Meet the Azkua core team

Manuela Damant

Visionary Collective Leader

10 years as Underwriter and Risk & Insurance Advisor at Shell International. Escaped spreadsheets and contract clauses to become a coach in 2004. Creator Connector. Enthusiastic, optimistic, energetic. After reconnecting with her own innate leadership potential she’s now helping other women to own their voice, shine their light and tap into their talent and intrinsic motivation. Wife, mother of three. Zurich, London, Melbourne, The Hague. Book that changed her life trajectory at 25 Paolo Coehlo’s “The Alchemist”.

Dovile Corrigan

Engaged Relationship Builder

Corporate background in sales, account and relationship management. Strengths coach. Supports professionals to identify their true strengths to achieve alignment between strengths, projects and career development. Knows that it’s not only about developing skills and competence, but also about learning to boost one’s energy. Mum of two kids. Seasoned expat understanding the challenges of the international community.

Meet the Azkua partner network

Amber Rahim

Unconventional Leadership Agent

20 years international business experience in Supply Chain. Progressed to coaching to create more impact in the world. Takes the “hard” out of leadership, and brings humour and humanity back into business. Described as a master of “Iron fist with velvet glove”. Calls you forth to play bigger. Creative, persistent, articulate. Chooses transformation over slogging it out. Loves the wind, it’s her favourite weather.

Alberto Gonzalez Otero

Chief Purpose Officer

18 years of experience in driving sales, building and developing organisations and teams. Firm believer in purpose as the main driver to success. Passionate about guiding leaders, teams and individuals to find and live their purpose. Empowers others to become the best version of themselves. Positive, enthusiastic, energetic. Enables to disconnect to reconnect. Family man. Continuously learning from others, especially from his wife and two amazing boys. In love with his family and a place called Asturias.

Anita Paalvast

Team Coach and Pioneer

Four years in the export industry and ten years in international banking. Fourth degree black belt in Aikido. Passionate about embodying leadership principles. On a mission to take it national and global. Driven by the values of integrity, autonomy and cooperation. Powerful and sensitive. Offers the martial art principles to today’s organisational context – like self-control, keeping the bigger picture, integrating opposing views, adapting real time, keeping the flow in the situation.

Catrin Cannock

Drama Coach

10 years of experience in the creative and performing arts. Expert in children’s literature. Trusts in the power of the individual. Passionate, powerful, and understanding. Believes that the only way is up and that the way to get there is by believing in yourself and understanding that you can be more than you are everyday. A realistic existentialist. Loves to question life, others, and our purpose. Motto: Always be kind to others, no matter what. Takes pleasure in helping others. Together we can be better.

Dagmar Hopf

Creative Transition Coach

20 years experience in individual and organisational change processes. Ex management consultant. Psychologist and systemic counsellor. Creative, insightful, and determined. Eternal idealist. Believes in everyone’s unique talent. Passionate about empowering others to dare to follow their own paths. Gives shape to processes, programmes, and documents. Aims for meaningful, lasting impact for a greater good. Loves Asian food and German cakes.

Daria Nashat

Resilience and Self-Care Builder

Almost 20 years experience in working on human dignity in situations of adversity. Supports women to stay rooted and energized whilst leading change. Believes that leadership starts with taking good care of ourselves. Sees possibilities everywhere. Trusts in wholeness, our body’s wisdom, and the power of the circle. Loves to wonder and wander. Enjoys talking to strangers. Can’t live without books. Creative and strategic thinker. Mother with a vision. Believes that the world is as we dream it.

Jacomine Blok

Warm result-driven connector

More than 20 years of experience in leadership roles in recruitment and sales. People, their development and results are the reason to wake up in the morning with enthusiasm and energy. Positive by nature, people quickly feel at ease around her. Driven, disciplined, strong work ethic. Giving attention and support whilst asking the critical questions. Supporting and challenging people to step out of their own comfort zone. Family woman. Lifelong learner. Sports. Traveller.

Jane Stephenson

Strengths Highlighter

More than 10 years experience as a certified career and executive coach, author and speaker, following a previous life as a corporate accountant. Intuitive, curious and supportive. Sees interacting with horses as a way to uncover leadership qualities within the coaching environment. Believes that people have more power and influence than they realise and aims to tap into those strengths. Enjoys the dichotomy of culture and nature, family and individuality.

Nada Mesqui

Adamant Status-Quo Shifter

Experienced Sales and Account Manager in the global personal care products industry. Brand and team builder. Believes that clarity comes from action. Unshakable optimist with a gift of connecting people to their most courageous self. Understands the complexity professionals are facing today and the skills to help them get more clarity, elan and purpose. Supports organisations develop their future leaders. Firm believer in the power of mindset, work-hard, play-hard mentality and a little bit of magic.

Lynette Croxford

Copywriting Career Enthusiast

Over 20 years’ experience in the science of people in multinational corporates as well as fledgling start-ups and medium sized organisations. Passionate about giving people a voice by developing confidence and self-engagement. Creative first, pragmatic second. Hopeful of the future. In love with language and the effect it delivers to empower, change minds and open doors.

Natali Drake

Visual and Strategic Storyteller

Published fiction writer with twenty years experience in creative marketing for large international brands. Lecturer and public speaker. Enthusiastic, energetic and inspiring. Passionate about empowering women and making us heard. Head in the clouds, feet on the ground and hands always busy. Paints pictures with words. Can’t keep quiet or still, and has somehow made that her job. Loves exploring, asking, tasting and experiencing.

Rolandjan van Mulligen

Meditation and Yoga Artisan

Over 10 years experience in teaching Yoga and Meditation in various studios and companies both in The Netherlands and abroad. Invites to go beyond one’s limiting beliefs and assumptions. Enables to discover timeless happiness, clarity and inner stability. Offers simple and practical tools and techniques beneficial for everyday life to shift the attention from doubt and worry to our peaceful essence.

Szonja Kisgergely

Organiser and Task Guru

More than ten years of experience in supportive roles. Executive, organizer, project manager. Energetic, structured, proactive and cheerful. Passionate about helping out other people and making life easier. Solves problems, arrange travels and events, saves time. Wife, mother of one tiny human and two pugs. Loves travelling, cooking and yoga.

Unzela Haider

Investigative Bridge Builder

Organisational Psychologist with over 15 years of experience in the public sector. Always asks ‘Why do we behave the way we do? How can we achieve our personal best? What legacy do we leave?’ True believer in everyone’s contribution and unique qualities. Uncanny ability to understand people, their unique strengths, goals, and personalities. Eager to achieve gender balance in the workplace. Encourages others gently but candidly to claim their space and work on their goals. Expat child turned local, wife, mother and event planner to four children. Loves to read and bake.

Vassia Sarantopoulou

Anti-Loneliness Advocate

Psychotherapist and Relationship Counselor with more than 15 years of experience in supporting men and women through adulthood challenges. In love with her work and with the psychology’s infinity. There is no right or wrong, no “normal”. Curious since birth. Searches for patterns, explores alternative scenarios. Redefines cliches, removes stereotypes and unnecessary agonies. With kindness and realistic positivity. Aims to bring back love and honest decisions in relationships. Believes in the power of connection and deep, meaningful relationships.

Find Azkua partners worldwide