For a long time, I thought something was wrong with me.
Trained as a media designer. Studied communication science. Worked at a university, did Marketing for Professor Meffert, went freelance. On paper: everything right. In my gut: a constant unease.
I sat in structures that worked for other people, and quietly wondered why I never really felt at home in them. Not the wrong environment. Not the wrong people. Something in me just didn’t fit.
Then came a conversation with a coach. No big event, no revelation “just” a coaching session.
He asked me one question: “What do you really want?”
I answered. He listened. And asked again: “What do you really want?”
I answered again, deeper this time. He nodded. And asked again.
The same question. Over and over. Not to frustrate me. But because he knew: the first answer is rarely the real one. Only when you can no longer dodge it, when all the polished explanations run dry, the inner truth comes to surface.
What hit me wasn’t the question itself. It was that he saw something in me that I couldn’t see in myself. He didn’t coach me. He held space, space I did not allow myself to own before.
At some point he said: “Write an application.”
Me: “For what?”
Him: “For the thing you actually want to do.”
That application – that’s who I am today.
But the path there wasn’t a straight line.
There were stones on the road. Doubt. Uncertainty. Moments where I wanted to stop or take a wide detour around the hard parts.
I learned not to do that.
Not because I’m particularly brave, but because I understood that the stones aren’t blocking the path. They are the path. Every stumble, every difficult phase, every decision that took courage, it brought me exactly to where I am today.
And what does success mean to me? Not revenue. Not reach.
Being there for myself and for others. That’s it.
I’m Niv, a bilingual career and leadership coach based in Berlin.
I work with professionals who feel stuck, are navigating a career change, preparing job applications, building their network, or stepping into leadership.
I have coached over 200 Clients across Germany and Europe, I’ve seen one thing over and over: most people already know what they want. They just need someone to help them hear it.
Not with ready-made frameworks. But by asking the right questions again and again, deeper and deeper until you find your own answer.
Exactly the way my coach once did for me.
If you’re a professional in Berlin, Barcelona or anywhere and you have the feeling that there’s more in you than is currently coming out:
Book a free 30-minute clarity call — no commitment, just clarity.
And check out my Career Coaching Page
PS: Why Berlin and why Barcelona, I´ll tell you next time.
