Katia had a background and career in marketing, working in Public Relations and Marketing departments for many years. In addition, being a busy mum of three teenagers, she naturally gravitated towards working closely with other people’s needs. At some point in her life, she felt something was amiss and embarked on a journey of self-discovery, which led her to seek professional help and mentoring. Experiencing the miraculous results and gaining insight into the empowering nature of helping professionals, Katia became inspired and passionate about diving into the world of life and transformation coaching.
She has been nurturing her counseling skills over the past four years specializing in Psychodynamics; she has recently finished her training and is working toward her ICF accreditation. In addition to this, she invests a lot of time exploring further reading, research, attending masterclasses, workshops and seminars and incorporating what she learns to improve her practice continuously.
As a transformation coach, Katia partners with her client at a deep level to explore underlying issues and thinking patterns, creating a non-judgmental and warm environment. Katia believes demonstrating empathy and raising awareness is critical to working with clients struggling with their well-being in a high-pressure environment. She strives to establish a safe and trusting environment, calming her client’s brain and reducing stress. Once an energy shift is observed, Katia invites her client to think through what is meaningful for them and to choose what they want to do with that awareness, digging deep into their needs and values and acting as their guiding light towards their desired outcomes.
“I believe it’s really important to show empathy to the client’s narrative. This creates safety and trust, and becomes the scaffolding of the coaching relationship.”
Offering her services to the LUV and Stix team, Katia doesn’t see unique requirements from people in specific job roles like software development. People are people, and more importantly, she believes the work is about tailoring holistic coaching to meet the needs of the unique whole person. She believes that stress is integrated into everyone’s daily lives and that coaching can help rewire the brain, by building healthy habits such as creating firm boundaries, filtering what is in their control, and listening to their bodies which serve as their stress sensor. Katia encourages a growth mindset to overcome challenges and feels most rewarded when she observes the positive outcome this has on their life.
Regarding misconceptions about well-being in the tech industry, Katia believes that people in this field, like everyone else, reward themselves with unhealthy habits such as high-fat foods, which can lead to long-lasting health issues. Another area where she feels overlooked in the tech industry is the new remote working culture where people embrace its benefits such as increased job flexibility. Although reduced interruptions from colleagues can boost productivity, it is important to address the potential impact on their emotional growth and resilience resulting from the lack of social interaction and human connection. Katia supports her clients to develop resilience and self-care habits to maintain a positive perception of well-being and be conscious of how this new learning impacts their life.
It’s transformational to foster a sense of control over our journeys, and Katia advocates that it’s okay to take a couple of steps back sometimes to move forward. Rather than racing for a quick fix, it’s about the long journey to instill lifelong changes.
“I feel rewarded every time I observe a change in my client’s energy and imagine the impact this has on their lives and society. It gives me hope that our new generations will live a freer, balanced and happy life. That’s what I love about coaching.”
For more information about Katia and her services, you can visit her website or contact her by email.