Let me start by sharing the most important battle in my life: cancer. This was discovered when I was very young, in my early 20s. It decided to pay me a visit and let me know it was there, so I had no choice but to get along. What do they say? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Well, that is exactly what I did, so much so that eventually the enemy left, realizing there was no room in my life for this distraction. It was the universe saying, “Hey man, time to slow down.” “We got it from here.” My battle with this disease was tough; however, the scar I carry now is one of strength and honour. I am blessed to have gone through this fight, and being so vulnerable only made me stronger and wiser.

I have had the pleasure of battling depression, with anxiety and panic attacks, which decided to come out of the closet and rear their ugly heads one day in a Walmart where I had a complete meltdown. I would say it was okay because everything and anything happens in a Walmart, so I was in good company. I had to allow this to pass within me and make peace with it as I partnered with these emotions. Eventually, we made friends, and I am much more attuned to my feelings and aware when something is off, allowing me to deal with it head-on.

I have had to battle sexual harassment within the workplace. Dealing with this was definitely an interesting point in my life, as I have never really looked at myself that way. I have always pictured myself, when in my workplace, more like a gladiator with armour, fending off the politics and injustices of how business works in the ivory towers, and me, the gladiator, defending my team in the field. I learned a lot on how to navigate in a male-dominated industry, and with this learning and moving forward, one could say I became good at it. So much so that my colleagues would tell me, “If you were a man, you would be dangerous.” I took that as a real compliment. Job well-done!

I have battled verbal assaults and physical assaults within my journey, from family and outside family, which hasn’t been easy. I learned that those who attack are often just really in a dark space of their own journey & self-hatred. It truly has nothing to do with me at all. I am a strong person, so, full transparency, I did fight back verbally and physically. To my surprise, it’s amazing how strong you become when in the moment of “kill or be killed,” time of realization.

Like most of you, I have suffered severe losses in my life, people who I was really close with and who I depended on for guidance. Through this, my realization was we are born alone, we die alone, and the best person we can always count on is ourselves. However, when we have those who can guide us, we should never devalue that time and appreciate them while we can. We all live through our journeys and deal with them in different ways. The constant is that we don’t have to do this alone anymore. We don’t have to feel embarrassed or self-defeated or weak or guilty because as humans, connection is the key to moving forward. I can tell you I have had many failures and disappointments and a lot of embarrassing moments within my life. This has defined me of who I am, and I would not change it for anything. Having to expose my vulnerability was tough at times and the realization was the way I was on the outside didn’t match the inside. Like the court jester pleasing all and dying inside little by little while doing this. Until the wake-up call of taking the first step of a new journey, and asking myself, “Adriana, what do you want for you in this life?”
So, what does all this have to do with me coaching others? Well, everything. Through all the journeys that I have been privileged to battle, live through, and learn from, I have gained insight from different perspectives and have done my own counselling to help me better understand why this happens? What am I supposed to do with all this life experience? Who can I help on their journeys and battles? Can I be the gladiator for someone else? When I lost my father several years back very tragically and suddenly, I was not allowed to say my goodbyes to him and have that time to mourn him in the ways most people have that opportunity to. From this, I decided once and for all where I was supposed to be in my life. Since I was already coaching without even realizing it with many people and saw the outcome as a positive not only for them but for me as well. I would do these sessions with people and watch them flourish and become the people they always wanted to be and become; I started to realize I am pretty good at this and wanted to dive deeper into the whole well-being arena in ways to be able to help all different people on their journeys.

The one thing that has stayed consistent for me was, without even the realization: Meditation. Yes, one could say I have been meditating since my early 20s, when battling my mental frustrations of the whys and the inner feelings of anger or sadness and looking for answers, meditation of just sitting there and breathing and being with my whole self in the quiet silence always gave me solace of peace and clarity that would bring me to a level of acceptance of what is. Today they have different names for it: Guided, Metta, Mindfulness, Vipassana, and many more. I believe mine, if I had to give it a name, would be mindfulness compassion.
So, the question you need to ask yourself is where do you wish to be moving forward? What do you really want for your life? What is important to you? What is it you are looking for? Are you where you want to be?

My coaching technique comes from being a realist and saying things how they are, basically let’s rip that band-aid off together without judgment or fear or guilt or wonder anymore of what might have been, instead of this is what I want moving forward in my life. You’re able to be vulnerable in our space together, you have complete autonomy, and you’re able to just stop; breathe and take that pause to look at your life and just be as you are in our sessions.

I am here to be beside you and support you and partner with you, and most of all be here for you with compassion and empathy in your guided journey. I am here to walk alongside you, of where you want your life to be and move forward. Don’t be afraid and remember we are all on our own journeys, if we walk together, we leave the fear and doubt behind.