people ask "Where do I find a mentor?" - The Mentoring Club would be the first answer on peoples mind. We would also offer on-line courses and maybe some more specialized mentoring and coaching programs. I hope we could also expand to help schools/universities and younger people who are at the very start of their life journey.

Tell us a bit about about yourself: What do you do, where do you come from, what makes your life beautiful?

I'm a Belarusian girl, living in Munich, Germany. A proud owner of the fluffiest cat in the world. I am an IT-girl who turned coach. After 15 years being in IT (developer, CTO, consultant, Agile Coach), I am running my own coaching business, helping shift beliefs to propel high level women forward into the success they’ve always wanted.