Success Stories
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Explore real transformations from leaders and entrepreneurs who embraced somatic coaching to navigate uncertainty, regulate their nervous systems, and lead with clarity and confidence.
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1. Navigating Complex Work Challenges as an Expat CFO
2. Building a Business with Balance and Self-Compassion
3. Navigating a Career Transition with Clarity and Confidence
Justina Zah, Chief Financial Officer
1. Navigating Complex Work Challenges as an Expat CFO
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Client Background:
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Newly appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at a multinational corporation
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Transitioning into the role while relocating to a new country as an expat
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Responsible for high-stakes decision-making in a diverse and demanding environment
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The Challenge:
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Stepping into her first CFO role while at the same time adapting to a new culture, the client faced immense pressure. The combination of high-level responsibilities, cross-cultural dynamics, and relocation can lead to feelings of overwhelm and uncertainty. She needed clarity in decision-making, effective stress management, and a grounded sense of confidence to thrive in her role.
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The Process:
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Through 1:1 Somatic Coaching, I guided Justina by using a blend of:
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Somatic awareness and body-based regulation techniques to ground herself during high-pressure meetings and cross-cultural interactions.
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Powerful questioning techniques to help her access her internal resources and strengths, despite the external challenges.
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Emotional processing and scientific-backed strategies to shift from reactionary decision-making to grounded, intentional choices.
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Navigating cultural adaptation by building resilience and self-trust, even when far from familiar support systems.
A space was created where vulnerability was met with compassion, and growth was built on authentic exploration—not performance.
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The Transformation:
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Increased clarity and confidence in navigating complex work scenarios as a CFO in a foreign country.
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Decision-making became more strategic and less emotionally reactive, even amidst cultural differences.
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Accessed her “lioness” energy—a metaphor for her empowered and decisive self—while embracing her human imperfections.
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Equipped with practical tools for emotional regulation, allowing her to move through anxiety with resilience.
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Client Reflection:
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“Ana’s knowledge and continuous investment in developing her skills is reflected in the value she brings to our sessions, knowing when to call in emotions, scientific research, or various techniques for coping with stress/anxiety. She will always equip you with the suitable tools to manage difficult situations!”
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Ready to Lead with Confidence and Clarity?
Whether you're stepping into a leadership role, navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship, or managing high-stakes decisions, Somatic Coaching can help you access clarity, build resilience, and lead with grounded confidence—no matter where you are.
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2. Building a Business with Balance and Self-Compassion
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Client Background:
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Corina is a passionate entrepreneur and the founder of "Womb Nutrition", a project dedicated to holistic health and well-being for women. While deeply connected to her mission, she faced challenges balancing her full-time job, her business, and her personal life, especially as she navigated the physical and emotional demands of pregnancy.
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The Challenge:
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When Corina began working with me, she found herself stuck in a cycle of frustration and overwhelm:
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Despite her love for "Womb Nutrition", her full-time job was draining her energy, affecting her mood, and leaving her creativity and discipline depleted.
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She struggled to set realistic goals and track them effectively, often feeling disconnected from her progress and unsure of the time required to achieve her milestones.
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Motivation would spike momentarily, only to be lost in the chaos of daily distractions, leading to inconsistent follow-through.
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Corina had a tendency to overestimate her capacity and underestimate the time required for tasks, which became more apparent as her pregnancy progressed and her energy levels shifted.
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The Process:
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By working closely with Corina through Somatic Coaching sessions, we focused on nervous system regulation, self-awareness, and gentle yet impactful time management strategies. Together, we explored:
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Nervous System Education: Understanding how stress and pressure impacted her mood, energy, and decision-making.
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Somatic Tools for Regulation: Practicing real-time regulation techniques to manage overwhelm and access clarity during busy periods.
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Time Mapping and Prioritization: a time-tracking system was introduced not only to measure productivity but also to link activities to Corina's two primary goals: feeling happy and relaxed, and growing her business.
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Building Consistency with Compassion: Shifting from perfectionism to sustainable action, celebrating small wins instead of focusing solely on big outcomes.
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Self-Care as a Non-Negotiable: Reframing self-care as a productive act, allowing Elena to prioritize rest and well-being without guilt.
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The Transformation:
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Through their work together, Corina experienced profound shifts:
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She gained a deeper understanding of her limitations and capacity, which allowed her to set more realistic goals and approach her work with greater compassion.
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Time-tracking transformed her perspective on productivity, revealing that activities like cooking, resting, and baby research were not distractions, but vital parts of her well-being.
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Her consistency improved, even as her pregnancy evolved, as she learned to honor smaller steps that built toward her bigger vision for Womb Nutrition.
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With empathetic guidance I helped Corina embrace a slower, more intentional pace, one that aligned with both her personal needs and business ambitions.
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With newfound clarity and sustainable habits, Corina has confidently grown "Womb Nutrition" at her own pace, while maintaining balance in her personal life. She’s learned to say no to projects that aren’t aligned with her goals and now navigates her business journey with greater ease and joy.
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Client Reflection:
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“Ana creates an amazing space for growth. Throughout our sessions I felt heard, seen and guided with kindness and care. This helped me leave guilt behind and start feeling empowered. Now I am building my business at my own pace while enjoying all other aspects of my life.
Feeling fully accepted and seen is a transformational experience. I am impressed by how beautifully she managed to lead me into leading myself."
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​Imagine Growing with Balance and Self-Compassion
If you’re managing multiple roles—be it business, family, or personal growth—you know how easy it is to feel stretched thin. Through Somatic Coaching, you can cultivate balance, prioritize what matters, and thrive in both your personal and professional life with ease and grace.
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Corina Nicolae
3. Navigating a Career Transition with Clarity and Confidence
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Client Background:
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Yash came to Ana while navigating a pivotal career crossroads. Although working in a full-time position, he felt disconnected and unfulfilled, yearning for a shift into something more meaningful. Despite having a clear sense of wanting to contribute to the mental health space, he struggled with committing to a specific path and found himself stuck in cycles of frustration and indecision.
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The Challenge:
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Lack of clarity and commitment to a career transition
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Emotional and existential anxiety impacting decision-making
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Difficulty balancing personal aspirations with long-term life decisions (career change, family planning, and relocation)
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Navigating complex life choices alongside his partner
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The Process:
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I guided the client through a tailored coaching process designed to:
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Clarify Values and Priorities: Through deep coaching conversations, I supported the client identify his core values, long-term aspirations, and the kind of impact he wanted to create in the world.
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Strategic Decision-Making: Together, we explored not only career paths but also personal life decisions, including his relationship, where to live, and when to start a family. I provided structured tools for decision-making that aligned with his values.
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Emotional Awareness and Regulation: I introduced somatic techniques and mindfulness exercises to help the client process emotional challenges. In one impactful session, I guided him through an exercise that transformed his relationship with existential anxiety, shifting his perspective from fear to compassion and awareness.
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Building Resilience and Confidence: my empathetic and non-judgmental approach allowed Yash to explore his fears, strengthen his self-belief, and cultivate a mindset resilient to external pressures.
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The Transformation:
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After five months of working with me, Yash:
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Made a confident decision to pursue a Master's degree in therapy, committing fully to a career in mental health.
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Developed clarity and purpose around his career path, with aligned decisions in his personal life.
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Learned how to regulate his emotional responses, transforming anxiety into a deeper appreciation for the present moment.
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Built resilience and confidence in navigating life’s uncertainties, embracing his new path with clarity and purpose.
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My thoughtful guidance not only helped him find his calling but also instilled a greater sense of trust in his ability to make aligned decisions. He emerged from the coaching process not only with a new career path but with a strengthened capacity to handle whatever challenges come his way.
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Client Reflection:
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“From our work, it has become possible for me to find my calling and commit to a career path that is meaningful for me. I was able to face my fears with courage and I found a higher level of commitment, confidence and motivation towards my chosen path than I had found ever before.”
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Ready to Find Clarity and Move Forward with Confidence?
Big life transitions can feel daunting—but they don’t have to be overwhelming. With the right tools and support, you can make confident decisions, navigate uncertainty, and create a path that truly aligns with your values and strengths. Somatic Coaching is your gateway to that transformation.
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More stories
Working with Ana has been a great experience. My perspective on how I approach life has changed. Now, I’m doing it from a relaxed space where I am feeling strong and so much more becomes possible. Before, I was feeling stuck and didn’t have the energy to achieve what I was aiming for.
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By achieving transformation from the inside out, things have become clearer and easier. I feel empowered and confident to move forward.
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Ana is very supportive, fun and easy to connect with. She supported me with awesome tools that were very easy to implement and made a big difference in reaching my goals.”
Teodora Torres - Researcher, South Australia
Ana-Maria has the natural ability and sensitivity to understand the most complex work situations I find myself in, to bring clarity and help me choose my next actions.
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Her questions are often requiring me to look into corners of my life with resources I was not aware of. She allows me to be flawed human and at the same time helps me be the lioness the situation requires.
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Ana’s knowledge and continuous investment in developing her skills is reflected in the value she brings to our sessions, knowing when to call in emotions, scientific research, or various techniques for coping with stress/anxiety. She will always equip you with the suitable tools to manage difficult situations!
Justina Zah, Chief Financial Officer
I am amazed how fast things developed once I started working with Ana, in only six sessions I went from fearful to powerful.
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When I started working with her, I was at a professional crossroad, having many career paths open but unable to choose between them. What I understood is that none of these options were actually what I was looking for. My passion was to start my own business and Ana helped me move towards a freelancer mindset.
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In my journey with her I gained more trust, in myself, and others, and became more open. She also helped me go down the rabbit hole to reach the source of my limiting beliefs and overcome them.
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Ana’s kindness, empathy and care for her clients allow her to listen and understand beyond words. Even when I could not express my feelings, she was able to see and bring them to light. I will definitely work again with her in the future.
Andreea Celmare - Founder and Virtual Assistant, Spain
In the safe space Ana created, I felt at ease to share all my dreams, hopes and fears. Feeling fully accepted and seen is a transformational experience. I am impressed by how beautifully she managed to lead me into leading myself.
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By working with her I understood the power of consistency, accountability and support. Not only did I work more focused on building my business, but I did it while being gentler and kinder to myself. I realized that taking care of myself is just as important and it doesn’t mean I am spending my time unproductively.
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Thanks to Ana I discovered a set of tools that I can now use in order to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Not only am I able to better prioritize, but I’ve also managed to understand that sometimes I need to say “no”. Now there’s a better balance between building a business, growing a new life and nurturing all parts of myself.
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Ana creates an amazing space for growth. Throughout our sessions I felt heard, seen and guided with kindness and care. This helped me leave guilt behind and start feeling empowered. Now I am building my business at my own pace while enjoying all other aspects of my life.
Corina Nicolae - Founder and Nutrition Consultant, Switzerland
Working with Ana has been a transformative experience.
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She is one of the most compassionate, kind and encouraging people I have worked with who can really help you go deeper into your needs, values, barriers and challenges and get the clarity you need to make progress towards a happier and more fulfilling life.
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Ana has helped me with several aspects of my life – getting clarity about my career change, figuring out what matters most to me, being able to commit to my chosen path, getting insight into emotional challenges I have been going through, finding work-life balance and navigating complex life decisions.
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From our work, it has become possible for me to find my calling and commit to a career path that is meaningful for me. I was able to face my fears with courage and I found a higher level of commitment, confidence and motivation towards my chosen path than I had found ever before.
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I would wholeheartedly recommend Ana’s coaching services. My sessions with her have been an integral part of my journey on a new career path for myself and in finding more inner strength and resilience.
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Yash
Ana has the ability of seeing the things you are struggling with, even if you cannot clearly define them. She supported me in identifying what was holding me back and from there building up the confidence, consistency, and focus I wanted.
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When we first started working together, I had issues in finding balance between work and personal life and I was feeling a lot of pressure. With Ana’s support I learned to say NO, to prioritize tasks at work, to be consistent in what I do and focus on what is important.
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The questions she asked me triggered inner resources I didn’t even know I had or didn’t think about before. This awareness made it so much easier to have a clear plan moving forward.
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I feel everything is possible now because I found my own way, with balance and confidence. I understood that a good management of time, thoughts, and emotions can help you in finding the answers you are looking for and be efficient in everything you do.
Ruxanda Bran - Teacher, Romania
I feel that Ana’s approach is different to other people I worked with because she blends in so many techniques and comes up with what makes sense for the person in front of her, at the moment. It’s not a pre-defined method that unfolds the same every single time. She follows her intuition and comes up with what makes the most sense to every single person and situation. She also brings her warm presence and compassion, which I find to be critical in the early stages of the process when the relationship is being formed.
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At first, my biggest takeaway was that I shifted from feeling depressed, powerless, defeated and lacking hope, to feeling seen, understood, and supported. After I managed to move out of this dark place, I relaxed into the process, built trust in Ana and her method, and gradually became curious and open to exploring other experiences and feelings available for me.
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I can see an incredible shift in my mental and emotional state since I started working with Ana, 4 months back. Her support along the way has been instrumental in making me feel that I’m not alone in this journey, and also that there are solutions to the challenges I’m facing.
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I feel that Ana has infinite patience and can really hold space for you. She’s empathetic, compassionate, and humble, and knows very well how to attune herself to the person in front of her, but also how to gently nudge them in another direction when they’re approaching a wall.
Cristina Dumitru - Marketing professional
My life and career were transformed by our work together. When I started working with Ana, I was experiencing constant guilt and feeling “I don’t deserve”. Now I know I can turn things around for the better and take consistent action toward what I want to have and experience in my life.
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Ana created a safe space where I was able to express myself freely and used creative approaches that supported me to easily find answers within, such as using drawings, meditations or other playful techniques. My findings came from inside myself, and that made them powerful and meaningful.
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While each session was built on the ones before it, I also got instant results during many of our sessions and that kept me engaged in the process. I wholeheartedly recommend working with Ana for your personal and professional development because she is such a skillful guide.
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Cris T
Contacting Ana was the best decision! Our sessions guided me to go in the right direction: to focus on me and give myself the space that I need, to work with my dreams and aspirations, to discover new goals and stay accountable, to understand myself for the first time in all these years. Working with her pushes me to go beyond my comfort zone.
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By working together my self-awareness has improved considerably. I got the guidance that I need in order to live a fuller, meaningful life that gives me such a strong feeling and helped me develop my confidence. I was able to build myself stronger, improve relationships with others, understand myself, my needs and the environment I live in.
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If you are looking for support on your journey, I absolutely recommend working with Ana.
Ana Caloianu - Norway
I called Ana in a difficult moment, when I needed a different method, approach and perspective on how to deal with a change of job and some personal issues, that overlapped with the social distancing situation.
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In less than 10 sessions, with Ana’s guidance, I managed to address almost all my raised issues and get back on track.
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I highly recommend Ana for her knowledge, for her great energy, empathy, flexibility and patience. She is what I call “part of the safety net” whenever in doubt or trouble. Thank you!
Catalina Roman, Romania
I choose to work with Ana because the sessions with her have a pleasant, calm, restful tempo. Where the body creates tension, Ana invites you to discover messages. Where fear arises, Ana has a gentle observation. Where effort and struggle predominate, Ana reminds you of the ease of being.
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With appreciation for professionalism, a magic mirror and the revelation that I can forgive myself … just like that! Thank you!
Camelia
Working with Ana makes me feel like anything is possible.
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When we first met, I was trying to change my job with no success. As soon as I began working with her, I started going on interviews and finally got an offer from another company. I continued working with her because she helps me find the way back to my own path.
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Compared to other people I worked with, I got to see results faster. She has a way of always asking the right questions, making you become more present in your own reality and understanding why you are there. During our sessions, I felt heard and seen but also determined to look at things inside that I avoided and that got me stuck in the first place.
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From our work I got more clarity and a better understanding of who I am. I am now more aware of the importance of setting an objective as well as more confident in my skills and competencies.
Carmen Soare - Romania
Working with Ana can be intense and fruitful. She knows how to open your perspective in the most unexpected ways with a very warm attitude that lets you go and explore your deepest needs and thoughts.
Liliana
Before working with Ana I had so many fears and I kept doubting myself constantly! I knew I could help so many new entrepreneurs build their dream business, get financial freedom and life they love if only I could get out of my head. I had so many voices inside telling me I still don’t know enough, I’m not qualified to teach this, etc. I was STUCK.
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Then I met Ana. She asked me all the right questions with a smile and non-judgmental attitude. I felt very safe and comfortable with her. Any time she had a question, she encouraged me to dig inside and find my own answers.
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At the end of our session I had an action plan for myself and answers on 2 pages! If you have a big mess in your head and self doubt, Ana will help you find clarity and answers within you. I will happily keep working with Ana-Maria. Thank you 🥰
Noa Yeger - Digital Entrepreneur, Israel
My sessions with Ana were amazing! ​Not only did she hold impeccable safe space for me to be vulnerable and open up, but also her gentle energy reminded me WHO I AM beyond all the stories I’ve told myself lately. Support is so needed sometimes and I feel so much Joy knowing she is there for me. ​Thank you, Ana!
Ana Drăgușin - Founder & Creative director
When I started working with Ana I knew I wanted to build my business but didn’t have the confidence to sell coaching.
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Through our work together I created an amazing life coaching package and gained the confidence to go out and sell it. Now I have realistic goals, clear plans, and I enjoy more ease while building a sustainable business.
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Ana is a skillful guide in finding the answers that we are already holding inside, but she also brings valuable lessons where/when needed. Her coaching skills really suited me.
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Most important – Ana is always kind, and does not beat around the bush, she is radically candid. I am so grateful for her work!
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Anne Marie Altman - Life Coach, USA
Working with Ana has been a life changer! Before working with her I struggled so much with lack of clarity. She made the process of finding my own truth so easy, guiding me with the right questions and creating a safe space for the journey of self-discovery. Now I feel so aligned!
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After working with Ana I am more aware, connected to myself and I am empowered even when challenging situations arise.
Janet Soriano - WordPress Designer, USA
Before being an inspirational coach, Ana is a great person. One that really cares and is 100% involved to foster the kind of transformation one needs and looks for, to “sharpen the diamond”. Working with Ana was mentally and emotionally refreshing.
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Her approach is professional, yet sweet and it guides you to reconnect to your inner self, at a very profound level.
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I warmly recommend her, for big or small changes, she will be a reliable partner on a path towards new perspectives.​
Simona Lazar - Agile Coach, Romania
I highly recommend working with Ana. Her style reminds me of my yoga practice where you have to be in strength and at ease at the same time. She manages to ask the deepest questions, while providing you with a space in which you feel safe. Her sessions are to the point, always with clear output.
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After our discussions I feel focused, energized and open to the next step of my life. Thank you Ana, for facilitating my next journey.
Maria Masha Gavrilescu - Head of Trade Marketing, Romania
I got incredible results in just a matter of two hours of working with Ana. I was able to solve problems in a deep way and possibilities that I could not see before opened up for me. I was fueled to get in alignment by getting clear on why I am here and what I bring to the world, aligning the actions in my business offerings, messaging, and life purpose. I got more results with less effort and energy!
Traci Refior - Intuitive Counselor, USA
​If any of these stories speak to you, it's likely your body is already whispering that it's time for change.
You don’t have to navigate this journey alone. Together, we can tune into the wisdom of your body, release what’s been holding you back, and create space for the life you truly want. Book a free call, and let’s explore if this path is right for you.