About Me

Truth is at the heart of who I am and what I do. Truth, delivered with kindness, is what you can expect from me at all times. I would consider it a disservice to you if I do not point it out to you, together with the thoughts and patterns that are holding you back and preventing you from seeing the truth for yourself.

For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by the question of what makes a life ‘good’. I would read classic fiction and books on psychology, art, philosophy, and history, to understand the secret to a good life. I strongly believe that a good life does not just happen, but is carefully curated with great attention to detail by each person, in accordance with their own values. What must you do, how must you think, to make the best of what life throws at you? These are the questions I have been trying to answer since I was a teenager.

I loved studying neuroscience in university in New England. It was a multi- disciplinary degree combining biology, psychology, neuroscience, chemistry, medical statistics, philosophy, and medical ethics. I gained a real appreciation for the complexity of this most extraordinary organ: the brain. I also began to appreciate the often illogical, biased, habit- and fear-driven ways in which we inadvertently think (through no fault of our own). Ever since then, I have been reading anything I can get my hands on that uncovered the inconvenient, controversial truths about why we think the way we think and do the things we do.

However, I graduated in the mid ‘00s, at a time when the world had not yet become as alive as it is today to such concepts as mental health, emotional intelligence, and cognitive biases. Without much career guidance beyond “you should be a doctor” and not wanting to actually be a doctor, I chose to come home to Europe and re-qualify as a lawyer. The thinking was that this is a safe, reputable option that will open doors down the line. The banal reality was, however, that it was what my boyfriend at the time did and I couldn’t think of anything else.

For the next thirteen years, I worked as a lawyer across London, Paris, Geneva, British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands with some of the world’s most successful companies and individuals. I gained extensive experience of how people approach dispute resolution in and out of court and the complicated psychology behind it. I worked diabolical hours to provide the best possible service and advice to my clients and rose through the ranks to become a senior lawyer and a court advocate.

Despite an excellent education and a myriad of extraordinary professional and personal experiences, I was always plagued by not knowing what I am meant to do in life – nothing ever seemed quite right. This is until I met Michael Serwa, UK’s pre-eminent life coach, and my life changed almost overnight. It had suddenly become clear that I have been a coach to others my entire life – helping friends, colleagues, and sometimes total strangers in airport bars through difficult questions, transitions, and challenges, asking uncomfortable questions others closer to them never dared or thought to ask.

Now I do what I love with people I want to do it with. I strongly believe in the power of coaching and am on a quest to make it an indispensable resource for people going through life’s transitions and challenges.

On a slightly lighter note, here are 21 random things about me:

• I am unwaveringly curious, exceedingly adventurous, and mostly optimistic.
• I have lived in seven cities: Moscow, Vienna, London, Paris, Geneva, and Boston, as well as in the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands. I now call Hong Kong my home.
• Five months after arriving in the British Virgin Islands, we were hit by the catastrophic Hurricane Irma, the most powerful hurricane in Atlantic Ocean history to make landfall (winds of 185mph). I will never forget a window disintegrate into tiny particles in front of my eyes and get sucked out into the void outside (and thankfully not into my face). I survived, but despite my rather resilient nature, it took me about nine months to feel like myself again.
• On the first anniversary of Irma I met the love of my life whom I’m marrying in 2024.
• I love learning languages and am currently trying to tackle Mandarin. I am fluent in French and Russian, and have a conversational grasp of Spanish and Italian.
• I love driving and the freedom of a road trip.
• I am a (reluctant) foodie (because everyone seems to be these days) and often make a restaurant reservation before booking the rest of the trip. My favourite food includes sushi, duck, sole meunière, and anything the restaurant Locavore in Ubud serves as part of its tasting menu. My friends and I enjoyed The Fat Duck once so much that they had to trick us with a private wine cellar tour just to get us to vacate our table (we may have had a bit too much champagne).
• I do the majority of my cardio exercise in virtual reality.
• I don’t think you can be a good person unless you are polite to service staff. Paris Uber drivers are my people.
• I am a dog person as can be confirmed by Wolsey, our 4-yo shitzpoo.
• I have an extra vertebra in my spine (i.e. spina bifida), only one kidney, and a host of other weirdnesses that make me a fascinating patient whenever I go to the doctor. While I lived through a conveyor belt of illnesses and surgeries as a child, I am as healthy as can be as an adult.
• I have never done drugs and do not take any medication regularly.
• I swear. A lot.
• I believe that our world has changed so drastically in the past century or so that our bodies and brains are getting sick at an unprecedented rate because they struggle to adapt to lifestyles and environments that fundamentally do not serve us.
• I think we underestimate the power of fun.
• We listen indiscriminately and too much to people with no expertise or credibility.
• Habits will help you live your life; breaking them will make you feel alive.
• It is very important to me to be as fair as possible.
• Favourite movies: The Lives of Others, As Good As It Gets, She Said, Gladiator, Sideways, Holdovers, and the top courtroom drama: My Cousin Vinny.
• I absolutely love Christmas and put the tree up the weekend after my birthday (i.e. late November) and take it down in late January.
• I believe it is important to celebrate momentous occasions and achievements big or small. Life is tough enough – celebrate it when you can!