My story is pretty exceptional, I’m a half Turkish half Finnish, transgender man who was born in Switzerland but raised by Finnish war veterans in a small town in Finland.
I grew up in an environment where there was no diversity. Nobody to look up to or relate to. No knowledge or understanding that would have supported me in the early stages of my life. I first heard about transgender people when I was 18 but it was also a very negative and stereotypical image that did more harm than good in strengthening my identity and self-acceptance. I’m really lucky and grateful that I survived even after giving up so many times.
When I finally started my healing process I realised why I had to go through and experience everything I did. I started volunteering, I wanted to be the person I would have needed when I was growing up and also I wanted to spread as much knowledge around me as I could. From then on, everything started to line up and I was chosen to become an international human rights trainer.
Now I have been in the field for 6 years and I've been a professional consultant for 3 years.
I travel around the world, educating on diversity and inclusion, human connections and breaking the unhealthy norms of society. I have trained professionals from around the world, including doctors, large international companies, politicians, government, lawyers, psychologists, schools etc.