VANESSA CHRISTINA DSOUZA
Learning & Development Consultant for Professionals, Organisations & Subject Matter Experts
Freelance Unlocked event
May 2026
This is a big one for me this year 😃 ...
I've admired the Freelance Unlocked community from afar, and now I get to speak at the Freelance Unlocked event. 🤩
Freelance Unlocked is Europe's leading conference for ambitious freelancers and the only place where you learn more in two days than you would in a year on your own.
Join me and other freelancers, solopreneurs and professionals in Berlin, where we share knowledge, expertise, challenges, and best practices in the world of freelancing. Can't wait!
Thanks Yurii Lazaruk and Team for the opportunity to share, learn and connect!
https://freelanceunlocked.com/enUse
Self Reflection + a Review of Q1
March 2026
Taking some time this Monday to do some Self Reflection + a Review of Q1
It’s been an interesting quarter.
Ofcourse it’s been a rollercoaster, but such is life/ freelance life.
Hope the first 3 months of this year have been good for you, with a balance of challenges and opportunities.
I want to solve real problems.
April 2026
I want to solve real problems.
The past couple of months have exposed me to the struggles of many. I can’t help but think, what can I/ we all do differently to support people.
I have a lot of strong powerful women in my life, some close friends, new mothers, experienced professionals looking for jobs, mothers who have been out of the workforce for so long that they struggle to find purpose.
I feel a strong urge to support them, coupled with a sense of helplessness.
I took a small step... A first prototype to put my ideas and thoughts into action. (See images)
Let me take a step back-
Few weeks ago on Women’s day Lovable opened up their platform for all to create and experiment. The images you see is an app I designed called ‘Career Bloom’.
Career Bloom 🌸 is built for mothers returning to the workforce and women between jobs a gentle space to rediscover your strengths, explore what matters to you, and build confidence, one small step at a time.🌿
it’s a prototype right now and I hope to continue working on this to empower women in different phases of their lives.
SheBuilds-Lovable
March 2026
I'm building on March 8 because I want to design a tool that helps people carve out time for intentional learning, in a way that feels creative, enjoyable and effortless ✨
Join me and builders around the world for SheBuilds on Lovable for International Women's Day!
What’s your 1% today? 🤔
March 2026
Here’s what’s been happening in my world lately.
This is my '2026 Strategic Focus Document' I've created on Notion (see image)
I created it because I have what I call a bit of a “scatter brain.” 🧠 Which I’m now realising… is just a very active and capable brain.
The problem is never ideas...it is focus.
So this quarter, I’m committing to the 1% rule.
Instead of overwhelming myself with big goals, I track one thing daily:
✨ My 1% (You can see it in the image)
“My 1% for 18 Feb 2026”
“My 1% for 19 Feb 2026”
Simple. Clear. No drama.
I'm using the power of compounding effect.
Last year, I burned out more than once(sadly), so, I will do all that I can to manage, cope and share my progress
This document includes:
• My 5-line personal manifesto (my North Star)
• Non-negotiables (burnout protection rules)
• My current reality check
• And daily 1% business goals (only for the weekdays)
A structure to protect my energy, peace to move forward steadily.
What’s your 1% today? 🤔
Time waits for none ⏳
March 2026
…Here is another glimpse into my world.
I’ve been experimenting with different ways to stay focused these days, and I’ve found a solution that works for me. 🍊
Nope, I’m not selling any product here.
Do you own a similar timer (see image), or is there a product that you’ve tried and tested that helps you focus better?
I use this workshop timer more and more these days. It’s helped me reduce those few moments of scrolling aimlessly on social media, which I absolutely hate and I’m not proud of🤷🏻♀️
I’m breaking a habit and replacing it with a fun one. It’s all coming together so beautifully…because I’m recognising the learnings I had last year.
Using a few strategies that I have learnt in Make it Toolkit program below, to make the behaviour change of increasing more focus for myself more intentional and effortless
Strategies:
- Make it Easy
- Make it Attractive
- Make it Yours
- Make it Goal-oriented
More on the strategies in the comments 👇🏼
Thanks Affinity Space for enrolling me in the program last year. Definitely an eye opener which helps in supporting and designing strategic learning experiences and behavioral design elements for our leadership cohorts ✨
—-
have we met yet? 😃
I’m Vanessa Christina D., Learning & Development Consultant, Yellow and New . I support people, leaders, professionals all over the world to learn and perform their best at work/life. I love what I do !
Notion Ambassador!
Feb 2026
You might’ve noticed I’ve been working with some really cool brands lately, and this is one I’ve been especially excited to share…
✨ I’m officially a Notion Ambassador ✨🇩🇪
I’ve always been passionate about using tools to genuinely support people at work, to make learning feel easier, growth feel possible, and work feel more human.
As a Learning Experience Designer, I spend a lot of time thinking about how people learn, reflect, and develop both individually and together. Notion has become one of those tools that lets me bring all of that thinking to life, creating spaces that are thoughtful, flexible, and actually useful.
Over the next 90 days, I’ll be building Notion templates focused on:
• Leadership development
• Goal setting & self-awareness
• Team collaboration
• Personal reflection
• Journey mapping
If you care about professional development, learning design, or building communities of practice, I’d love to connect!
Samuel Li thankyou for the onboarding and connecting us Ambassadors together 🤩
Miro Meetups- Speedy stories and connections
November 2025
Miro Meetups Berlin was so much fun 🇩🇪
I hosted the second Miro meet-ups yesterday at ATworld.
My aim is to bring people together across disciplines to learn, share, connect and play through these events.
This time I introduced Pecha Kucha presentations format along with a round of Rapid prototyping ✨
Time passed by so quickly is what I felt and heard.
People were engaged and ready to co-create this experience with me.
The room was full at ATworld!
Here is what I experimented with and you can too:
🥳 Pecha Kucha- This format is so creative -20 slides x 20 secs each. A quick and engaging presentation, followed by aha moments and questions from the audience via a quick Miro board qrcode share. Thank you Rachel Wright, Isabella Rossi, Maria Paula Lancheros and Daniel Swakman for sharing your Pecha Kucha talks with us. It was wonderful, enlightening inspiring and fun!
🎉 Rapid future prototyping- People love moments of surprise and I definitely saw this happen.
The rapid protoyping activity involved a ‘Package from the future’- containing lots of crafty items to work with, and prompts shared on the Miro board. People created fun and creative prototypes in 10 mins- they brought together the expertise of each person in the group+ an sight from the Pecha Kucha+ used their amazing story telling and creative skills to come up with a futuristic model of how humans would live in 2125. ⭐️
There were laughs, smiles, questions, and imagination overflowed.
Thank you all who attended for playing along!
Thank you again ATworld for giving us this space to share and connect. I’m so grateful - thanks again Rene Ramos !
I’m going to continue playing with these creative formats with teams and individuals in the next few weeks and years to come 💛 reach out if you’d like to join in the next one.
Offbeat sparks 2025
October 2025
Offbeat Sparks is coming to Berlin, again! ✨
This time I have the opportunity to share my burst of ideas in 5 minutes 😅. It’s going to be fun.
Thanks Marina and Lisa-Noreen for organising this💜. Looking forward to meeting the other speakers too.
Link to register:
https://lnkd.in/ebJMubae
Update: Miro Meetups Berlin
August 2025
I had so much fun hosting the Miro Meetups event in person!!
The energy was incredible, and it was so great to connect with amazing people.
I designed and facilitated a creative, collaborative and multi-disciplinary session- yes that was my goal!
I found it a bit challenging at first, but I knew that spaces for people to learn and collaborate across functions (at an event) is rare, and I wanted to experiment and see where it takes me.
What happened next was nothing short of incredible!
The creativity in the room blew me away!
They delivered improv, dance, and brilliant storytelling, proving that bringing diverse minds together sparks magic. Mind you, most of them were meeting each other for the first time! 🤯
I’m already excited to host more meetups like these and I’ll be experimenting with a new learning format too.
Thank you Techspace and team for this beautiful venue, kindness and support 💛 and a big thanks again to those who showed up on a really hot summer evening, and Ian for the wonderful photos.
If you would like to read more about how the participants found the session click here
——
🎁 If your team is looking to ignite this kind of creativity and collaboration, I'm available to lead a session. Let's connect! ✨
#miromeetups #collaboration #Innovation #learning #creativity #teambuilding
Miro Meetups Berlin
July 2025
🚀 Here it is.. I'm very excited to kick off our first Miro Meetups event, Berlin, and you're invited!
We'll dive into how to collaborate meaningfully in today’s world of work, swap Miro tips, and sprint through a challenge on 'Collaboration at Work'.
🗓️ Aug 14 | 6–8 PM
📍 Techspace, Berlin
✨ Facilitated by: Vanessa Christina D., your Miro Meetups Ambassador 🇩🇪
If you're passionate about people, collaboration, design and of course Miro,
I would love to see you there!
🎟️ Spots are limited !
Register now and don’t miss the Miro goodies!
🔗 https://lu.ma/2c3z7myv
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The journey so far..
June 2025
I made it! 🎉It’s been a year since all this (independent consulting in learning and development, people experience) officially began.If you know me, you know I hate taking LinkedIn pictures. You might also know that I don’t enjoy talking about myself too much, but I think it’s time to share what I’ve been up to over the past year…See my list. I’m proud !Thank you to everyone who’s chosen to work with me and continues to choose me to support them in growing their businesses and supporting learners (and human beings!) Reach out if any of the below interests you.
Here goes:
1. Registered myself in Germany as an independent consultant
2. Worked with clients across the UK, Europe, India on L&D, Community building and related projects.
3. Designed leadership learning journeys rolled out across cross-functional teams.
4. Facilitated workshops on persistence, ownership and growth mindset to name a few.
5. Hosted and shared the stage at some cool in-person events - lightning talks, self-directed learning, engagement, and empowerment.
6. Completed a Behavioral Science program and already applied it to designing better learning programs.
7. Created learner journey maps for diverse, high-impact learning programs.
8.1:1 consulting sessions to help facilitators enhance their workshop design and delivery.
9. Explored(ongoing) AI in L&D and supported teams in using it meaningfully.
More to come! Bye for now 👋 Don't forget to celebrate yourself
P.S.- No one is perfect. My funny face is clearly here to get your attention 🙃
Abracademy Lightning Talk on Rituals 🪄
February 2025
I had a great time speaking at the Curious Magilitators Club @ Abracademy, where I gave a lightning talk on 'Rituals at Work'.
I shared both personal and business-related examples of rituals, outlined steps to create meaningful rituals, and led an interactive activity. Magilitators (participants) discussed their own personal and professional rituals, reflecting on which ones they find hardest to maintain. The conversation was filled with unique and insightful examples, making it a quick yet engaging and enriching talk.
Ideas in Motion- Nonference- L&D Shakers
October 2024
Why am I STILL buzzing from this experience?
Let's just say my standards for all future Con-Nonferences/Events/Workshops have officially skyrocketed (thanks, Nonference team! 😄)
About this incredible event:
I attended a Nonference by L&D SHAKERS in Amsterdam this month. It was the first of its kind, designed by an amazing team of volunteers. A huge thank you for creating such a memorable experience and opening our eyes to what’s possible in the world of L&D!!
Takeaways.. 💛- L&D and AI can blend together beautifully- There are countless fun and creative ways to connect with people- Collaborating on prototypes with new people can feel awkward at first, but the results can be so rewarding!!
Learning experiences with a twist
Did I mention that I used to attend German language classes?—Genau genau 😄 🇩🇪
This course was different. Not your typical ‘learn by the books’.. Let me tell you what was different.. Let me tell you WHY it excited me so much to be a part of this group of amazing expat women, who were ready to share and learn together.This is how the curriculum was designed.
The main principle-> Learning through Positive experiences ✨
If someone tells you, to pick a positive experience, especially when you’re having a hard time working/learning/or generally in life, it can be oh-so challenging.
However, it felt like working a muscle.. the more I did it, the easier it became.
Some of the activities (all in German):
- Trips to a museum, art gallery, a picnic, accompanied by quizzing, conversation, reflection exercises- creating a cookbook of recipes of our national dishes
- video recording of a favourite spot in our neighbourhood
- sharing music that has a positive effect on us with the class- an audio recording of positive things discovered around the city
- a positive work experienceAll the activities were framed around positive experiences. Surprisingly, we didn’t have that much room to complain and say “Deutsch ist so schwer” 😄 …
🔈hear up : those who really want to change behaviours and are tired of unmotivated team members.. this might inspire you to approach challenges and reframe them differently]
🖼️The collage you see was another activity; to summarise our experiences/takeaways from the (German language) course. Mine represented connection, colour, expression, new beginnings.
Bringing your stories to work
July 2024
A fun and engaging L&D SHAKERS session hosted at Vinted, Berlin.
I gathered some interesting insights from my co-facilitators Ben and Ribana and from the amazing participants that joined us.
Thank you all for sharing your stories and co-creating this wonderful experience with us.
I have a passion for storytelling, and I believe exploring it in a professional/business context can be incredibly rewarding for several reasons, including enhancing communication, building stronger products and processes, and strengthening team connections to name a few.
Advocating for Growth
June 2024
I participated as a speaker at the Ripple Summit by Wave Makers, Berlin. My presentation was on Advocating for Growth, How to communicate your professional development needs to employers.
I covered innovative ways to approach professional development and individual & team learning strategies. My intention was to share different perspectives whether the participants were experienced leaders, new leaders, individual contributors or someone who has just started off in their career.
AI + People/L&D world 🌏 + supporting organisations
Everything seems upside down sometimes 🙃
Yes, everyone is still talking about the shiny new thing, and it will keep getting bigger and bigger..
✍🏼 How do I feel about it:
Excited about the possibilities, concerned about the lack of human interaction and social aspect
🎨 Doodling to help me process my thoughts:
This sketch describes the space that we might need to step back, zoom out and understand, ‘What’s in it for me?”, "How is [Insert name of AI tool] going to support me in my development?”, “How do I keep up?”, “Do I need to keep up?”, "Is this tool even necessary?'', "How do I measure success?", "Is my team ready to make this change?"....
(Side note: Why doodle? this gives me a break, and lets me slow down a bit. It’s fun too!)
💭 Other thoughts: Its not about the fancy, shiny new AI thing.. let’s talk about the environment that is conducive to learning and taking on these GenAI tools, the behaviour changes that it takes, the support that leaders need in undertaking this transformation/change management process, and the role of L&D and people/HR teams in driving by these changes. To me it’s about empowering people = driving a business forward
#AI #learninganddevelopment #peopledevelopment#learninghowtolearn
The Power of Personal Initiative, Creativity, and Play in Learning Experiences
May 2024
I had the pleasure of facilitating a workshop around the theme "The Power of Personal Initiative, Creativity, and Play in Learning Experiences" at CYLC, Berlin.
The 2 hour workshop was structured into two segments:
1. Mirror Musings ✨: Participants engaged in self-reflection and shared successful experiences in pairs
2. Peer Talks 🗣️: Groups of 3 to 4 individuals participated in peer coaching, discussing challenges and asking guiding questions without offering direct solutions
The free flowing exchanges, AHA moments, and open discussions were really inspiring. Check out the video below for a glimpse into the session's energy! 💛
Excited to continue crafting similar experiences, I'm currently working on:
- Employee Experience Journey Mapping Workshops
- Learning & Development Communication Facilitation/Workshop Formats
- And more.. ☀️
An AHA MOMENT💡
For years I was told (indirectly and directly) that I needed to know everything ...I felt the pressure, and still do sometimes, but I have a strong group of people who remind me that I still got what it takes to get things done and be my true authentic self.
I've worked with leaders, employees, friends, acquaintances who have felt the pressure and responsibility to have the right answers. I think its an ongoing battle, but we can try out new ways to feel more confident and be prepared to face these situations.
Here are some tips I shared with them that worked well!
❇ When possible, co-create! -> When faced with a problem (esp. in a team setting), what you might think is the best solution, might not always be
❇ Take time to understand the context
❇ Listen intently
❇ Be patient with yourself and others
❇ Leverage the power of communities, like-minded people, knowledge-sharing events, and take time to reflect and practice what you've learnt
❇ Be kind to yourself, please! If you feel like you're not in the position to do so, reach out to a friend/supporter
🌍 10 organizations + 4 countries + 7 cities since 2012, my journey has been anything but linear!
When I spoke to my family about this few weeks ago, they were pretty surprised.
Interestingly, although I started working in 2012, I haven’t had a continuous 12 year career trajectory.
I made some unconventional choices- to study again, take up temporary job contracts, a personal break and looking for a job, which is still an ongoing quest today.
It's a journey I don't take lightly. Sharing this journey with recruiters and hiring managers has been a constant endeavor... to validate my worth in this competitive job market, where I’m put against such amazing professionals, hasn't been easy.
Yet, I try to put on my 'growth mindset' cap 🎓, celebrating and learning from each experience, no matter how challenging it might be.
This morning, I made a list of the sectors that have shaped my career:
- 💡 EdTech & HR Tech
- 🏦 Financial Services
- 📚 Education
- 🏦 Banking
- 🚗 Automotive Industry
- 🏭 Industrial Automation
- ❤️ Volunteering in NGOs (Education, Art, Children/Youth Mentoring)
And not to forget:
- 🌟 Freelance support for coaches
- 🎨 Being a solopreneur in Creativity, Art & Design + People Development projects
This reflection has helped me to recognise the value of my experiences, especially the value add in the L&D/People space, where Business acumen is as crucial as content creation and LMS management - a balance and perspective often overlooked.
🤔 Have you taken a moment to reflect on your journey? I'd love to hear your stories!
#SquigglyCareer #reflections
Inspiration, inspired, inspiring.. ☀️
🌷Some inspiring things that I’ve come across in the past month:
• A fun newsletter by Joey Cofone - It definitely tickles my brain. I highly recommend subscribing to it!
• L&D SHAKERS community events- I’ve been catching up on the YouTube recordings of the events. Thank you catalysts for putting them up and helping me in my learning journey
• Offbeat fellows and the inspiring newsletters- The community of fellows are always buzzing with new ideas, challenges, learnings and the events have been so helpful and useful too. Thank you all!
• Getting deeper into evidence-based research around learning agility and behaviour change. This one is really exciting for me and it’s definitely keeping me busy
I’ve decided to share my learnings more frequently here, it helps me stay in check. Also, I will slowly get back to connecting with people. Watch out, I might drop you a message to chat soon
Image: lluseum Berlin, such a fun place to visit ✨
'The Emotion Wheel'
I learnt about 'The Emotion Wheel' a couple of months ago and I'm sharing this with you today.
This helps me to pause and check in with myself from time to time. Sometimes its hard to put the feelings to words and actions, and that's when this tool could help.
Miro Board template:
https://miro.com/app/dashboard/?tpTemplate=emotions-wheel&isCustom=false&share_link_id=607259879714
More about Emotion Wheel:
- https://positivepsychology.com/emotion-wheel/
-https://www.betterup.com/blog/emotion-wheel
A Learning log.. 🤔
Over the years I've tried to come up with different ways to record all my learnings in one place and be consistent with it.
For this, I've started using Notion more proactively to help me keep things simple. The AI feature helps to summarizes my learnings of the week and it's fascinating to view the broad a range of topics I cover. Besides this, Pocket has also been useful to save important and interesting links to read/listen to later.
I guess I'm trying to follow 'Addition by Subtraction' and eliminate the tools methods, practices that don't serve me.
Authentic Self ✨
They asked me (..and still do)
- What are you doing with your career?
- Aren’t you too old for this?
- Why do you have these career gaps?
- Why Art? Why HR/ L&D?
The truth is, I wouldn’t change A THING!!
All my experiences thus far, have made me more resilient and given me some interesting transferable skills too😊
Cheers to the people who dare to dream, take risks, speak up and most of all, work towards making this world a better place 💛
P.S.: This pic was taken at one of my first solo Art exhibitions in The Netherlands. Good times :)
📣Leaders aren't defined by their job title, but by their behaviour
I truly believe that there is a leader in each one of us. We don’t need a title to prove it.
I read an interesting take on being a Spark (leader) by Angie Morgan, Courtney Lynch and Sean Lynch, and I had to share 👇🏼
Hope you embrace the ⚡️ you always had within you, to lead 🙂
What's Your Recipe?
#foodforthought
Sometimes it’s easier for me to express myself through my artwork 😎
I’ve been thinking a lot about what creativity means to me and the image below is my recipe 👩🍳 it makes me really happy!
Art is a fun way for me to get my message across, a good conversation starter and also super interesting to hear what other people think🙃
What's your recipe for creativity?