Eric K.
😎 Consulting
Howdy y’all! Eric here - currently in my last semester of an MBA/M.Ed dual degree program at Stanford. My 20s were a hop-around kind of decade personally and professionally - created a little visual representation of that below:
About as un-linear a career path as you can find, but it’s been a fun ride. Along the way, I learned a lot about what a “good job” looks like for me, as well as what I want in my life outside of work. Does it mean I have it all figured out? Quite the contrary, but I’ve learned to embrace being a little bit lost and a lot of curious all the time. After Stanford, that will likely mean working in the social sector (probably in education) and living back in Austin (where I was prior to school).
I’ve had countless conversations with strangers during my 20s - with people who had no obligation to help me out or to give me their perspective, but who did so anyway (often after I reached out cold). I mentor today to pay it forward, holding a sprinkle of hope that I might be that randomly helpful person to someone in your shoes.
I’m about as positive and as energetic a person as you’ll find (fun fact: without having ever sipped coffee!), and you can expect more of the same from me as a mentor. In those moments where life gets real, we’ll find a silver lining or a path forward, and if I don’t have the answers you need, I’ll give it my all to find you someone who does.
Excited to hear from you - let’s get crankin’!
Ankush T.
💻 Startups
I'm Ankush, and I am currently pursuing my MBA at London Business School. As an engineer turned consultant turned start-up & venture capital enthusiast - I've straddled various roles and would be happy to chat about any of them.
I'm an ambitious individual using my curiosity and passion to drive my decisions and carve my path in life. Obviously, along the way, I've faltered and learned from my experiences - would love to share and hopefully help you out in the process!
Janae B.
📕 Education tech
- Served as Peer Advising Fellow in college (mentor to college freshmen)- Served as official student recruiter on behalf of Harvard College Admissions- Harvard College Alumnae Interviewer- Currently a ICF certified professional coach; 100+ coaching hours (1:1 client sessions)- Born and raised in Miami, FL- I’m constantly on the move!- I teach beginner dance classes on the side
Lucy S.
🎯 Taking a side gig full-time
Hi, I’m Lucy! I’m so happy to be here. Let me give you a little glimpse of who I am and what my twenties were like 😊
I love quotes so I’ll first start out with one by Elizabeth Gilbert to set the tone ;)
“Do whatever brings you to life, then. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart”.
How I Discovered Twenty & My Passion to Mentor: About a month ago, I confided in a friend about my desire to make a more significant impact in the lives of individuals navigating this unique phase of life, beyond my work as a therapist. I was struggling to pinpoint the ‘how’ I was going to do this, but my friend encouraged me to let it go and that opportunities sometimes show up when they are meant to show up.
A month later, I saw an old teacher of mine on LinkedIn commenting on one of Twenty’s posts that Katie, the CEO of the company, had written. I began to read about why she was creating Twenty, and I deeply resonated with all of the points she made around this “defining decade”. Something inside me knew I needed to be a part of what she was creating.
And here I am!
I am such a strong believer of having mentors in your 20s. When we have mentors, we can truly “see to believe” what’s possible for us when we have direct access to people who possess what we desire or have gone through something challenging and made it to the other side.
I’m so looking forward to meeting all of you and helping you on your path forward!
Roberto B.
💡 Product
I LOVE mentoring and teaching, and have done so since my early undergrad years! Besides being a teaching assistant for multiple classes during undergrad and grad school, I had an undergrad scholarship called TEPP (which translates to Tutoring, Teaching, and Research of PUC) where I mentored multiple students. During my MBA, I was an Arbuckle Leadership Fellow, a program in which I took coaching classes and coached 3 students during their first year at the MBA. I'm excited to be a mentor at Twenty so I can help people while doing what I love the most - coaching you through the different problems in life and sharing my experience with you!
I’m a founder with work experience across early-stage (Shef), growth-stage (Instawork), pre-IPO (DiDi) and big tech (Google) companies. I specialize in operations and product management of marketplace startups, always bringing a strong emphasis on data storytelling and analytics to every decision I make with a team. My background includes Data Science, Operations and PM positions, besides a BSc and MSc in Electrical Engineering, and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Kat F.
📈 Marketing, sales, & business
I’m a mom and marketing professional, with over a decade of experience building brands and culture at large organizations and high-growth startups. My career started with the question, “What now?” English degree in hand, with email writing as my superpower, I entered a mentee program at Franklin Templeton to find my place in the corporate ecosystem.
Career and life moves since:
👉🏼 Moved from SF to Portland
👉🏼 Got a job at adidas in Digital Innovation
👉🏼 Met my now-wife, quit my job, and moved to Los Angeles
👉🏼 Joined an electric scooter startup in Series A and ended up in NYC for the IPO bell-ringing ceremony four years later
👉🏼 Became a mom at the height of the pandemic (July 2020)
👉🏼 Joined a seed startup as the first marketing hire
👉🏼 Partnered with LinkedIn as an LGBTQ+ Creator
👉🏼 Joined a Series A startup in DEI tech to build & grow their marketing department
👉🏼 Started a professional newsletter for people leaders (The Break Room)
Reza S.
📕 Education tech
Hey, I’m Reza 👋 I'm currently living in Toronto.
I've spent the last decade leading growth and marketing at early-stage (Seed to Series B) tech startups as a FT employee or an advisor. Most recently, at On Deck during our rapid growth phase from 60 to 320 headcount. I joined as marketing hire #3 and grew that team to 300+.
My superpower (and what gives me energy) is being an early (or first) GTM hire to navigate the initial ambiguity and build the foundation for long-term growth.
I nerd out to all things personal knowledge management, football ⚽️, fitness and nutrition. I’ve lived in 4 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.
I didn't find my college education particularly stimulating, interesting or rewarding. I took a leap of faith early in my career and left my predictable engineering job to start my own company and embark on the startup rollercoaster. I haven't looked back since.
Eric I.
🙌 Nonprofit
Hey Twenty Mentees! I’m a Bay Area native who relocated across the country to Raleigh-Durham four years ago with my now-wife so that she could pursue her PhD. Since then, we have grown into home-owners, dog parents, and travelers, just to name a few. I’m 30 years old and spent most of my twenties balancing aspirations and expectations.
Since leaving Stanford in 2015, I’ve worked for several different companies, in different stages of growth, with different levels of product strategy. I consider myself to be a “small company” or “early stage” contributor because I like wearing a lot of hats and immediately seeing the impact of my work and leadership abilities.
I started as a Sales Engineer, moved to Product Marketing, and have been in Product ever since. I’ve learned more about what I value in leaders, especially in business, and the work environments I thrive in. It’s been a long, arduous process that has taken time, patience, and discipline - and realizing that true meritocracies are hard to come by. I’ve also had to learn how to avoid the existential crises and comparisons that would trigger anytime I learned about another friend’s accomplishments.
Outside of work, I have found hobbies that allow me to also fund do what I enjoy doing. It has been a long, arduous process to learn work-life balance. But, I’m now invested in outdoor leadership opportunities as an adventure travel guide with Mountain State Overland. A true passion project that allows me to have an additional stream of income and skills doing what I love the most: teaching, leading, and hosting a good time.
Lastly, mentorship is difficult. It takes a lot of time and commitment to get to a healthy mentorship relationship, whether that’s providing the right kind of feedback, perspective, and upholding commitments to each other. For many years, I’d been involved with EDGE Youth Leadership out of Northern California leading their program development team and as the Co-Executive Director. Mentorship and leadership have been passions of mine since high school.
RJ S.
Hey y’all! I’m Chelsea.
Professional Me - The Jobs:
Professional Me - The Navigation:
I’ve gone through a major transformation in my identity as it relates to work. I forged my sense of self on the idea that I need to ‘achieve’ in order to be liked and respected. As a child, I was put into accelerated learning and AP courses. I received a full tuition scholarship to college and was part of a very rigorous honors program. I would put 150% toward every internship and role and only feel good when I would receive validation of my output.
I also feel like I prioritized the words and direction that people had ‘for me’, instead of me giving myself the chance to really uncover what I liked and didn’t like. This suppression of expressing my true self and putting so much effort and energy into work would often lead to burnout and feelings of ‘not good enough’ or ‘how can I be better.’
Now, I’ve finally gotten to a place where I’ve found some balance between ‘work me’ and ‘me outside of work’. I still work hard and do a good job, but also prioritize joy and exploration and my relationships.
If you’re in a similar boat, we can definitely chat about this. It’s a topic I’m very passionate about.
Personal Me:
Chelsea A.
Hey y’all! I’m Chelsea.
Professional Me - The Jobs:
Professional Me - The Navigation:
I’ve gone through a major transformation in my identity as it relates to work. I forged my sense of self on the idea that I need to ‘achieve’ in order to be liked and respected. As a child, I was put into accelerated learning and AP courses. I received a full tuition scholarship to college and was part of a very rigorous honors program. I would put 150% toward every internship and role and only feel good when I would receive validation of my output.
I also feel like I prioritized the words and direction that people had ‘for me’, instead of me giving myself the chance to really uncover what I liked and didn’t like. This suppression of expressing my true self and putting so much effort and energy into work would often lead to burnout and feelings of ‘not good enough’ or ‘how can I be better.’
Now, I’ve finally gotten to a place where I’ve found some balance between ‘work me’ and ‘me outside of work’. I still work hard and do a good job, but also prioritize joy and exploration and my relationships.
If you’re in a similar boat, we can definitely chat about this. It’s a topic I’m very passionate about.
Personal Me:
Katalina B.
Who I am: Hi! I’m Katalina. I grew up internationally (Germany & Switzerland) and moved to the states when I was nine. As both a middle child and third-culture kid, I always felt a bit in-between. My career has been similar, working across CPG and tech, going from brand management to product management. Lately, I’ve been leaning more into embracing the ambiguity and not needing to define myself by external labels, achievements, or affiliations as much — it’s an ongoing journey.
I’m passionate about: Mental health (overthinkers anyone?), dance (modern, jazz, ballet, hip-hop, tap, lyrical), dogs (ask me about my cute 3-year-old golden retriever cocker spaniel mix, Jovie), people (psych undergrad), sunny weather (find me at the beach).
Why I mentor at Twenty: I have mentored throughout all stages of my career - from being a dance instructor in high school, to providing mentorship through StepUp in Los Angeles, to interviewing and mentoring for Duke University. I want to give back, help navigate, and provide support in ways that I wish I had in my early twenties. I love that Twenty provides the type of support, direction, and guidance that was previously hard to come by without either access to top institutions or a ton of potentially awkward conversations.
Let's break the ice and make the twenties the best decade for the next generation!
Kruti M.
Who am I? I’m Kruti - a native Texan (I love my homes of Houston and Austin equally!) currently living in Brooklyn. I’m a former management consultant, and for the last 3 years, have been helping grow a network of high-performing public startup schools in underserved areas of the Bronx. I am about to start my next adventure: getting my MBA at Chicago Booth. There, I will focus on my interest in building and scaling a new generation of sustainable nonprofits that provide direct services to children and families while also influencing broader public policy.
I’ll also be using this time away from work to pour into the things that bring my endless joy: spending more time with my family (happy to talk about being the only person in your family that lives in a different place!), making up new recipes and feeding all the people in my life, and all things yoga/hiking/boxing.
Why am I here? Mentoring is incredibly personal to me because I did not find real mentors in my life until my mid-twenties. I know the challenges of finding people with the right experience to guide you, and know that this depends heavily on the complex combination of who you are, where you come from, and where you're trying to go.
If I can be a part of your journey, just as many have been for me, I would be thrilled!
Clara M.
Hey Future Mentee!
I’m a Bay-Area native who grew up in the OG Silicon Valley (my dad was a chip programmer) so tech has always been a part of my life. In my career, I’ve worked almost exclusively at early stage startups (AngelList, On Deck, Hugging Face) with a stint at a Bollywood fitness company, and most recently, I’ve started my own recruitment and placement agency for Chiefs of Staff. Looking back on my career, I can weave a concise narrative of why I went from place to place but while I was going through it, I felt lost and like I was never going to “catch up” to my peers who were all engineers or product managers or data scientists.
I’m a strong believer in operationally minded folks being the next wave of talent that startups and companies want (it’s already starting to happen) but it’s a hard role to feel successful in because of it’s generalist nature. I can help you better define what it is that brings you joy and how you personally define success so that you feel more fulfilled.
Outside of work, I love staying active and seeing friends. I grew up dancing (competitively like on Dance Moms and was also on my school’s dance team) and so I try to take a dance class whenever I can - my favorite teacher is in NY. I’ve also been nomadically traveling around for the last year and a half so finding community around me has been something that I’ve grappled with and know the struggle to do so first hand.
I’m excited to share all the things I’ve learned in my twenties with people who want to listen and chances are, I’ll learn a lot from you too! I’ve mentored folks both within the companies I’ve worked at as well as through the communities I’ve built and my favorite thing to do is help others succeed. I can’t wait to meet you!
Chase D.
Twenty excites me because I remember feeling overwhelmed with the number of seemingly "life critical" decisions I was making. I want to help give back by providing guidance and frameworks to help people understand how they make the best choices for their future selves (professionally and personally) while still taking care of their present selves.
Teddy S.
I have always pushed myself to the extreme in many facets of my life. I played lacrosse in high school which allowed me to get recruited to some of the best colleges in the country. When I got to Amherst College, I gained an affinity for computer science and soon found myself taking twice as many classes as I needed to major in CS. While there is also played lacrosse and sang in the Glee Club.
After college I went to Bridgewater as an engineer and quickly found myself working as an Investment Engineer on the FX research team. I have some wild stories from those years 😄. But I realized I wanted to do more in ML/AI and left Bridgewater for a small start-up in NYC where I got deep into building neural network models.
At the same time, I also applied to HBS and was accepted and started a year later. HBS really opened the aperture of what was possible in life and the different paths I could take.
If you want to hear more, happy to tell you over a call!
Lastly, I've always mentored those earlier in their career than me as it is one of the activities which brings me energy, in a world where many activities deplete. I have helped many navigate finance (hedge funds), start-ups, and venture capital.
Justin S.
I led an LGBTQ+ mentorship program and Dartmouth and loved helping students in that context. I have spent the last several years focused on finance and am working on a personal finance mini-course at HBS, and would like to help individuals in their 20s improve their financial lives and financial decisions.