@imagesbyrobert
About Me
Life taught me the essentialness of lovingly caring for oneself, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
During some very challenging times, as I meditated, I heard my inner guidance repeatedly and reassuringly say: “Take really good care of yourself so you are strong and all will be well.” I took this powerful message very much to heart and from then onwards I began to consistently listen to my soul. It became the compass in my life.
I carved out time for self-care, which I treated as non-negotiable and sacred.
It was during this time that I experienced firsthand what a difference it made in my own situation, when I truly cared for body, mind, heart and soul.
Regular time in stillness, with the deepest, highest and wisest parts of myself taught me how to listen and to hear my inner guidance. These profoundly restorative moments nourished and energized my inner resources. It was soul medicine. When stress levels were high and family and financial responsibilities piled up on me, I found courage, strength and resilience. I also found self-compassion, gentleness towards myself and self-love.
Throughout my life, I have felt a calling to consciously strive to become the most healed and true version of myself. There has been a lot to heal from due to considerable early life trauma, experiences that eventually became important teachings about emotional healing and empowerment.
My regular yoga and meditation practice was non-negotiable and became a platform into what came next, energy healing and Kripalu yoga teacher training.
I have attended Indigenous drum Journeys, medicine circles and coaching workshops, courses in shamanism, Nordic shamanism, reiki, women’s circles, individual healing sessions, and more. I have learnt from amazing mentors, healers, teachers, shamanic practitioners, Indigenous medicine people and other talented practitioners. I am so grateful to all of them for their powerful teachings and nurturing support.
The most consequential and empowering of all was what I directly and personally experienced on my healing journey, through which I acknowledged my own spiritual powers, and subsequently embraced the Nordic Modern Medicine Woman within me.
My Journey
Twenty years ago, I found myself recovering from divorce, in complete financial ruin, and a single mother. Tragically, not long after that also as the sole provider for my children while living on a different continent from any family. Needless to say, I was devastated and overwhelmed. I had to come to terms with the realization that I had sole responsibility and that it would be up to me to create the life I dreamed of for us. My children’s well-being was a top priority, and I had very high expectations of myself as a mother.
I did a lot of soul searching to find a way forward. I was in survival mode. I wanted an interesting and rewarding career but also had a vision of a life with freedom and flexibility. My circumstances were complicated, and it felt incredibly challenging, but the vision kept showing up again and again during my meditations. I made it my purpose.
Building on my previous work experiences and summoning my courage, I formed my own “one-woman” strategic marketing consulting firm in the global steel and metals industry.
With self-employment and a home office, I had the flexibility that I needed to meet my heart’s desire to be the best possible mother I could to my children and to be in their lives to the maximum. In parallel, I also met both my ambitious and curious mind’s need for intellectual stimulation and challenge, and my spirit’s need to feel free, joyful, expansive, and to be out in the world.
With some perspective, I came to realize that honoring these profound needs and desires of mine was an act of loving self-care that nourished my inner resources, because it was from there that I pulled courage, strength and resilience to stay on course both professionally and with motherhood.
By digging deep, being willing to grow and stretch a lot, as well as to exploring my strengths, skills, gifts, and professional potential in the many years to come, I had created my own tailor-made way of making a living that met my most profound personal needs and desires, as well as the needs of my family. This was personal fulfillment and success to me.
During my 25 years as a self-employed strategic marketing consultant, my clients included some of the largest steel producers in the world. At the end of the final presentation of a project when the client typically had expressed their full satisfaction with my work and the conversation shifted to more social, I was often asked how I ended up in this role. I clearly did not fit the mold of the typical consultant in the steel industry.
“I wanted to have my cake and eat it too”, I used to say with a smile, “I have always had high expectations of myself, and wanted an interesting, rewarding, international career. However, I also have high expectations of myself as a mother and working this way provides me with the flexibility and freedom that I need to also live up to these expectations.”
I was met with a certain surprise…. might I even call it mild shock. This was not the answer the industry executives in the steel industry expected. I have to admit that I really enjoyed dropping this little bomb, shaking things up a bit, claiming the right to be authentic and real as a woman, both as a professional and as a mother…. rather than feel I had to fit in with the norms of this conservative, male oriented industry.
Having grown up in an entrepreneurial family, my contribution was expected to be prioritized over any personal needs or feelings and my worth was measured based on capability and results. I had been “trained” as a young woman, to push down my emotions, ignore myself and simply get the work done, in other words, abandon my feminine and function from my masculine (we all have a masculine and a feminine side regardless of our sex). Through this I certainly learnt, already as a young woman, how effective, goal oriented and capable I am, and that inner knowing has been of tremendous value in my working life, where these masculine qualities often were required. Still, I suppressed a very important aspect of myself, my feminine.
As I healed and deepened my inner connection, I created space for my sensitivity and intuition also in my work life. As self-employed, I had the safe space and freedom to find my own way and let these aspects of myself be in full expression. Embracing both my feminine and masculine qualities, I found a much healthier balance in my life and an overall sense of calm, confidence and power. I felt vibrant and more aligned with my authentic self.
I often reflect on how valuable and advantageous my innate feminine traits were in my work as a strategic marketing consultant. Gaining access to market intelligence was crucial and depended on my ability to create trust-based relationships with key people. I was recognized for the high collaboration rates I achieved in important in-depth interview work all over the world, where the success of the project depended on the strategically important information that I gathered. Truth is that my intuition, sensitivity to other people’s emotions and understanding of energy were my superpowers and majorly contributed to my success.
Many women who work in the corporate world feel that their femininity must be suppressed in order to fit in and to be taken seriously. I can certainly relate to that.