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ADELINA STEFAN: How to Create a Thriving Career as a Professional Coach
Threads of Wisdom Hosted by Vena Verga-Danemar
The most important step in creating and maintaining your business is to be agile, continuously inspect and adapt, redefine goals and your dream destination, and revisit periodically your What Really Matters List.
If you aren’t taking any action quickly, the chances are that your goals will become even more distant and you may end up frustrated or disappointed that you haven’t even tried that amazing idea you had. So, as the captain of your own boat, adjust the sails and change your boat’s direction towards your what really matters, removing any obstacles or unnecessary details that may delay your work.
The coaching industry is booming, with projections reaching $7.3 billion in annual revenue and nearly 167,000 active coaches worldwide. More professionals are stepping away from traditional careers in search of impact, flexibility, and financial independence, turning their expertise into coaching and expert-based businesses.
But success in this space isn’t guaranteed. While some coaches build thriving, sustainable businesses, others struggle to gain momentum. What separates those who succeed from those who don’t?
In this series, we’ll highlight coaches who have overcome challenges, refined their strategies, and built successful practices. Through their experiences, insights, and lessons learned, you’ll gain valuable takeaways that can help you create a coaching business that not only survives but thrives.
We had the pleasure of interviewing Professional Coach, Trainer and Founder of Advanced Talent, Adelina Stefan.
Thank you so much for your time and for joining us today, Adelina. Before you share things about your coaching practice, can you tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m Adelina, a dual citizen of Greece and Romania, calling Zurich, Switzerland home for the last 8 years. I’m a Professional Coach, Trainer and Cultural Consultant and the Founder of Advanced Talent, an organization dedicated for L&D interventions, dedicated to empowering individuals and organizations to growth and achieve sustainable success. I’m also the mother of Sophia Athina, my lovely 6-year old daughter, the wife of Adrian, and a friend of many.
I moved to Switzerland for love, 9 years ago to join my partner (currently, husband), Adrian, an upholstery engineer who at that time, was on an expat assignment in Switzerland. Today we are living in Zurich with our daughter and 12-year old Birman Tom-cat.
I was born in the Carpathians mountains of Romania and started my studies in Greece, followed by a career in the academia, and business administration. As a child, I was always fascinated of cultures, languages, travelling, living abroad, which made me purchase a first degree in Languages and Linguistics, and later, an MBA and Master in Sociolinguistics and Intercultural Communication.
As an expat since my early career, I’ve been on a continuous discovery journey and exploration: new experiences, seeing the world through different lenses, going to places you thought you never thought of going, meeting new people, listening to various amazing cultural stories and on the other side, experiencing the sense of loneliness, a feeling of being lost and apart from you friends and family, mix with an instilling desire for navigating your own journey on new territories, to learn, adapt and grow.
I am sure a lot of our expat readers can relate. Now, can you let us know why you started a coaching practice given your very diverse background?
My journey has taken me on a continuous path of exploration, transformation and development. Driven by a passion for exploring cultures, continuous learning and a strong belief in the power of working smart to achieve your goals, I embarked on a career in learning and development over a decade ago. I started my journey as a Business Consultant during my full-time university studies, wherein I was working in the travel industry with people of different nationalities of cultures.
During my studies, I was also engaged in various academic projects given my focus on languages and cultural exchanges, which made me start my freelancing activity. This was initially a hobby, which soon, turned into a side business focused on translation and research projects for various purposes. Later, due to my work in the business sector, I decided to apply for an MBA, and I received a full scholarship for my studies in the UK.
I wouldn’t have thought that I would end up in Switzerland and become a full-time entrepreneur.
When moved to Switzerland, I was working on my MBA research in HR practices and cultural diversity, and hence, I took this as an opportunity build my network in Switzerland and integrate myself as an expat. I had to learn a new language, new culture, new way of living and find my way forward. I was also advised to a pursue Master to get a degree from Switzerland, which led to Master in Sociolinguistics and Business Administration in Bern — pursued at the same time with my second year of my MBA studies! It was a very intense period, full of development, challenges, adjustments, lessons, and great learnings. In the process, I also built upon my expertise in intercultural education in global organizations and I authored two books exploring cultural diversity in HR practices of recruitment, selection, training, and development.
Global Strategies For Culturally Diverse Workforce: HR Agenda
Advancing Intercultural Perspectives Through Corporate Training
My dedication to helping people craft their unique career blueprints has been initially recognized through academic achievements, research studies and publications, and through my own transformation journey as an expat. As such, all these steps made my entrepreneurial journey feel as a natural next step in my life and career.
When my daughter was born 5 years ago, I had to question myself and career as an expat once again, and hence, rethink my priorities and redefine my identity based on my values and foundation I had created so far. This is how Advanced Talent®, a small organization dedicated for L&D interventions, took shape: made of every single human story that I’ve read or I had the opportunity to uncover through my work with professionals in transition. I could also say that having the opportunity to connect and work with people from various cultural environments gave me the chance to actively listen and craft collaboratively their story in a unique way. I’ve always found this work fascinating, especially seeing individuals becoming full of confidence, ready to take charge and thrive in their life and career; it also gives me a sense of fulfilment from my career.
What are the primary services that you offer in your coaching business? Can you provide a brief overview of what clients can expect when they work with you?
Through my work, I enable inner transformation, motivating people to take charge and communicate confidently their essence and values to achieve excellence. I use my expertise in Intercultural Communication, HR Practices and Diversity and Inclusion to enable organizations and individuals to create alignment around what really matters.
My mission at Advanced Talent® is to cultivate individuals’ inner talent to enhance their well-being and performance at work by being emotionally balanced and achieving more of what really matters
As a highly sought-after career and cultural integration coach, I help individuals find their inner confidence, present themselves in a way that will get them more job interviews, be able to master the interview process to secure the job, and above all else, find their own sense of home in their host culture.
Through my corporate services, I support organizations in transforming obstacles into opportunities by unlocking leaders’ potential to maximize their overall work performance and organization. When employees are happy, feel valued and feel like they are really part of an organization they will perform at their best and are more likely to stay long term. My role is to support employees feel a sense of purpose and connection to their organization by understanding the culture they are working in, enjoying their work, performing better their job duties, enhance their creativity and develop more of a sense of a team by working in more productive ways.
Do you have any specific advice to women who are planning to go on coaching?
One important lesson I learned throughout my journey is that the most important step in creating and maintaining your business is to be agile, continuously inspect and adapt, redefine goals and your dream destination, and revisit periodically your What Really Matters List.
If you aren’t taking any action quickly, the chances are that your goals will become even more distant and you may end up frustrated or disappointed that you haven’t even tried that amazing idea you had. So, as the captain of your own boat, adjust the sails and change your boat’s direction towards your what really matters, removing any obstacles or unnecessary details that may delay your work.
Another crucial thing when running a business, but also in daily activities is asking for help — something that even if I have improved my ability in asking for expert advice, I still struggle with at times due to my perfectionist mindset. By asking for help, you realize that there are many people around you, and, even if at the beginning you may think that you can complete a task faster than others, remember that in the long-run, you can achieve more than you have initially thought. So, my advice is to get a mentor or coach who can help you to get clarity, validate yourself and implement an effective strategy to achieve your goals, and at the same time, integrate healthy habits in your life and career.
If you can share one inspiration quote to our readers, what would it be?
I can’t control the wind, but I can adjust the sail. And a second one, If you don’t start somewhere, you’re gonna go nowhere.
As a former client/student of Legally She Can, can you describe how it felt like after nailing down your business legalities and how it helped you in your business/coaching practice.
Working with Vena at Legally She Can has been an amazing journey from day 1! I must say that I’ve started my business in Switzerland without even thinking about my business legalities. I went by trust, which I considered a Swiss value, but later I realized that you can never know what can happen one day with a challenging client or situation.
I love being proactive and having everything in place so that I can focus doing more of the work I love and on the value that I can bring to my customers. The experience with Legally She Can was truly unique! Vena always guided me with everything I needed to implement in my business and hence, gave me the peace of mind that I needed at the end of the day, from the legal side.
I definitely believe business legalities is a must process that every (future) entrepreneur should go through, ideally before starting their business activity and therefore, I highly recommend the services of Legally She Can to anyone who aims to create a safe foundation for their business!
How can our readers get in touch with you or see your current offers?
I have recently created new resources for people in transition, expats going through a career change or searching for a new role, while integrating life and career.. They are currently offered for free for a limited time and can be accessed on my website under Gifts for You.
www.theadvancedtalent.com/get-your-freebie
I’ve also created an Agile Career Strategy self-paced course to help individuals in transition to land a new job, catalyze their career path and learn the process of the job application specificity. This course can also be for you if you feel stuck in your career, have been out of work for a period of time or have relocated to a new cultural setting to accompany your partner / spouse in their assignment. The advantage is that new resources are constantly being added to the course to align with the job market trends and your access to it is unlimited.
You may check the special offer here:
We appreciate your time Adelina, thank you!
About the Interviewer and the Founder’s Tapestry
Vena Verga-Danemar is a lawyer turned legal and business strategist based in Zurich, Switzerland, with over 10 years of experience helping women entrepreneurs legally protect and scale their businesses across multiple jurisdictions. As the founder of Legally She Can, she specializes in business compliance, contracts, and legal strategies designed for coaches, experts and online business owners.
Her approach blends legal expertise with strategic business growth, making complex legalities accessible and actionable for entrepreneurs.
Now at the helm of The Founder’s Tapestry, Vena brings her sharp legal acumen and business insights into thought-provoking conversations with remarkable women entrepreneurs and industry leaders. She uncovers the wisdom, strategies, and lessons behind their success — providing invaluable takeaways for those ready to step into their own power.
You can learn more about Vena by visiting the Legally She Can Website or Listening to her Podcast: The Legally Fluent Podcast, Online Business Decoded.
