I was born in the UK in 1962 to British parents. The family moved to Belgium in 1973, where I attended secondary school in both French and English. I completed my studies in French, obtaining a BA in Computer Sciences from ICC Bruxelles.

I have vast experience in IT, having worked as a developer, email administrator, network administrator, IT consultant, desktop and enterprise software instructor, technical account manager, manager of technical account managers, business operations manager, and operations program manager for major US corporations. My work has allowed me to work in culturally and linguistically diverse environments throughout western Europe, as well as in the USA, where I lived and worked for nine years (from 1993-2001).

I have always had a passion for languages, which I transformed from being a pastime into a full-time business. Aside from my background in IT, I have also always taken an interest in sciences, business affairs, travel and tourism, media, marketing, website development, hotels and the hospitality industry, editing and publishing, and a host of other areas of the business world.