#65: Reclaiming the Body’s Wisdom!

In this episode, I connected with Emilia Villegas, founder of Flow With Emilia, women’s health coach and hormone advocate. And a woman who turned her own health crisis into a mission for collective change!

Born and raised in Mexico and shaped by life across seven countries, Emilia built a successful corporate career in tech before her body forced her to pause. Back surgery, burnout and hormonal imbalance. Dismissal in a five minute doctor’s appointment. 

What could have remained a story of frustration became a turning point. Instead of silencing her symptoms, she chose to listen. What followed was not just healing, but a reclamation of voice, purpose and power.

Deep dive talking points:

👉🏾 From corporate to calling: how a back injury and chronic stress cracked open a deeper truth about alignment;

👉🏾 The loneliness of health struggles: why pain can isolate us even when we are surrounded by love;

👉🏾 Hormonal imbalance and dismissal: what happens when the healthcare system tells you to Google your own answers;

👉🏾 Self-compassion as strength: moving from self-criticism to body literacy and understanding;

👉🏾 Reclaiming the body’s wisdom: learning to go within instead of constantly searching outside!

Nuggets of empowerment:

🙌🏾 Your body is not your enemy, it is communicating. The moment you stop fighting it, you start learning from it;

🙌🏾 Self-compassion is not softness. It is a radical shift from punishment to partnership with yourself;

🙌🏾 When you feel dismissed, that can be the beginning of self-leadership. Not because you should be alone, but because you realize your voice matters!

Emilia’s empowering quote:

🙌🏾 “Our bodies are always on our side.” 

What about you:

What if the symptoms you are trying to silence are actually invitations to slow down, to listen and to trust yourself more deeply?

Connect with Emilia:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emiliavillegas/ 

Company: https://flowwithemilia.com 

Learn more about our sponsor:

https://reinforcer.ai helps leaders turn everyday feedback into measurable behavior change, right where work actually happens

#64 Stillness as a turning point!

A fascinating convo with Monika Matuszewska, certified professional coach at LaMatu and a sharp, curious mind who has lived many lives inside one life: four master degrees, sixteen years in international corporate environments and a gradual transition into coaching where nuance matters more than performance.

Monika grew up in Poland with books and encyclopedias as a kind of home base and later built her adult life across borders, languages and communities. What moved me was how clearly she speaks about belonging, identity and the moment she realised she was being called to a quieter way of life, not as an escape but as a deeper alignment. 

Deep dive talking points:

👉🏾 vipassana and contrast: 12 days of silence followed by instant overload and what that revealed about her nervous system and her life;

👉🏾 belonging across circles: living between countries and communities and learning to belong in many places without needing to be central in all of them;

👉🏾 learning as a life stance: curiosity through books, travel and people and why people may be our biggest source of learning;

👉🏾 the shift from doing to being: from corporate achievement to depth, presence and real human conversations;

👉🏾 decisions, fate and family echoes: the strange ways “mistakes” can become your path and only make sense in hindsight;

Nuggets of empowerment:

🙌🏾 your body often knows before your mind can explain it. if something feels off repeatedly, that is not drama. it is data;

🙌🏾 the quiet life is not smaller. for some people it is the most honest life;

🙌🏾 belonging can be a mosaic. you do not need one place to hold all of you to feel at home in yourself;

Monika’s empowering quote:

🙌🏾 “I belong in so many places!”

Books mentioned:

📚 Stillness is the Key: Ryan Holiday, an ancient strategy for modern life!

If your life has been loud for a long time, what might change if you stopped treating quiet as absence and started treating it as guidance?

Connect with Monika:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matuszewska/ 

Company: https://lamatu.com 

Learn more about our sponsor:

https://reinforcer.ai helps leaders turn everyday feedback into measurable behavior change, right where work actually happens

#63: A decent life and ripple effects!

Fascinating convo with Anna Fedusiv, CPCC, ACC, founder of Empowerment LAB and a Ukrainian coach and community builder who brings clarity, depth and lived experience into conversations about work, identity and what it means to live well.

Anna grew up in post soviet Ukraine in a time of scarcity, hustle and emotional absence, shaped by entrepreneurial parents and a culture focused on survival. Her journey moved through a corporate marketing career, leadership roles, motherhood, burnout, grief, war and a deep inner reckoning. 

What stood out in our conversation was her honest inquiry into success, her courage to redefine it on her own terms and her commitment to live a decent life that creates ripple effects for others.

Deep dive talking points:

👉🏾 a decent life: redefining success beyond performance, expectations and status;

👉🏾 growing up in scarcity: how survival shaped ambition, validation seeking and burnout patterns;

👉🏾 burnout and leadership: the shift from individual contributor to team responsibility;

👉🏾 grief and war: putting the oxygen mask on first to remain human and of service;

👉🏾 empowerment in practice: from marketing to coaching and building spaces for awareness and agency;

Nuggets of empowerment:

🙌🏾 success without meaning quietly empties you, even when everything looks right on paper;

🙌🏾 awareness is not weakness. it is the moment you reclaim choice;

🙌🏾 your history can be heavy and still be a source of strength when you stop diminishing it;

Anna’s empowering quote: 

🙌🏾 “i’m a badass”

Book mentioned:

📚 Drive | Daniel Pink: autonomy, mastery and purpose as a lens for motivation and meaningful work;

Question for you:

What would shift if you allowed yourself to define a good life on your own terms, without borrowing expectations from others?

Connect with Anna:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annafedusiv/ 

Company: https://www.annafedusiv.com 

Learn more about our sponsor:

https://reinforcer.ai helps leaders turn everyday feedback into measurable behavior change, right where work actually happens

#62: You’ve got the key!

A fascinating deep dive with Krystal Wu 吴漾 wu, founder of WayBeyond Coaching and an intercultural strategy partner who supports managers to lead across differences with more clarity and care and who is also building a platform and community where coaches and clients can find each other through real connection.

Krystal’s story begins in southeast china in 1995, shaped by the one child policy and the hidden reality of being born as a second child. She was moved between caretakers from the age of one and grew up carrying questions about home, belonging and identity. What stayed with me is how she names the shift from living inside victimhood to stepping into agency. Not by erasing the past, but by inviting it to the table without letting it run her life.

Deep dive talking points:

👉🏾 crystal 3.0 and the courage to upgrade: why change matters more than familiarity;

👉🏾 context and identity: how early life shaped her sense of home, belonging and “being different”;

👉🏾 grief and continuity: losing her mother in november 2024 and the way love keeps living through us;

👉🏾 anger as culture and privilege: how cultures shape what we are allowed to express and what we suppress;

👉🏾 healing tools that grounded her: self trust, therapy, expressive writing and a circle of support!

Nuggets of empowerment:

🙌🏾 familiarity can feel safe, but safety is not always what we already know;

🙌🏾 your past may shape you, but it does not get to define you;

🙌🏾 you do not need a savior, but you do need the courage to take the hand that helps you step back into your own power!

Books mentioned:

📚 between us: how cultures create emotions

📚 coco: a story about remembering, grief and how love stays present through memory

How about you:

Where in your life are you still holding a story that defines you, and what becomes possible if you let it shape you instead?

Connect with Krystal:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystal-wu/ 

Linkedin company page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/waybeyond-coaching/  

Learn more about our sponsor:

https://reinforcer.ai helps leaders turn everyday feedback into measurable behavior change, right where work actually happens

#61: Diagnosis is the start!

In this episode, i connected with Yann Ghisalberti, a former it project and program manager who rebuilt his life after a fifth burnout led to an adult diagnosis of adhd and later autism and who now supports others as a coach and founder of Coach4ADHD in amsterdam, with a special focus on neurodivergence, trauma and belonging.

Yann grew up learning how to cope with being different before he had language for it. He carried years of stress, control and self-blame, until his body finally forced a stop. What moved me in our conversation was how honestly he spoke about guilt, the hidden cost of “functioning” and the slow return to self-trust. Not as a sudden breakthrough, but as a long walk of understanding, acceptance and choosing support.

Deep dive talking points:

👉🏾 burnout and breakdown: what his fifth burnout revealed when he could not push anymore;

👉🏾 diagnosis as a beginning: relief first and then the wave of looking back and connecting the dots;

👉🏾 guilt and emotional dysregulation: knowing what to do and still being unable to do it in the moment;

👉🏾 relationships under pressure: how adhd and autism showed up in partnership and parenting and what helped them shift;

👉🏾 purpose after survival: leaving it behind and building a coaching practice and a french-speaking support group in Amsterdam!

Nuggets of empowerment:

🙌🏾 awareness does not change your life by itself, but it can finally give you a doorway that is real;

🙌🏾 coping strategies can look like personality, until you meet the part of you that is just trying to survive;

🙌🏾 asking for help is not weakness, it is how the cycle breaks and how the next generation breathes easier;

What about you:

If you have been holding it together for years, what is one small place where you could let support in before your body forces the stop?

Connect with Yann:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yann-ghisalberti-adhd-coach-netherlands/ 

Company website: https://coach4adhd.nl/ 

The French Speaking ADHD Support Group: Café TDAH: https://www.impulsenwoortblind.nl/adhd-cafe-francais 

& https://coach4adhd.nl/cafe-adhd.html 

Learn more about our sponsor:

https://reinforcer.ai helps leaders turn everyday feedback into measurable behavior change, right where work actually happens

#60 Courage in motion!

Fascinating deep dive with Senneh Kamara, a young man whose life changed overnight and who chose courage instead of collapse. Born in Sierra Leone and now living in the Netherlands, Senneh lost his hand in a severe car accident at a young age. What followed was shock, grief, isolation and a long road of physical and emotional recovery. 

Rather than hiding, he learned to speak up, to be seen and to rebuild confidence on his own terms. Today he is stepping into education, community and voice, not defined by what he lost but by what he is becoming. His story is raw, honest and quietly powerful. 

Deep dive talking points:

👉🏾 sudden trauma: losing a hand and waking up to a new reality;

👉🏾 courage and self belief: choosing to move forward;

👉🏾 visibility and identity: when to speak and when not to;

👉🏾 solitude and healing: learning to stand on your own;

👉🏾 purpose ahead: education, medicine and impact;

Nuggets of empowerment:

🙌🏾 courage starts with believing yourself;

🙌🏾 solitude can be a teacher, not an enemy;

🙌🏾 you earn your own crown;

Senneh’s empowering quote:

🙌🏾 “Nobody gives you the crown. You give it to yourself”

Books mentioned:

📚 Courage: seven choices for living a life without regret

Closing reflection:

Where in your life are you waiting for permission that you could give yourself today?

Connect with Senneh:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/senneh-kamara-259899356/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/official_caspper_/    

Learn more about our sponsor:

https://reinforcer.ai helps leaders turn everyday feedback into measurable behavior change, right where work actually happens.

#59 Owning life now!

In this episode, I connected with Gabriela Alvarez Burgardt, a global inclusion leader now Global Senior Director People & Culture at House of Inclusion, whose life was reshaped by moments she never chose, yet chose to meet with intention.

Raised in Brazil and long successful in international corporate roles, Gabriela’s life changed radically during pregnancy when she temporarily lost her sight, followed years later by a near-fatal Covid experience. Those moments forced a reckoning with time, values and agency. 

Instead of retreating, she chose to move forward consciously. Today she lives in the Netherlands, working at the intersection of inclusion, leadership and lived experience, helping people and organisations move from survival to dignity, from comfort to courage. 

Deep dive talking points:

👉🏾 living with urgency: choosing intention over waiting;

👉🏾 disability and dignity: navigating a world not built for everyone;

👉🏾 identity and work: reclaiming agency after life disruption;

👉🏾 inclusion beyond labels: belonging as a human need;

👉🏾 courage in action: showing up fully, even when it hurts;

Nuggets of empowerment:

🙌🏾 life is now, not later;

🙌🏾 discomfort can be a doorway, not a threat;

🙌🏾 owning your story changes how you live;

Gabriela’s empowering quote:

🙌🏾 “I didn’t choose what happened to me, but I chose what I did with it”

Books mentioned:

📚 Courage: seven choices for living a life without regret (referenced as a resonant lens on regret and intentional living)

Closing reflection:

If time were no longer guaranteed, what choice would you stop postponing?

Connect with Gabriela:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriela-alvarez-burgardt/ 

Website: https://www.house-of-inclusion.com  

Learn more about our sponsor:

https://reinforcer.ai helps leaders turn everyday feedback into measurable behavior change, right where work actually happens.

#58 Living without regret!

A deep dive with Christopher O.H. Williams, NACD.DC, a writer of C.O.U.R.A.G.E: 7 Choices for Living a Life Without Regret, thinker and former global corporate leader who has spent much of his life wrestling with one quiet but persistent question: 

What does it really take to live without regret?

Born in Sierra Leone and educated in the United States, Christopher built an impressive international career. Yet somewhere along the way, success stopped feeling like alignment. In 2018, that inner tension became impossible to ignore. What followed was a deep personal reckoning that led him to step away from corporate life and write his book Courage, not as theory, but as lived inquiry. His journey moves through identity, power, silence and responsibility, and always returns to agency. 

Deep dive talking points:

👉🏾 Courage versus fear: why knowing is not the same as acting;

👉🏾 Regret: the quiet cost of postponing what matters;

👉🏾 Agency and identity: reclaiming ownership of your life;

👉🏾 Leadership and integrity: doing well without losing yourself;

👉🏾 Joy and resilience: why courage needs lightness to last;

Nuggets of empowerment:

🙌🏾 Courage needs something meaningful to work for;

🙌🏾 Silence often becomes regret;

🙌🏾 Joy reduces risk more than we realise;

Christopher’s empowering quote:

🙌🏾 “I wish I’d had the courage to live the life I wanted, not the life expected of me”

Books mentioned:

📚 Courage: seven choices for living a life without regret

Closing reflection:

Where in your life do you already know what needs to change, yet still hesitate to act?

Connect with Christopher:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherowilliams/ 

Website: https://www.christopherowilliams.com/book  

Learn more about our sponsor:

https://reinforcer.ai helps leaders turn everyday feedback into measurable behavior change, right where work actually happens.

#57 Unapologetically becoming self!

In this episode, I connected with Rumailah Burden-Tuuk, a woman whose life has been shaped by courage, responsibility and an unwavering commitment to stay true to herself. We met in a crowded room at Microsoft NL and something in her presence stood out immediately. This conversation reveals why :)

Rumailah grew up as the daughter of Filipino immigrants, became a mother at nineteen and was underestimated more times than she can count. Instead of shrinking, she chose to play big. Today she works as an AI advisory solution consultant at ServiceNow, translating complexity into clarity while holding a deep ethical compass around technology, leadership and human dignity. Her journey is one of survival turning into purpose, ambition grounded in gratitude and success shaped by values rather than titles. 

Deep dive talking points:

👉🏾 becoming a mother young: responsibility as a catalyst for growth;

👉🏾 unapologetic selfhood: refusing to play small to fit in;

👉🏾 intuition and courage: knowing when to walk away;

👉🏾 women in tech: navigating power, credibility and voice;

👉🏾 ethical AI: engineering with integrity and care;

Nuggets of empowerment:

🙌🏾 your starting point does not define your ceiling;

🙌🏾 intuition is a skill you can learn to trust;

🙌🏾 success means nothing without peace;

Rumailah’s empowering quote:

🙌🏾 “I am becoming my truest self”

Book mentioned:

📚 The rhythm of life: living intentionally and in gratitude

Closing reflection:

Where in your life are you still dimming yourself to belong, and what might change if you chose yourself instead?

Connect with Rumailah:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rumailahburden/ 

Website: https://www.servicenow.com  

Learn more about our sponsor:

https://reinforcer.ai helps leaders turn everyday feedback into measurable behavior change, right where work actually happens.

#56 What if it all works out?

In this episode, I connected with Mirjam Heldmann, a trail ultrarunner and deep democracy facilitator whose life bridges intensity, intuition and the steady work of becoming fully herself. Raised in the German Alps and adopted as a baby, Mirjam grew up with loving Buddhist parents and a deep sensitivity she could feel long before she understood. 

Running entered her life at fourteen as a way to regulate her nervous system and return to herself, and it grew into both a physical practice and a spiritual anchor. Today she combines her work at Oxfam Novib with Vox Agora, where she facilitates conflict resolution and cultural transformation through deep democracy.

Deep dive talking points:

👉🏾 Becoming fully herself: following yearly themes like self love and what if it all works out;

👉🏾 Adoption and identity: the unseen layers of trust, belonging and the complexity of both;

👉🏾 Deep democracy: learning to work with what is said and unsaid in groups;

👉🏾 The body as compass: running, breath and ice baths as pathways back to presence;

👉🏾 Love and safety: how a deeply safe relationship changed her inner landscape;

Nuggets of empowerment:

🙌🏾 The body often knows long before the mind understands;

🙌🏾 Belonging begins within when no place feels fully yours;

🙌🏾 Trust grows when you stay with the discomfort instead of checking out;

Mirjam’s empowering quote:

🙌🏾 “What if it actually all works out....”

Mirjam’s story invites a quiet shift:

What would change in your life if you allowed yourself to trust the possibility that it might all work out?

Connect with Mirjam:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirjam-heldmann/ 

Website: https://www.voxagora.org 

Learn more about our sponsor:

https://reinforcer.ai/home/ helps leaders turn everyday feedback into measurable behavior change, right where work actually happens.