The Aha! Moment Academy Testimonials

"I studied to be a lawyer. I worked as a lawyer for three years in India. I wanted to change my career from law to something else.

I wanted to get into marketing which is why I went ahead and did my MBA in Marketing and Strategy.

It didn't work out. So, I worked as an Operations Manager. Currently I work as an Assistant Operations Manager in a charity in UK.

I've moved countries over the past two years and I've moved roles and functions. Well, I had been applying to a lot of roles, and not really getting either any response, or even after interviewing, I was getting rejected.

I think one real problem I was facing was that I was an outsider and did not have any London experience. Another thing was also that I did not know how to navigate the London market.

And also, I myself was not very sure about where I wanted to be, what I wanted to do, my industry function, etc. I was very anxious.

[I was] anxious in the sense that I would start working on one work stream and then jump to another. And my mind was always in an overdrive and very unsettled.

The course was very expensive for me especially I had not been earning for two years. So that was one big obstacle. Another obstacle also was I had tried this career coaching with someone else.

I was in the midst of it and it wasn't working well. It had been two, three weeks that I'd been working with that person and I was not getting the support that I needed.

I'd had a really bad experience.

When I spoke to Silviu, it was not just about working on my CV or to work on some techniques and tactics. It looks like Silviu could solve my problem of also answering what I want to do.

And also, I saw of course that you were carrying out the whole thing. But you were also associated with Steve. And I saw Steve's credentials and I saw that he has worked for 20 years or so in this field.

And he has done a lot of work, written books, collaborated with a lot of people.

So that gave me confidence that although I don't know you people, you guys have something solid versus a random guy off the internet.

What did surprise me were a lot of personal qualities about Silviu. And by personal qualities I mean the kind of support he was giving.

Silviu was working very hard to support me. I saw that he also recognized that timelines are tough when you're in the actual job market.

The program is for people who are wanting to change, or do something and define what that something is.

It's very different for people who are very clear about what they want to do in the future. It’s not just a career coaching. It is a mixture of life coaching and career coaching.

"I've always seen work as a tool to get money and then live and be happy kind of thing. And that's like how I grow up also in my country and my culture and everything. And now it's more like I'm not very happy with our landscaping job.

I have always been a fighter against myself like I don't find my purposes. I don't have a passion. I like a lot of things but I don't have one thing that I'm super passionate. That's super selfish actually because I'm just thinking about my happiness.

I really want to change that and have other career paths for myself and to come back to my background in Columbia. I need the mindset that I'm going to work this season with them. I am here because this is going to give me this opportunity to save some money and then I can pay for this study.

Now I have a better mindset that this is not forever. The other thing is learning how to appreciate work as a way to contribute to others.

It's a totally new concept for me and I'm learning a lot with that. And that helps me also with the mindset because that makes sense.

The whole mindset is giving me another view to come back. I'm going to keep going with all this adventure I guess of searching in myself and hopefully I will get a good plan at some point.

For now, just work and make money and serve people in their houses with their lawn and their gardens.

The best learning that I have had in this course is to rethink about what's my relationship with work or job."

"When we were having our conversations back in October, I was totally lost in my burnout. I always felt like I'm stupid. I'm like a five years old and I was telling myself 'what the heck'?

And now I think I'm doing really good. I’m really busy, but it's my dream job. I've never been happier in my life. It's a perfect thing for me. It's all everything I wanted to do.

I get paid well which is important for me, to feel that I'm not being taken advantage of whatever. It was good. I've never gotten so much money. It was almost double what I was making at G**** and it’s a good market price.

The team is great. They're very nice people, hardworking but they're also very supportive and collaborative. It's a team effort, has a very safe culture, gives feedback and people listen. They don't become defensive. We are contributing.

I feel like I fit in and I can contribute and it's totally aligned with what I wanted to do and where I want to go. I'm afraid but I'm really, really happy.

What I’ve learned in the program is, the magic is there inside of us. We just have to bring it out and believe in it. You just have to trust that, going after your passion makes sense in the adult world.

Now I can see the whole steps. I can see my steps, my career plan because I am on the right path.

Silviu and Steve help me on that path."

"I used to look at the problem as a logistical issue. It's more about, I'm going to go back to London, and I need to find a job. And what's the best way to apply for jobs, and how should I think about things like travel, and should I just stay in my current lane?

The moment I decided to apply for the program, I definitely took into consideration the amount of experience which was being offered by Silviu and Steve. So I did a little bit of research about them.

I think that was the most important factor at the time I needed to decide before the deadline ran out.

Having someone like Steve with decades of experience, I know that he knows what he's talking about.

It was really good to have someone like Steve and Silviu on The Aha! Moment academy because this process has to be done using methods which are tried and tested.

I've had experiences with similar services previously, and I never got that feeling that the coaches were actually interested in my success.

When I began doing The Aha! Moment program, there were so many challenges while doing the exercises throughout the program. But at each of those moments, you have people on board who have seen it all.

Talking to Silviu, I really got the impression that you were there for your clients and you were really passionate about it.

What The Aha! Moment did for me was an understanding of how important it is to connect with your essence.

Number two was actually having a method, which I thought was tried and tested.

And since our last session, I've actually already landed one interview and that's just from one attempt I've made. That's quite a good breakthrough and it's in a role which I didn't think I'd get an interview for.

Anyone who is on the fence of joining this program, I would tell you of the importance of having people who have been through the process.

Steve and Silviu has so much experience applying and refining their method and have mastered the process and bring that depth of experience into coaching you and helping you.

They've set it up for me and I can't express how grateful I am. They have definitely over-delivered.

This is stuff was missing in my previous experience with coaching. All of this stuff which I paid the previous person for - The Aha! Moment Academy delivered 10 times more value."

"Before the program, I'd owned my own business for about seven and a half years. It was just a small retail shop. I just felt like it is time to move on for several reasons. I've been working hard at trying to actually sell the business and get out of it, and then I finally got out of it and I thought I would know what I was going to be doing. And it ended up that I had no idea what I was doing.

The first couple of modules were probably the most challenging in the program.

Going out and talking to people and exploring a lot of those personal assumptions was very difficult. And it wasn't exactly the most fun. It was hard to get through, it was challenging.

And looking back, there were surprising amount of things I didn't expect. Some of the actually smaller exercises that we did like the five clicks for me was really weird but that was probably the biggest AHA moment of the entire thing. It was like everything just snapped into focus.

By the end of it, I feel like I have a completely different outlook altogether with just how I approach things is dramatically different than before.

Before it felt like when I was applying for jobs, I've just got the kind of get this done and hurry up and just get whatever you can and just go for it.

Whereas now, I need to actually take the time and think about what jobs do I actually want.

And then it is a much more almost I get to the enjoyment of choosing now instead of being maybe they'll choose me. Now I get to go out. I can thoughtfully and very carefully plan my application and I have trust that I know what I'm doing now and that I can actually get the job done.

Also before, I thought I knew what I was doing and what people were expecting of me, but now I have a much clearer understanding of where I'm going, what I'm doing and getting rid of a lot of those personal assumptions on this whole process.

So rather than trying to assume that I know what I'm doing or assume I know what they're looking for, I actually go out and actually explore and understand what they're looking for.

Having the clarity and having the tools to go through those assumptions feels awesome. The best word to describe it would be just freeing.

I recommend the program because it really does build on everything that was in the beginning and it's very difficult to see how it really comes all together at the end, but it's absolutely worth it. A hundred percent worth it, and it will be hard, but you should definitely do it."

"I've never had a clear idea of how I am professionally. I think that's why it's always been a matter of changing one course to another or one avenue to another.

I'm creative. I'm outgoing, I like talking to people. I feed up other people's energies but I've never had a clearer idea of what I want to do in my life.

And so that's why I think finding a career that really fits me has been a very hard to quantify thing. That's why when the pandemic hit, I did have a lot of questions in my mind.

Before I joined the academy, I was working for a sustainability consultancy. I was working as a senior consultant for a lot of hours. I was probably doing 50-60 hours a week.

A lot of pressure, getting in early trying to get ahead of deadlines. Working late, sometimes working through the night. A lot of pressure dealing with young trainees and junior consultants as a senior consultant trying to manage 10, 15 projects and a lot of pressure and feeling often overwhelmed.

I was doing a role that I wasn't really recruited for. I was meant to be out and about visiting and working with companies and those projects weren't coming through. I was doing primarily a project management role, writing a lot of reports, being very desk based, which I hate doing, and then being pressured into that role as well. Then I got furloughed.

I had so many limiting beliefs about what I could or couldn't do or what I should and shouldn't explore even to the point of who could or couldn't help me.

So I've done crazy career change of different things and then I was thinking about who I could approach to ask about lecturing.

Before joining the program, Silviu said, ‘Don't judge who can and can't help you or who will or won't be the people to open up the doors for you. You tell me what you're working on and we will see where we can support you. All I care about is that I will have enabled you to professionally flourish.’

After hearing his words ‘If you have professionally flourished, then I will have done my job.’, 

Joining the program, I was afraid that the money I was paying for is not going to deliver. I had quite a lot of expectations. Whether it was going to be something that would really make a difference.

And looking back, I would say it was absolutely worth the investment. It was worth the investment on not just a get another job but an investment in terms of my mental health.

What was really important for me is to have a family and to have a support network to say that this was something I could use as a positivity.

And having an outside perspective and Silviu’s advice - ‘if you do the same thing, you get the same outcomes’, is a proof that taking alternative approach is definitely worth it.

I know what I can say yes to. I know what my manoeuvrability is meant that I was still hated doing the negotiation. I still found it really difficult. But I think I had confidence that I knew my worth and I knew what I was and wasn't willing to accept.

To do a 12-week course where the structure of it is far more about who you are and what you want to do and what makes you happy. And then the career element to that, you've got so much out of it.

I’ve got so much out of it that I think I realized what I needed to do. It was more of how would I really keep the motivation and the focus.

The best word I can about the program is energizing.

I've been so glad of the support and the network and the structure and the solidity. That's given me an energy to feel this is doable and I can work on this.

Also, it is empowering because it's gives you the ability to think I can do this. And so often it feels insurmountable.

There’s always reasons not to do something. But I think having someone who's an expert and is going to give you a hug when you need a hug, and also gives you a bit of a kick when you need a kick. And it's hard to do that on your own."

"Before the program, I just had a normal life as anybody else would think. You have a job. You go to your job. You earn your money. You pay your bills and then you have your holidays and days off for what you actually want to do and enjoy. So that's what I had.

I was working in customer service in hospitality and I was happy but not necessarily with the companies that I worked for. I was happy because of the people that I worked with.

I was never really into any company's vision or any company's long-term views. And I never really thought about purpose driven workplace or my contribution.

I was just going with the flow basically and not necessarily super happy but was just okay with it because everybody does this so I'll just do the same.

My original purpose was to help big cats to increase their numbers in the wild by improving their habitat. So that's still I would say the ultimate goal.

Obviously, the plan would change and I'm okay with it because I still rediscover new topics and new ways of doing my purpose and to contributing.

I know that this will be probably very challenging and difficult to do again, but it just shows how many different ways you can actually approach it.

Joining the course, the biggest Aha! moment for me was not on only during the program, but also after the program that I'm realizing even now is that it actually changes you as a person, your mindset.

Even though it's a career transitioning program, it's not just about career but it is about YOU and getting to know yourself and accepting yourself.

I think that's the biggest Aha! moment for me because I never would've thought that getting into a problem for career change, I would actually rediscover myself and even get emotional in some of the exercises.