👋🏾 Everyone gather round! Excited to intro you to Ece

Can you believe it? ~10 short months ago, I’d dreamed up Generalist World from a little island in the Scottish highlands. Since then I’ve had the absolute delight of connecting with & supporting hundreds of generalists around the globe. But this dream has always been bigger than me and me alone.

On my own, I simply can’t do justice to the magnitude of understanding and truly making a change for generalists everywhere. And besides, if community has taught me anything - it’s that we’re stronger together.

So today, I’m making room to shine a light on my first hire, Ece.

Ece (pronounced edge-eh), is stepping in as our Community Event Operations Lead. But ofc with startups, this means she’ll be wearing many hats 🎩 First on the agenda was to clean up our event processes, as well as get our IRL meet-ups live and running (which she has done with astonishingly great speed and care).

This article is all about getting to know Ece. Putting a face and name to the human, as you’ll be seeing lots more of her around. So without further ado, meet: Ece Kurtaraner.

Ece, tell us a bit about your background

I studied engineering and then worked as a Business Development Specialist in a big corporate company after my graduation, but for a very short time. After that, I found myself trying out new jobs and finally landed in the corporate events sector. But moving from Turkey to the UK and the pandemic combined, I shifted again.

Feeling very isolated in a new country in between lockdowns, I discovered the power of communities and had a chance to work as an online events and community manager and LOVED it.

One of my values is journeying. It's honouring that you need your own map, not someone else's. It's enjoying every pit stop. It's honouring the challenge of taking your first step - even if it’s before you're ready. And I believe peer support and community gives us the crew to guide us on our journey.

Now I’m working as a freelance community person, helping out people like Milly who builds awesome communities. I also collaborate with other communities to host events or experiences. It feels like I’m living close to my values. The dream is to be able to do that while travelling in the future.

What do you have planned for Generalist World?

I’m excited about creating a smooth process to create more space for members to share resources and host events. There is so much to learn from each other.

There is an awesome synergy in the community and I’m dreaming of a future where everyone around the Generalist World gathers for the best festival ever, think of Glastonbury for Generalists (see Milly’s reaction below 👇🏽)

What excites and delights you about community building?

The notion of the community being “larger than the sum of its parts”. An engaged community can create resources and movements that can spread beyond the community members themselves. (Like the resources created together with the GW members help generalists all over the world, maybe years after years)

What advice would you give to Ece 10 years ago?

I was living my best life 10 years ago, being an exchange intern in Singapore, travelling SE Asia and making new friends. I’d rather she give me advice now 😄 

Recommend a book, podcast, movie or series for folks to check out

I’ll spare the business and self-development resources for others and will recommend watching The Marvelous Mrs Maisel if you haven’t.

Connect with Ece on LinkedIn, Twitter, and if you’re very lucky you can enquire to work with her here.

And if you haven’t joined the Generalist World community yet, whatttt are you waiting for? Come on in! 👋🏾