By the time she was 24, Ryll Burgin seemingly had it all—her own business, a fabulous circle of friends, and a great lifestyle. Years later, while working abroad in the USA, she felt something was missing. “I found myself wondering, ‘Is this it?’” Burgin says. “I was secretly waiting for my ‘real’ life to start, wishing for a way to have a bigger life, to do something really valuable.” Through participating in Landmark programs, Burgin says, “I expanded my ability to listen and receive people’s contribution, to lead people by inspiring them. To get out of the way and let people achieve.”
Knowing how powerful learning the lessons of business had been to her early in life, Burgin thought she could help teenagers—those going through the normal throes of adolescence, as well as those troubled or at-risk—by establishing the stepUP Foundation, a mentoring program for teens. Burgin says, “At stepUP, our job is to have teens see that no matter what they’ve faced so far in their lives, anything is possible if they set their heart and mind to it and hang on.”
Ryll Burgin
stepUP has been so successful in Brisbane, that plans are underway to expand nationally and branch out into the USA, UK, Europe, and Asia. Burgin credits Landmark with inspiring her to start stepUP. “What I got out of my participation at Landmark continues to challenge and inspire me to be a better leader,” she said. “I’m hoping the mentoring program will give these kids – our future leaders – the same opportunity.”
