Hi, I’m Martina!
I used to be the nice girl. I thought it was my niceness that counted and mattered the most. My priority was making sure everyone else was happy and taken care of. I helped others get what they wanted – leaving my own desires at the door. I was selfless. And I thought this was a good thing.
I was a people-pleaser.
Little did I know this was just a coping mechanism for deeply rooted fears and insecurities. I spent most of my teens and twenties doubting myself, seeking external validation and completely limiting myself. I was deeply unfulfilled, lacked boundaries and self-worth, didn’t have any sense of direction and cared too much about what others thought of me. Luckily, I spent most of my time traveling the world so I could escape the truth that I didn’t know who I was or what I wanted.
When I finally settled into another relationship and started my teaching career in the UK, I spent the next decade delving deep into self-discovery and self-development. I was exploring, learning, expanding and healing so that I could finally be free of all the fears and insecurities I was hiding behind. And I became fascinated with the unconscious mind and all the power and potential it holds.
My journey led me to getting trained and certified in:
- Trauma informed coaching
- Root Cause Therapy
- Hypnotherapy (from one of the world’s most respected hypnotherapists, Freddy Jacquin)
- Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP)
- Time Line Therapy
- NLP Life Coach
- TFT (Thought Field Therapy – the original Tapping method)
- EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique – the modern Tapping method)
- Reiki Level III/Reiki Master
- People-pleasing Life Coach
A few years after I became a mother, I finally understood how important it was for me to live in my authenticity and to set the best example for my children. How could I get them to live a life in which they felt worthy, empowered, safe to be themselves with a sense of self-love and self-acceptance if I didn’t allow myself to model those things to them?
I now live in the UK with my two children and partner of 16 years and can hold my hand on my heart and say that I show them what self-love, self-acceptance and self-worth is everyday. I continue to build a life that nourishes my heart, my soul and my dreams.
I still travel (I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon) but I now do it from a place of discovering and joy instead of escaping and searching.
I only wish I had allowed myself to understand this all sooner. But that was my journey and I now use what I have learned and experienced to help other caring and compassionate souls avoid spending the rest of their lives pleasing others, seeking external validation and never embracing just how incredibly worthy they are.
Are you feeling like this in your life? Are you struggling to get out of the people-pleasing patterns and going through life feeling like something is holding you back?
You don’t need a permission slip to love yourself and accept yourself fully.
You don’t need external validation to feel worthy.
You don’t need to let society condition you into believing you are not good enough.
You do deserve to heal and let go of what is not serving you.
You do deserve loving and supportive relationships (including your relationship with yourself!)
You do deserve to live a conscious and purposeful life that leaves you feeling nourished and fulfilled.
I don’t want anyone to be like me and wait until you fall before you realise it’s time to get up and rise. It all starts with a little glimmer of courage – the courage to realise that you are ready to let go of the old identity you have been hiding behind for too long. That you can create a life of meaning, satisfaction and joy without anyone else’s approval. All you need is your own!