A little bit more about me…
It was more than 12 years ago when a tall beautiful woman walked into my office asking for help. At that time I was in a period of being a “yes woman”, meaning I would say “yes” to everything that came my way. I wanted to help, of course, and little did I know that I was the one needing help, too.
At that time I had my own communications company and I was quite successful. I had my own apartment, a new car, wonderful friends, colleagues and an amazing social life. I was almost a socialite. Had a few casual partners and a cat, too. Also, I was always on the run. You could hear me in my high heels… klick, klick, klick, klick. My friends used to joke that if there was a competition in fast running on high heels I would be the absolute winner. I had time for everything and everyone. I had it all!
This is how it looked from the outside. From the inside, it felt shallow.
What I didn’t have was my Self. I didn’t know much about myself. I lived my life on autopilot, doing what I was supposed to do, following the societal norms, what was expected of me to do. Not really conscious about my thoughts, my beliefs, values, patterns and how they affected my mere existence. I was constantly chasing something, the next client, the next project, the big love, the social status… the list was endless. Never fully satisfied with anything. Nothing was good enough, including my own performance.
Spontaneity is one of my traits and it has always brought me wonderful experiences. This is how my NLP journey began, spontaneously, by saying yes to helping another person. I stumbled upon NLP and I can say it found me. Marina Anchevska, the woman that brought NLP to Macedonia, was well aware that giving and receiving are two things that need to be balanced in life. So, she offered that I enrol in an NLP Practitioner course. The “yes woman” said “yes”, again.
But, I was dreading it. “Why did I say yes to that?” I would be stuck for three days in some rather boring training and waste my time. For me it was time I could use to work, socialise, party or just watch TV series and “chill”. Still, I gave my word and that meant I was going to do it.
During the first module of the NLP Practitioner a question came out of me: “Why am I not satisfied in life?”. The first big lesson I learned was that I am asking the wrong questions. Begin the question with a “How? What? Where? Who?” instead of “Why?” – and just this simple change of a word started changing my life.
“How can I be satisfied?”
“What’s stopping me from being satisfied?”
“Where does this feeling of satisfaction come from?”
“Who do I need to become to be satisfied?”
A few different questions that uncovered so many insights of my true one. That is how I started my self-expedition. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know, the more my life started taking a different shape.
Since that weekend, I have gradually become first an NLP Practitioner, and then Master Practitioner, only a few years after to qualify as a Capital Coach and a Systemic Dynamics Practitioner – learning from the one and only JOke Land. It was the best investment of my time and resources!
Meanwhile, I closed the company and moved to Vienna. I started working with both individual clients and large international organisations. My personal development journey continued and I am still on it.
After becoming a High-Performance Team Coach with the brilliant Marilyn Atkinson, I started to work with various teams that brought me the joy of further exploring the complexity of human and social interactions.
In 2018 I finally gathered the funds needed and went on to meet the Master, one of the fathers of NLP – John Grinder, with whom I finally grew into a fully fledged NLP Trainer and a Mentor Trainer in 2021.
I am grateful that I had and still have the opportunity to learn from the best.
My life was not always as I wanted it to be. Many times we are thrown circumstances that make us or break us.
In 2018, just when I thought life cannot get any better, I decided that it is time to step into the entrepreneurial waters once again and start my training and coaching business in Vienna. I had 20 years of professional experience under my belt as an entrepreneur, leader, communication specialist and consultant for international organisations. I had more than 1000 hours experience as a coach. I had a relationship that I believed was my safety net. I had some savings, and most important I had me, my energy and my motivation. I had a plan.
However, some of it was standing on glass legs. Entrepreneurial uncertainty can be tough on personal relationships – especially if they are toxic or do not have solid foundations. It tore mine into small pieces. Somewhere in-between trying to save my relationship and establish my own business, I lost myself yet again. I ended up heart broken, broke, homeless and jobless. And if that was not enough, just at the moment when Covid-19 pandemic hit and the initial panic was on the rise, I got diagnosed with a rare type of cancer with only 30% chance of survival. It felt like I was hit by a tsunami while the earth was shaking below my feet. I was barely holding my head up and whispering for a breath.
It was the most difficult time of my life. The chemo and radiotherapy almost killed me. I looked death in the eye. I winked and like a Phoenix I rose up again.
Luckily, I had the knowledge and the tools to help myself, and I had a few guardian angels on the way.
The first question that comes to mind when disaster hits us is: “Why me?” So, I began by changing the questions. Then, I reframed the context (another NLP tool): Covid-19 stopped the world because I need the time to heal. The answer was simple – this is how important I am to the world. Finally, I made a decision: become healthy and joyful again!
I knew that the only way was returning back to my Self.
I revisited my traumatic childhood and found that there was more work to be done to heal my inner child. As I made friends with my painful memories, little miracles started happening. The memories of joy and safety started coming back. I could see light on my timeline and all those wonderful memories that were locked in darkness came back. What I realised is that we have many different teachers in our life. All of the hardships, disasters and unpleasant circumstances that meet us on our journey called life are teachers, too.
Today I am perfectly healed and free from toxic people and relationships. I rebuilt the relationship with my parents and we enjoy our time together ever since. I have healthy boundaries around me and a wonderful relationship with my Self. I work with amazing individuals and organisations, helping them rise up in challenging times. Witnessing their success is the greatest joy!
I strongly believe in the innate human potential that is in all of us, our abilities to grow and transform and make possible the things that may appear impossible. By developing a deeper understanding of ourselves and our environment, I believe we all can create possibilities for change and live the life we desire.
Conscious and intentional communication, awareness, meaningful relationships and resilience are in the heart of everything I do. My systemic approach supports the growth of the individual and the overall organisational vitality of all kinds of systems, whether private, public or global corporate systems.