Wall of ❤️
Hear real stories from real people who have worked with me to land career-defining roles, double their salaries, and stop second guessing whether they deserve to be in the room within hours of working together.
"Yota helped me realise I was already operating at C-Suite level and gave me the clarity and confidence to step into it.
She helped me articulate my value, reposition my impact, and negotiate from the transformation I could bring — not just my title.
That mindset shift made me highly sought after at Amazon and ultimately helped me land my first C-Suite role as Chief Product Officer.
If you’re a high performer who knows you’re capable of more, Yota will help you see, and own your true level.”
Shahrukh Kazmi, Chief Product Officer at Volvo Autonomous Solutions
"I got four pay raises, moved from senior IC to Director, and finally started getting recognized for the work I was doing all along.
I was working endless hours, doing the job of a manager but without the title (or the salary).
If you’re tired of waiting for people to notice you, Yota will make sure they do."
— Fatma Köstekli, Director of Product Design at Vinted
"When Yota told me what I should be earning, I called her delusional — that's how deeply I was undervaluing myself.
Within a year, I increased my salary significantly and stepped into my first director role. More importantly? I finally learned to recognize my own worth and stop downplaying my achievements. I no longer question whether or not I deserve a seat at the table."
— Haja Cessay, Director of Communications at Adevinta
"After working with Yota, I was promoted to Director, grew my team from 2 to 20+ people, and increased my salary by over 30%.
I came to Yota completely burnt out, managing a small team and working insane hours. I thought that's what success in tech required.
But the real win? I'm working less and achieving more. If you think endless hours are the only path to growth — they're not."
— Melanie Bochman, Senior Director of Corporate Communications at Staffbase
"I had the experience, but I didn’t see myself as a Director. I was playing small, second-guessing myself.
Yota helped me stop waiting for permission. Within months, I stepped into a Director role with a 23% salary increase. The best part? I finally feel like I belong in the room—not just observing from the sidelines."
— Naz Pelen, Director of Product Design at HelloFresh
STOP WAITING TO BE NOTICED.
If you’re operating at the next level without the title or salary to match, it’s time to change that.
* I work by application only to make sure it’s the right fit.
“What could have been a career crisis ended up being the best move I’ve ever made.”
Being made redundant felt like a dead end. Even with experience, I had no idea how to reposition myself or where to go next.
Yota helped me turn it into an opportunity. Instead of taking a step back, I landed a higher-paying, more fulfilling role that finally feels aligned.
Marie Demont, VP of Marketing at Aware
“I spent years trying to get promoted. It never happened. One session with Yota? Promotion locked in. Pay bump secured.”
Turns out, I didn’t need to work harder—I just needed to communicate my value the right way."
Karolina Plaskaty, Chief People Officer at Varda
“Yota is an empathetic and insightful coach that also has a deep understanding of the technology industry.”
I would definitely recommend Yota to anyone that either has issues with their current career growth, or is looking to improve on their existing managerial skillset.”
George Markou, Director of Product Management at Schoox
“Highly recommend Yota to any professional.”
It has been extremely challenging two years due to pandemic and following variants. Entire business life has changed and one well known fact has strongly surfaced in that difficult times, which is the importance of grit and mental health.
Personally I have made many things to get used to the changing business life and I can count talking to Yota and getting a professional coaching from her was one the best and efficient thing I have done in that time. One of the important learning for me was power of asking right questions and encouraging stakeholders to think and talk abut facts and actual examples rather than only thoughts or perceptions.
Sertac Yilmaz, Director of RME EU, MENA, AU at Amazon
“Yota is your person!”
I would highly recommend Yota to anyone regardless of where they are at in their career journey but specifically I'd recommend to folks who are career changers or thinking of making such a change.”
Adriana Katrandzhieva, Associate Managing Director at Infinite Lambda
“I feel so lucky to have been coached by Yota over the last 6 months - and even luckier to continue this journey together for 6 months more!”
We have been focused on developing my leadership skills, especially in creating an inclusive feedback culture, handling conflict and growing my strategic abilities.
Yota has a lot of energy, is absolutely engaged throughout each session, and is an expert at bringing insights and an alternative perspective.
Absolutely Yota is not a passive coach who would ask the same classic re-framing questions. She will challenge you to grow and hold you accountable to the plans that you make. If you invest the time and energy, you will be repaid with generosity, empathy and the great reflections that she brings.
Paul McKenna, Head of Engineering @ Olio | ex-Spotify | ex-Nokia
“Yota was an incredible help to me when I was getting ready to leave my team to go on maternity leave.”
She helped tremendously with the handover, how to manage my anxiety and gave me great and practical advice on how to manage conflicts.
We had a great connection partly due to her empathy and caring approach. She is authentic and not judgmental: perfect combo to an excellent coach!”
Leyla El Assry Director, Talent Acquisition EMEA at Contentful
“Yota is an insight-driven coach with a deep understanding of the technology industry landscape.”
She worked with me as a career coach during a transitionary period in my career moving into a new domain. She helped provide great context and helped create a plan centred around my strengths and skills. Her approach on helping me to better reflect and understand my leadership style and how that would benefit my team was particularly beneficial. Overall, would definitely recommend Yota to anyone looking to become a better leader or looking for a way to grow and develop professionally.
Mukund Varma A.T, Senior Manager, Program Management at Amazon
“I cannot recommend Yota more highly for those seeking a hands-on coach that provides clear, actionable feedback to help take your career and leadership ability to the next level!”
I worked with Yota on a bi-weekly basis over a period of three months. In each session, she took the time to get to know me personally to understand the full context of my leadership style and the challenges I was facing in the workplace. It was really impressive how quickly she picked up on the key aspects of what was holding me back and what I needed to do to overcome it. For example, she helped me understand the mindset I had in giving feedback to those that I worked with, how the lack of trust in how I was communicating was undermining the effectiveness of the teamwork culture I was fostering. Then, she helped me understand how important one on one sessions were to coach and guide my direct reports, and gave me a simple framework that I could apply.
After applying the insights that Yota gave me, I could see a step change in the effectiveness of how I was leading my teams. This was all achieved within such a short time with Yota. The results speak for themselves, and therefore I can only give my fullest recommendations to anyone looking for a leadership coach like Yota!
Wei Guo, Engineer at Proxima Fusion / Ex-Lilium, P&W
“Yota changed how I saw myself. She didn’t just help me get promoted three times and nearly double my salary, she helped me recognize my own potential.
Before Yota, I couldn't see my own potential as anything beyond an individual contributor. I now manage multiple regions for my company. The moment I started seeing myself as a leader, everything changed.
I would highly recommend Yota to anybody who’s willing to do things differently, to stand out from the crowd, while becoming the best version of yourself."
Pablo Sierra González, PhD, Medical Director at Blueprint Medicines