Who am I?

Sounds like a guessing game, right? Well, nah 😀

What would you like to know?

Read about my personality changes instead of position and task descriptions

Same regarding various educations and schools

If you are keen to know about that stuff I deliberately avoid mentioning, just flick me an e-mail 😀
Let’s start digging into my present:

Life Coach Andrea NZ | Treasure Consulting

How on earth have I ended up as a reflective supporter / confidante / life coach ?

A true friend does not say what I want to hear. Instead, they say what I need to hear – even if it hurts.

Right before the start of my coaching studies, one of my closest friends asked me a question. “You’re not planning to become a coach after the course, are you? Because your personality does not fit this occupation.”
It felt like a smack in the face. Painful but helpful 😊 It put my motivation back on track: studying coaching for my own personal development, not for working as a coach.
To my biggest surprise, I got lots of positive feedback from coachees who were my “guinea pigs” during my coaching studies. Coaches and executives told me that I am highly skilled to do it. They encouraged me to become a coach because I can help people through this.

A year later, even my friend said that I had changed; I seemed calm. I had found my purpose.

What repertoire of hats I have you can choose from, which one You want me to wear. However, mostly I will swap them anyway depending on what YOU NEED at the moment.

Safe bubble where you can be the TRUE Yourself / A pair of non-judgmental listening ears / Bottomless rubbish bin

“who am I” – I know who I am, so I now (mostly) can accept myself
“who am I” – that’s why I can accept YOU, as who you are and how you are at the moment
Do you dare to ask the question from yourself: “Who am I ?”

Cheerleader / Trainer / Pusher – i.e. I cannot deny who I am because these too

Time and task management skills acquired on the financial market are handy when it is about facilitating planning and keeping others accountable, sometimes by pulling them back on track by their harness 😊
The goal was to make a plan for professional development. In the end, they got the job of their dreams. How? They thought through their desires, options, resources, preferences. And when the job opportunity came along, it ticked all the boxes.
For micro-businesses, business problems can originate in personal issues. So, to remove the obstacles that prevent solutions to the business issues, the personal ones need to be faced first – and by doing that, the business problems can potentially dissolve.
Discovering your core values and their order of importance for you can provide answers to multiple, seemingly unrelated questions and issues. Sounds mysterious? Let me keep a few secrets, please. 😀

How have I gotten here?

Voluntary work at a sport sclub

A shocking 180 degree turn from working in the banking industry. Working with elderly volunteers after adhering to the tight, hour by hour deadlines within the day, I needed continuous self-reflection, had to slow down and learn to adjust to their pace.

However, I understood that I must upskill myself in people skills! -> Diploma in Professional Coaching

Stock exchange, bank, security market – and the real-life behind these

2006-2010

Standing at the bottom of the pit and staring at the ladder leading out of it, I had to make my decision: stepping up on the first step or not. Knowing that climbing out will be an extremely painful journey.

The ladder was indeed long, much longer than I had anticipated. However, now I only remember the first two steps I had to take. The confidence I gained from the first two was enough to pull myself up to the third. And then countless more.

A supportive, understanding and encouraging work environment can make a big difference throughout a journey like this.

“Lightning never strikes twice in the same place.” Well, it does. And the question is whether it puts us off permanently or we stand up to victory. Like we did after the first one.

2004-2006

Maternity leave. Losing a child is like hell on earth, but joy and sorrow can walk hand in hand.

2001-2004

In hindsight, this is when I first coached someone – heavily mixed with mentoring and teaching. It might have taken a year for my colleague to climb their own Himalayas, but I still think of this as my biggest professional success.
It was worth far more than any position I have ever achieved.
However, back then, I also thought that I always needed to be in the right.

1999-2001

I still thought that status (i.e. what’s written on my business card) is what matter.
However, for the very first time in my life, I stood up for myself. Not yelling, but in a very calm, quiet voice. It had a drastic, positive outcome. The change had started 😊 (even if the journey, which included the discovery of “who am I”, took much longer than I thought).

1999

“I resigned because of the things we had heard about you. I wish I didn’t. They were false.” one of my colleagues said. The damaging effects of gossip, especially if it comes from someone who does not know you, never worked with you, but just crossed paths on the corridor.
However, back then, I thought position did matter.

1998

Whose dreams am I trying to fulfil? I dropped out of PhD studies because it was my parent’s dream – not mine. And it’s not my job to fulfil the dream of others.
Oh yeah, I am a terrible salesperson 😊 it is not about the people though… but I am not sure why. Maybe I am too honest: with myself and with others as well. Can someone be “too honest”? Is it dishonesty if I “rather not say anything”?
I dare to ask those hard and painful questions which bring people forward by unravelling the root problem. I always tell them: Do not answer me. Answer yourself! But honestly.

1997

How to convince a prospective client NOT to invest their monthly grocery allowance into a single stock – especially for one month. I.e. putting the clients’ interest first. (I was sweating blood, but somehow I made it 😀)

back to the top of page

What have I learnt?

People

2019-2021

The art of creating a safe bubble where people do not need to fight for understanding and acceptance. So, they have a chance to recognise some of their deeper issues and might make up their minds to face a few of those.
Only this, the desire for change coming from within, can lead to a transformed life.
That is how I have finally found out the answer to my “who am I”.

2017-2018

That year and a half* (upgraded with a few personal traumas) were like a self-discovery journey in a labyrinth. I had to re-learn who I was: life had smacked a few times, and moving countries taught me humility.
I was shocked to discover that I ended up as an introvert on the test. Me, the extra-extrovert.
Then I realised: I am not changing into something new but 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 to who I was 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦.
I have been taking off the uncomfortable, protective garments: shields, swords, axes, and breastplates, which have shaped my thinking and behaviour.
It came with digging down to the roots, beating my monsters one by one. Once we can identify what monster we are facing, we are already halfway to victory!

It was a big leap on my “who am I” journey.
*a one-year full-time course at a tertiary institution, ending with a Diploma in Professional Coaching. It gave tremendously wide foundations and covered multiple areas of coaching.

Transition

2016

I had been yearning to learn project management for a very long time. I just could not fit it into my life of full-time job, family, and the work of pulling myself together.
It was a great introduction to studying in English.

Finance

2004-2005

Becoming a chartered accountant was a first step of a perfect plan. It could have been a home-office job, a perfect fit for raising our children. Well, it remained a plan. I graduated, but then our life had a very unexpected turn.

2000-2002

It was great! By the end of my MBA course, I realised I would not want to be a top manager.

The “who am I” cleared a bit.

1993-1998

I would not say that the stock exchange was love at first sight. Especially, that finance was the first off my list of specializations, due to the very heavy workload. However, by the end, every other option got off my list and eventually, the stock exchange must have fallen in love with me 😀
A Bachelor, then a Masters in Economics. Budapest Stock Exchange and Budapest Commodity Exchanges trading certificates. (Yes, once upon a time, there were two exchanges in that tiny capital of Hungary). Then the futures trading certificate.