From founder to coaching partner – the journey that brought me here.

I’m Annelise Brbora, and I know what it's like when leadership feels overwhelming – when you're carrying too much, when every day feels like you're fighting fires, when you can't see how things could be different.

I’ve felt the exhaustion that comes with being responsible for everything, the frustration when you feel stuck in patterns that aren't working, and the quiet anger that builds when you know you're capable of more but can't figure out how to get there.

I've lived with that weight as a founder, building multiple venture-backed startups from nothing – the kind of innovative, fast-paced environments where the complexity is relentless and the stakes are high. I've navigated it as a senior leader in international consulting at Deloitte, operating across different markets and cultures. And I've experienced it through several career transitions, each bringing its own sense of uncertainty about identity, capability, and what's next.

What this journey has given me – moving between startups and established organisations, building and leading, navigating growth and change across different contexts – is a deep understanding of the challenges you're facing. Not from theory, but from living them.

Those experiences taught me something essential:

The path forward isn't about pushing harder or finding a smarter strategy. It's about creating space — space to think clearly when everything feels urgent, space to be challenged in your thinking without being rushed toward quick fixes, and space to be honest about what's really going on.

This insight led me to train as an executive coach, earning my Master's in Executive Coaching from Ashridge Business School and accreditation as an EMCC Senior Practitioner.

But the real foundation of my work isn't my credentials or the companies I've built. It is in knowing what it feels like to be where you are, in the middle of it all. And believing that clarity and change are possible even when they feel out of reach.

When we work together, I'm there to create the conditions where you can think deeply, where I'll challenge your thinking and help you see beyond your current perspective, and where the overwhelm can settle enough for you to access the wisdom you already have. The work is demanding — it requires honesty, reflection, and a willingness to look at what's not working. But it leads to decisions and ways forward that feel grounded, authentic and truly your own.