After successfully completing my A-levels (Matura) at a Secondary School for Economic Professions in Lower Austria, my life took an unexpected turn. Instead of starting a cooking career, I set my mind on becoming a language professional. Growing up in a small town in the Weinviertel region of Lower Austria, my fascination for all things related to language(s) and communication stemmed from my growing understanding how different languages and cultural concepts can be and how language professionals must be equipped with a diverse set of skills. My instinctive desire to understand and study the social and interpersonal aspects of language encouraged me to actively pursue a career as an interpreter and translator. It lead me to study at the University of Vienna, where I obtained my BA in Transcultural Communication, a Certificate for Teaching German as a Foreign and Second Language as well as my MA in Translation Studies (Translation and Interpreting) in German, Spanish, English and Czech. For the remainder of my academic career, I studied the social aspects of interpreting, which is why I dedicated my Master’s thesis to gender-fair language in simultaneous interpreting. Since then, gender-inclusive language is something that shapes my everyday (professional) life and that I advocate at any given opportunity. During my studies, I was lucky enough to gain international (work) experience in various European cities, including Vienna, Brussels, Barcelona and Prague. Since spring 2023 I have been working as a freelance language service provider in Vienna and Lower Austria.