Founder Interview: Valeria Collu on career transitions, coaching, and doing things “all in good time”
Moving from “excellent at the work” to “leading the work” is… a lot. Different skills. Different identity. Different pressure.
Here I’m joined by Valeria, a leadership and career transition coach, to talk about what that shift really takes, why coaching works (and what it is not), and the wise words she lives by when the impatience kicks in.
This is a transcript from a video interview with Valeria on my YouTube channel @23wisewords.
Q: How did you get into coaching?
Elle: Tell me a little bit about how you got to where you are today in terms of the coaching and your career path.
Valeria: I started out my career in financial services… climbed the ladder… transition from investment banking to private equity. Now I'm public sector, financial regulation… I almost by chance, stumbled on coaching. I initially just wanted to be a good people manager… and turned out I really fell in love with it… it led me to pivot.
At the moment I'm kind of living a… portfolio career life… but my true passion really is coaching… my focus now really is to work with those that… transitioning from being a technical expert… excellent individual contributor… to someone that then needs to lead the work… it’s a transition that is challenging to navigate… it’s all about empowering people… to shine in this new stage of their career.
Q: What is it about coaching that drew you in?
Elle: What was it about coaching that really drew you in?
Valeria: Helping people kind of… and reach their potential… I’ve always been someone who really enjoys the one-to-one deep relationship building… coaching really gave me that space… and… when you see what people can achieve as part of the work that we do together…
We tend to put ourselves at the bottom of our priorities list… we don’t give ourselves time… what a luxury it is to decide that you want to spend one hour of your time completely focused on yourself… we are in a bit of a hamster wheel very often… and we sometime… just need moment to pause and reflect… to what we really want and need. That’s what coaching enables.
Q: How do you explain your coaching style?
Elle: People get confused between coaching and mentoring… and coaching and therapy… so how do you describe your style of coaching?
Valeria: Where I find people getting most confused is often the coaching and mentoring difference… coaching is non advisory… I would be the one asking questions to my client and allow them to really find their own answers… the questioning skill, the active listening skill, the challenging skill…
That’s quite different from mentoring… you would normally seek a mentor… and expect them to share advice… whereas coaching is very much driven by you.
On therapy… coaching is very much about the present and the future… therapy will be more about the past… if there be trauma to resolve… you would want to work with someone else… coaching is about… bridging that gap between the now and the future.
Q: Do clients want structure, frameworks, exercises?
Elle: Do you find people come into the session wanting to know what the outcome is going to be… or wanting you to guide them through exercises?
Valeria: It really depends… everyone has different learning styles… there is also an element of need… sometimes you need something more practical… sometimes you just need some thinking space… the way I work with clients is I meet them where they are…
There is a framework… that inspires the typical journey… but I always make sure that I make it bespoke to what the client need… sometimes things can happen… someone could just come to a session and they’ve got something that is really bothering them…
One thing… in coaching is that the outcome… is also influenced by the relationship between the coach and the client… it’s two people meeting… that’s why I’m such a big fan of offering… a free conversation… to understand, is this someone that actually I can do deep work with… there are no hard feelings around choosing the right coach for you.
Q: Does the coach-client relationship really matter that much?
Elle: You feel like it’s different in coaching… you do need to click in some ways?
Valeria: Absolutely… it’s important to feel comfortable to be as open, as honest as you can be… it’s hard… if you don’t feel… you’re clicking with the coach in the right way… it’s human work, it’s personal work…
Do take the opportunity… most of the coaches… offer an opportunity to connect… do use that… and it’s not just about the tools and the training… make sure that they have credentials… but then it’s also about their style.
Q: What was your wisest “yes” recently?
Elle: Has there been a moment… you’ve said yes to… that you’re really glad you did?
Valeria: Saying yes to focus more on my coaching business… I decided to take a career break from my full-time… nine to five role… in 2026… I had this gut feeling that I want to explore more… the coaching side… just making the decision to go for this fully… it’s probably the biggest yes.
Q: What wise words are guiding you in this new chapter?
Elle: Is there like a quote or a mantra… that’s helping you focus in this new chapter?
Valeria: All in good time… it came from my mom… I tend to be quite impatient… reminding myself to pause… there is an element of if it is meant to be, it will happen… helped me a lot in staying grounded… and approach the future with the right head space.
Q: Practically, how do you move forward without burning out?
Elle: Is there anything practical you do… one thing every day… to move yourself forward?
Valeria: Carving out slice of time during each day… with the view that you are in it for the long haul… not over doing things… finding the right amount… without burning out…
More than anything… self-care… you want to make sure that you’re bringing your best self every session… for me it’s getting good amount of sleep… moving every day… making sure I don’t spend entire day behind the screen… taking care of these non-negotiables.
Q: Who’s the wisest person you know?
Elle: Is there anyone that springs to mind for you as the wisest person?
Valeria: My granddad… people went to him for advice… he always helped people out… survived World War II… he got lots of things to teach…
Professionally… Adam Grant… my favorite one is Think Again… I enjoy devouring his work… it inspires… the lens that I bring in my coaching too.
Q: For anyone who doesn’t know Adam Grant, what’s his main philosophy?
Elle: What would you say is his main philosophy?
Valeria: He’s an organizational psychologist… the core message is being willing and being open to unlearn, to relearn… nothing bad about finding that you thought was wrong… not attaching your identity… embracing the fact that you might change your mind… be curious with others… keep improving and refining your views…
He’s a fountain of knowledge… leadership, teams… definitely recommend.
Q: Where can people find you?
Elle: Where can people find you if they want to find out more about you?
Valeria: You can fund me on LinkedIn… I’m Valeria… or through my website, coachingstream.co.uk
Elle: Thank you so much for being here today, Valeria. I've really enjoyed our chat.
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