This is the first in a series exploring my entrepreneurial life and personal metamorphosis: the choices, pivots, and discoveries that shaped who I am today.
Ten years ago, I closed my laptop for the last time as a corporate change strategist. The decision was abrupt. The endometriosis pain had returned, relentless and demanding. I had to choose: my career, or myself.
On August 16th, 2016, I chose myself.
Leaving Corporate: A Turning Point
That year marked a major turning point in my personal metamorphosis, one that had quietly begun back in 2013. At that time, I genuinely loved my work. I was a change strategist and a top-notch project manager, deeply engaged in impactful, multicultural projects. I thrived in complexity and movement. I was even compared with an ambassador—someone who knew how to bring change with grace, style, and the right tone.
Stepping away from corporate life gave me space to slow down, reflect, and reconnect with what truly mattered. I allowed myself time to rest and explore new interests, including learning Italian, though without practice after 2017, I eventually forgot how to speak it.
The NGO Years: Learning Through Service
In early 2017, I founded an NGO dedicated to raising awareness about endometriosis in Romania. Through the activities we organized, I truly believe we contributed to increasing understanding of this condition nationwide.
After a large event in the spring of 2018 at Radisson Bucharest, attended by almost 100 women, I realized how exhausted I had become. I was empathizing deeply with every story shared in our support groups, and it took a toll. I stepped back to reflect on the best way forward, and it felt right to pause the NGO's activities and reorient my energy toward a more sustainable path.
The Birth of a Coach
Alongside this reflection, creativity and curiosity continued to guide me. I have always loved supporting people's wellbeing and creating safe, nurturing spaces for growth and transformation. My creativity has consistently shown up through meaningful, thought-provoking questions.
In 2018, this naturally led me to consider becoming a coach. What started as an idea became reality in 2019. Serendipity played a role along the way: in January 2018, I received a scholarship for a Solution-Focused Coaching program in Bucharest. From March to November 2019, I attended coaching classes, and on November 8th - my name day - I graduated.
The Power of Colors
As part of the final graduation exam, we were required to facilitate a 30-minute coaching session with someone we had never met before. So, there I was, face to face with my very first client, someone who, at first glance, didn't seem to be in a situation that actually required a coach.
I remember thinking: Alright, Gabriela… let's see how you're going to break the ice.
Without having tested this approach before, intuition whispered that I should use colors. I began asking simple yet unexpected questions:
o What color was the sky when you were coming here?
o What color would you choose to describe how you feel right now?
Through this playful exploration, we arrived at a major issue she was experiencing in her relationship with her father. That moment stayed with me. From then on, whenever it felt appropriate, I used the power of colors in my coaching sessions.
I came to understand that beyond aesthetics, colors have a remarkable ability to influence emotions, cognition, and behavior. Integrating color-based techniques into coaching creates a dynamic and immersive way to deepen emotional exploration, foster self-awareness, and support meaningful transformation. Colors offer a visual language for expressing what can otherwise feel difficult to name, helping clients move closer to clarity, insight, and their full potential.
Tango and Coaching: An Unexpected Connection
Around the same time, I found myself reconnecting with another experience from my past. In 2014, I had enrolled in a tango course. I attended only a few classes, yet they were enough to reveal some essential elements of the dance:
- The connection created between partners who had never met before
- The mirroring of steps and emotions
- The responsibility of the leader to create a safe and supportive space
- The balance between structure and creativity
- And, through practice, the emergence of flow and presence
Years later, during the first module of the PURE Brief Coaching program, I rediscovered these same elements, this time within the coaching relationship. Just like tango, from the very first step, the first question, the framework for the entire "dance" is set. What follows is shaped by attention, presence, and sensitivity to how the other person responds.
Sustained eye contact, mirroring, and attunement are just as essential in coaching as they are on the dance floor. The deeper the connection between coach and client, the faster clarity and solutions emerge.
Just like tango, coaching is an art that deepens with practice. And like any dance, it begins with a single step: the courage to ask the first question, to yourself or to another
This is part one of my journey. In the coming posts, I'll share more about the creative experiments, unexpected turns, and lessons learned along the way.
If you'd like to explore how my work might support your own transformation, I'd love to connect. Reach out here: gabriela@gabrielablaga.com