Career Coach in Amsterdam · ACC, International Coaching Federation
And what would you
like to have happen?
That's the first question I'll ask you, and almost nobody answers it straight away. I'm a career coach in Amsterdam for people who are good at their jobs: when they feel stuck, when they're deciding what's next, and when they've just started something new.
Based in Amsterdam · Coaching online, in English & Polish
Who this is for
Does any of this sound familiar?
Most of the people I work with are doing well on paper. They also know something needs to shift. It usually happens at one of three moments.
When you feel stuck
- You're good at your job, and it isn't showing up in your title or your pay.
- People with less to show for themselves keep getting promoted ahead of you.
- You've thought about all of this a great deal, mostly at 6am, alone.
When you're deciding what's next
- You want something different and you can't say what.
- An offer is on the table, and you're not sure it's the right one.
- There's a real decision in front of you — a promotion, a pivot, a return from leave — and you'd like to make it on purpose.
When you're new in a role
- The new role or promotion isn't quite what you expected.
- Everyone congratulated you. Nobody has asked how it's actually going.
- You're now leading people who used to be your peers.
If you recognised yourself in two or three of those, book a call.
About
Being stuck is not the same as failing.
Most of the people who come to me are doing well. They deliver, they're trusted, and nobody has asked them in years what they actually want. Somewhere in there they've started to wonder whether the problem is them.
I spent around nine years inside fast-moving companies, mostly in fintech. I watched capable people hit a ceiling that had very little to do with the quality of their work. Sometimes the ceiling was the politics. More often it was the story they'd got used to telling about themselves. I've since seen the same pattern in tech, consulting and life sciences, so wherever you sit, I'm not reading your world from the outside.
I retrained because that second conversation turned out to be the one that changes things.
Training & accreditation
Associate Certified CoachInternational Coaching Federation
Brain-Based Coaching
Brain-Based Conversation Skills
Brain Coach Certification
ICF Continuing Coach EducationNamed one of the Top 15 Career Coaches in Amsterdam, 2025 — Influence Digest
The approach
Inner clarity before outer strategy.
Roughly in this order, though people loop back constantly and that’s fine.
What's really in the way
We start with what's really going on. It's usually a different thing from the one you booked the call about.
Where you're headed
Once that's clear, the direction is often obvious. We check it against what you care about, so you can explain the decision to yourself first and then to everyone who'll ask.
How you get there
Then the practical part. How you talk about your experience, who needs to hear it, what you do on Monday morning.
I don’t have a framework to sell you. The questions are the method.
Curiosa asks the questions I’d ask.
If you're not ready to talk to a person yet, talk to yourself properly instead. Curiosa is built on Clean Language, the same questioning method from counselling psychology that I use in sessions. She gives no advice, adds nothing of her own, and stores nothing.
Fifteen minutes, your own words. Bring the thing you keep turning over on the way home.
Work with me
Ways we can work together.
Three ways in. All of them start in the same place: getting clear before getting strategic.
The Clarity Session
One long conversation about the thing you can't decide — the offer, or the role that's quietly stopped fitting. It's also a fair test of whether you like working with me.
- A 90-minute deep-dive session
- One clear, honest next step
- A written summary of what surfaced
- Credited toward a programme if you continue within 14 days
The Turning Point
Stay or go. Step up or sideways. You've written the pros-and-cons list more than once, so we both know the list isn't the problem. Three months is long enough to get underneath it and then act.
- A decision you can stand behind — and explain
- The thinking that led to it, in writing
- Positioning, story & first steps for the move
- Support between sessions
- 8 coaching sessions over 3 months
The Long Game
For a transition already underway: a new role or promotion into unfamiliar territory, a pivot, coming back after time out. These are made of a hundred small decisions rather than one big one, and six months means you don't make them alone.
- The transition made — step by step
- Everything in The Turning Point
- Deeper narrative & presence work
- Ongoing accountability between sessions
- A way of thinking that outlasts our work
I share prices on the discovery call, once I know whether you're paying or your employer is. It's an easier conversation in that order.
What clients say
What changes when you get clear.
On being passed over
I'd been passed over twice. I kept telling myself the problem was my performance — turns out it was how I was showing up. Once I understood that, everything shifted. The promotion came four months later. I'm still a little surprised it worked that fast.
— Kristina · Compliance Professional, European FintechOn finding a new direction
I knew I wanted something different but I couldn't say what. Karolina helped me see that the pivot I wanted wasn't as radical as I thought — I just needed to reframe the story I was telling about my own experience. Within three months I was in a completely different role.
— Lucas · Fintech Professional, Career PivotOn making the case for a move
I had eight years of experience that nobody could see properly because I didn't know how to talk about it. Karolina didn't rewrite my CV — she helped me understand what my experience actually meant, and then I could explain it. That was the thing nobody else had done.
— Sylwia · Operations Professional, Moved into StrategyOn a pivotal career transition
Working with Karolina during a pivotal career transition was incredibly grounding. As an achiever, it is easy to get caught up in the pressure of 'what's next,' but Karolina helped me hit the pause button and look inward. In just one session, she helped me realize that the key to my professional boldness isn't about shifting my identity — it's about establishing firm boundaries so the person I already am can show up fully. She provides a gracious, entirely non-judgmental space that allowed me to untangle my true professional goals from external expectations. I highly recommend her to anyone looking for deep, actionable clarity.
— Yashaswini · Senior Professional, Career TransitionNot ready to book?
Five questions, if your career feels stuck.
A short PDF of the questions I'd ask if we only had ten minutes. Leave your email and it comes straight through.
I write now and then afterwards, and you can unsubscribe from the first one.
Questions
Good to know.
Who do you work with — is this only for people in fintech?
No. My own background is in fintech, so I know that world from the inside, but the coaching isn't sector-specific. I work with people in tech, finance, consulting, life sciences and elsewhere. What clients have in common is a moment rather than an industry. The logo on your CV matters far less than the questions you're sitting with.
How is this different from mentoring or consulting?
A mentor tells you what they did. A consultant hands you their answer. Coaching helps you find your own, which is the version that tends to stick. I bring real experience from inside these industries, and I use it to ask better questions rather than to prescribe.
Where are you based?
I'm a career coach based in Amsterdam, working with clients across the Netherlands and internationally. Coaching is done online, so we can work together wherever you are — in English or Polish, whichever feels most like you.
How are sessions held?
Online, by video, wherever you are. Most of my clients juggle demanding roles across time zones, so sessions are built to fit around real working lives.
Can my employer fund this?
Often, yes. Many clients are supported by their employer's learning or development budget. I can provide everything you need to make the case, and pricing is set up for both self-funded and employer-funded coaching.
I've only just started a new job. Isn't it too early for coaching?
It's actually a good time. The first months shape how others see you, and how you see yourself in the role. We look at what's surprised you, what's expected of you, and what you want this role to become, before the habits set in.
What happens on a discovery call?
Thirty minutes, no pressure and no pitch. You tell me where you are and where you'd like to be. If it feels like a fit, we talk about which of the three ways to work makes sense. If it doesn't, you'll still leave the call with something useful.
Ready to get clear?
Thirty minutes, online, no charge. We'll talk about where you are, where you want to be, and whether coaching is the way to close the gap.
Book a discovery call