Starting out: the advice I ignored

A non-traditional route into conservation

11 years ago, I left Germany to complete a professional field guiding course to find my way into conservation. Granted— a rather imperfect plan…

Perhaps unsurprisingly, unwanted advice from others kept popping up:

• “Guiding will turn you into an all-night drinker—clients expect you to join in on the fun, and you must stay up until they go to bed!”

• “Real conservation needs a science degree. You won’t get a job without it. Go back to university.”

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Neither was true.

Guiding didn’t make me an alcoholic ;-) It trained my attention. It taught me to listen—to nature, to my inner voice, to people whose homes overlap with elephant migratory routes.

And while I deeply respect the scientists I work with, I didn’t go back to school. I went to forge my path and applied my skills.

Over the years, I helped build programs that changed the local landscape of elephant conservation: the Community Elephant Guard Program (training and employing Namibians as community rangers), early-warning systems that now cover about 2,000,000 hectares, and sustainable coexistence projects that have reached 7,500+ rural residents. I also learned how to raise project funding the hard way—proposal by proposal, no shortcuts. Without English being my native language. And I built donor platforms to promote transparency and accountability.

Was it easy? No! But it’s not meant to be. 

That is why our passion is our fuel—to power us on through hard times, to motivate us, so we keep striving to make our dream a reality.

Sometimes, though, I miss the naivety that comes with the mind of a young dreamer—it’s bliss. I never stopped believing in possibility, but I sure learned that it takes more than ‘just’ believing.

To live in a world of your own making you never stop creating it. You get burnt, you attain blisters, and you get wounded when you stumble. Working in the space between conservation dream and conservation nightmare, you fly high and you crash hard. You breathe the air of endless possibilities and then swallow a hard truth that’s very hard to digest.

And yet, every single hurdle brought me closer to my inner power. My strength. It built my resilience and helped me to help others get up after stumbling. 

So, what I learned about advice—

• Be selective, not defiant. Keep mentors who expand your horizon; let go of the ones projecting their limits.

• Use what you have. If you don’t have the “right” credential, show tangible value until doors open. Human quality goes over qualifications.

• Make feedback your fuel. Proposals covered in red ink are the best learning tool.