“Kay Xander Mellish grew up in Wisconsin, a U.S. state with 5.7 million people, almost precisely the same population as Denmark. She graduated magna cum laude from New York University, where she studied journalism and art history. Her journalistic work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, Sports Illustrated, Mother Jones, the South China Morning Post, Marie Claire, and in the Danish tabloid BT. She also worked in TV production for CNN and a local New York City television station, and as an editor for ABCnews.com.
Kay moved to Denmark in 2000, and worked at Danske Bank, Carlsberg Breweries and Saxo Bank before starting her own company, the KXMGroup, which helps Danish companies communicate in English. Her book Top 10 Mistakes Danes Make in English is based on her many years of experience removing “Danglish” from corporate texts. She is also the author of How to Live in Denmark (2014) and How to Work in Denmark (2018).
A professional voice actor, Kay began producing the How to Live in Denmark podcast in the summer of 2013 as a way to practice her pronunciation techniques. Since then, the podcasts have been downloaded more than 650,000 times.
Kay is a popular public speaker in Denmark, and has appeared for corporations, schools, and professional groups everywhere from Ringkøbing to Vordingborg to Vejle to Als to Sønderborg to Brande to Kalundborg to Herning to Copenhagen and Aarhus. She also speaks around the world as an expert on Danish business culture. Her most popular presentations include The How to Live in Denmark Game Show, the English language refresher course Drop Dit Danglish, and the presentation of the unwritten rules of the Danish workplace, How to Work in Denmark.”