I was born in Sweden to a Dutch mother and a Swedish father in 1975.
My years to date have been spent in Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Dubai and Australia. Throughout my childhood I had to learn to adapt to many new situations, going through the turbulence of my own parents’ divorce, fitting into a new blended family, moving to foreign countries, learning new languages, making new friends from a range of backgrounds and countries whilst figuring out who I was and what I wanted.
Since my youth, I have always had a passion for working with children. At secondary school, whilst I experienced my own challenges, I also saw the injustices that many of my peers faced through no fault of their own. Determined to become a youth worker, I left the Netherlands to study Criminology and Psychology in the United Kingdom. Although it hugely interested me, I realised after graduating that this wasn’t my true purpose. The next 3 years were spent working on and off with younger children in various contexts, and after discovering that this was where my true passion lay, I pursued a degree in Primary School Education.
3 years working at a school in an impoverished area of London gave me insight into a huge range of obstacles that children face, and my subsequent move to Dubai to continue my teaching journey provided me with invaluable exposure to different cultures, backgrounds and parenting styles.
My most recent move in 2016 to Melbourne, Australia, opened up yet another chapter. Giving birth to my son that same year, meant a break from my teaching career and a new realisation that there was so much more to parenting than I had ever anticipated.
I spent the next 3 years ensuring that I could be the best version of myself for my son, husband and 2 step-daughters, and so began my journey into personal development, Life Coaching, Parent and Kids’ Coaching.
5 years on and I have successfully completed training to be a Master Practitioner of Life Coaching, including training in Conscious Hypnosis and NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming).
I am also a Certified Coach
with the Jai Institute of Parenting and continue to build my knowledge daily by immersing myself in relevant courses, books and podcasts.
In my spare hours I love spending quality time with my beautiful family, walking my dog, cuddling my cat and reading for new growth and inspiration. Travelling and exploring new destinations fills my cup, as does soaking up the sun on a beautiful beach, eating yummy food and having a good singsong and dance in my bedroom (sometimes happily joined by my 6 year old son).
Because of my rich cultural and varied upbringing, I have learned to see things from different perspectives. One of my strengths is to never assume, to always be curious, and to listen with an open heart.
My vision is to help spread the peaceful parenting message across the globe, to inspire parents to parent from the heart, so that their children can thrive and make way for a more peaceful, happier future.
(Picture of my beautiful family below :-))
