Find Self-Assurance in your signature strengths.
Own what you do best and stop saving your dreams for later.
"Working with you, the most enlightening thing was to understand that I have these underlying patterns of behavior that automatically give me strength. I don't have to think about being strategic or commanding or self-assured. I just am.
If somebody criticized me for those behaviors, I could absorb their energy, and change my behavior. But changing my behavior would not serve anyone in the best way. Understanding my talents allows me to double down on them and actually benefit from them!"
Satya Purna, Scale Your Freelancing
Everyone from a support staff to a CEO struggles with self-doubt.
Not everyone knows how to move through self-doubt quickly.
Not everyone trusts their own brilliance, or even recognizes it as brilliance.
66% of the population do not know what their strengths are or have trouble naming them.
How are you supposed to survive this crisis of confidence, especially when so many keep reminding us about the Impostor Phenomenon?
Here are some common struggles I hear from disheartened professionals:
When I came to the States, I lost my confidence. None of the experiences I had acquired in other countries seemed to matter. I used to dwell and stay stuck in negative thoughts believing no one saw my brilliance.
Until I realized that it’s me who did not see my own brilliance, or rather I did not know how to communicate it to others in a way that came across as confident and persuasive.
I went from constantly doubting everything about myself and my situation – my accent, my education from other countries, my lack of “influential contacts” – to finding self-assurance in my unique set of skills and talents, my own way of building relationships to land desired opportunities.
In my coaching I apply the 5-step process to guide disheartened professionals from self-doubt to self-assurance in every area of their life.
Watch FREE Mastrerclass: Get From Self-Doubt to Self-AssuranceMy clients share one common challenge: They take their natural talents for granted.
"Our conversation about strengths has really stuck with me and I keep going back to it to tweak and refine my services. So grateful for your friendship and support!
Since we talked, I’ve had so many moments where I've recognized, “Oh, that's this strength coming out to play, or I have not tapped into this one in a while. That's probably why I'm feeling so fatigued.”
Your sessions have just been so eye opening and the impact of your work is like ripples in the ocean, and they just keep going. Your work is so powerful."
Parijat Deshpande, High-Risk Pregnancy Specialist & Bestselling Author
"It was a big deal for me to recognize how important my Significance talent is when it comes to creating the life I want. Knowing and embracing my strengths really helped me prioritize my goals, and streamlined my decision-making process. I am now making choices based on my strengths, rather than what other people say I should do."
Derek Lee, Senior Software Engineer
“I've had so many a-has since our session together. The situation with my [team member 1] has gotten a lot better. Before you and I spoke, she had not been meeting deadlines, even though she has the Responsibility talent in her top five, and that was the problem.
We had a conversation and I asked why she was not able to meet deadlines. It turned out she had been having issues with managing her time. Basically, she had been taking on too much because she felt responsible for taking additional tasks from everyone. She scaled back and it's been great ever since.
My [team member 2] has Developer in her top 5 talents, and she loves developing people. She started doing more coaching for my beginner students which has been great for my Maximizer talent. She prepares them for me, and then I help them get to the next level. Our session was gold, thank you for all your help!”
Lauren Wrighton, Podcast Producer and Strategist
"I’ve always been great at my job, but I’ve been sort of oblivious to how I do what I do. Katya helped me define what is in my zone of genius by linking my signature strengths to what I do when I’m at my best. This clarity made me realize that I needed to make certain adjustments in my professional life to ensure my role is in complete alignment with my natural strengths. It made it so much easier for me to negotiate the scope of work as well as my rates!"
Charlotte Malmberg, Senior Business Architect
"In one of our sessions, Katya reminded me that being around other people is like oxygen to me. This was so validating and so spot on, because all five of my top strengths are relationship-building! So no wonder I was cranky and drained after working from home by myself day in and day out. Her validation of my deep need for connection helped me to feel seen, understood, and inspired me to take action towards intentionally adding more connection in my daily life."
Stacy Kellogg, Compass Rose Coaching
"I just want to say, 'Thank You'! You have honestly opened my eyes to a whole new world. I feel like I can do the things I love and potentially build a business around who I already am. No need for major changes which can be scary."
Kenia M.
Why Do I Do What I Do?
Every single day, I interact with brilliant people. And almost every single day, I get to speak to someone who does not even see her own brilliance. Someone who deserves the spotlight and yet recedes to the shadows.
This breaks my heart every single time.
I continue creating content as well as coaching programs to ensure everyone not only sees, but knows how to capitalize on their brilliance, so that they can stop saving their dreams for later.
This is the hill I'm willing to climb and die on!
About Katya Nicholas
Katya Nicholas is a thought leader on Empathy, Zone of Genius, and Impostor Phenomenon. As a Gallup-certified CliftonStrengths (formerly StrengthsFinder) coach, she has guided hundreds of individuals globally to unearth, recognize, and own their unique talent DNA, a.k.a. their genius. With a Master’s in translation and linguistics from St. Petersburg, Russia, she spent eight years helping humans speaking different languages and living in different cultures to appreciate each other. This training to promote cross-cultural understanding as an objective, judgment-free conduit now benefits Katya in her coaching to ensure any disheartened professional learns the language of their brilliance and confidently anchors themselves in their zone of genius.
In addition to ensuring everyone finds self-assurance in their unique talent DNA, Katya also uses her natural empathic abilities in portrait and personal branding photography to deliver authentic and captivating imagery. Katya learned photography at the age of 9, and perfected her craft while studying it at the New York Institute of Photography. Her work has been featured in numerous publications, including Forbes, Business Insider, and Yahoo! Finance.
