Background & Testimonials
Background
I bring over 25 years of experience spanning finance, Human Resources, leadership development, and coaching. I began my career with PwC as an auditor and later moved into senior finance roles before following my passion for people development. At PwC I led Talent Management and Executive Development across Central & Eastern Europe, supporting partners and senior leaders through key career milestones.
I then served as Vice President of Human Capital on the executive board of Renaissance Insurance Group, before co-founding a boutique coaching and consulting practice.
I’ve been working as a coach since 2005, and as a supervisor for other coaches since 2015.
Today my practice is based in London and the Cotswolds, with clients across the UK and internationally.
Alongside my coaching work, I have written a number of articles on leadership - several published, others shared directly with my clients and wider network - exploring themes such as self-doubt, rediscovering identity, and the inner challenges that shape how we live and work.
Deckchair leader: Rediscovering identity in the silence of transition
Befriending the imposter
Feedback culture: from feeding self-doubt to encouraging self-trust
Permission to challenge: learning from our mistakes
Professional Qualifications:
MSc Organisational Change, Ashridge Executive Education, Hult International Business School
Post Graduate Certificate in Advanced Coaching and Organisation Development Supervision, Ashridge Executive Education, Hult International Business School
EMCC Global Individual Supervision Accreditation (ESIA)
EMCC Senior Practitioner (EIA)
Ashridge Accredited Executive Coach
Traumatic Stress Studies Certificate Program, Trauma Research Foundation
MA Economics, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Testimonials
“Each session was very thought provoking and fruitful, and the final outcome was far beyond my expectations. Maria opened me up to an honest conversation with myself and guided me on the path of self-discovery. She very elegantly helped me to find the way to improve my performance and job satisfaction. Maria is a genuine and compassionate person, which really helped me to feel comfortable discussing situations, which I would otherwise have not been able to openly talk about.”
“Working with Maria helped me a lot with finding a happier balance and improving relationships both at work and in my private life. She was always incredibly understanding, friendly and supportive; she was somehow able to identify the main issue straight away ask the right questions and suggest new attitudes and behaviours. I am sincerely grateful for Maria’s patience, objective assessment of the problems that needed addressing and wise guidance. I would highly recommend Maria as a coach to anyone!”
“Maria helped me to understand how my influencing style and behaviour are perceived by other people in the organisation. As a result I believe that I can now use a broader range of leadership styles and can be more effective both in interactions with my team and my colleagues in other departments.
Moreover, Maria has been supervising the work of our internal pool of coaches as a part of implementing coaching culture in our company. The whole team has the highest degree of trust and respect for her.”
“I found the coaching supervision process that I underwent with Maria very effective. She held the space for me to explore my issues with both my clients and my coaching strategies myself, and challenged and gave insightful and thought-provoking input in a very constructive and empathetic manner. Maria’s incisive contributions helped me to stay focused on my coaching supervision objectives and at the same time gave me the space to explore deeply and creativity. Additionally she brought in perspectives I did not surface myself, which were extremely useful. I appreciated the quality of her presence, which apart from anything else was both perceptive and non-intrusive. I really benefited from her firm, fair and friendly persistence with inquiry lines.”
“Maria worked with me at Veon in 2017 as an external consultant. She mediated between the global shared services programme team and the Russian operating company with the aim of helping the two sides reach agreement on the expansion of the shared services operation. She played an invaluable role in enabling myself and the Group Operations Director for Global Operations to better understand the needs, concerns, motives and cultural sensitivities of the Russian players and find ways to address these. I was particularly impressed by the depth of Maria’s understanding of the political climate in the Russian operation, her empathy for both sides, and the trust she built with the Russian team as well as our own. She showed integrity in her interactions and discretion in what she revealed to either side. In addition, she developed a very clear plan of action for the programme team in terms of what needed to be addressed in order to move the project forward in Russia. I would have no hesitation in engaging Maria’s expertise again, across a broad spectrum of consulting challenges.”
“Maria is an amazing person and a wonderful coach. I ask Maria for help when I truly cannot cope myself with a business situation. During our 1st course of coaching she helped me to prepare for expatriation. Thanks to my work with Maria, my move to France went very smoothly; I successfully integrated into the new business. My second course of coaching with Maria focused on career planning. Maria helped me to holistically look at the situation; I managed to get away from the pressure of “now or never”. One year later I was promoted to the job of my dreams! ”