Roberta Pagliarulo in "Feature your Story"

Roberta is an Executive and Team coach, ICF accredited (PCC), International speaker.

In 2020, she became a provider for ICF accredited CCE course (professional development for ICF coaches) in UK and Middle East.

Her mission is to help others to live the life they want to belong to, to find their inner motivation

and balance among body, mind and emotions, in order to unleash their authentic potential in their professional and personal life.

1 What book do you recommend for every entrepreneur to read?

I would recommend an evergreen book: "Emotional Intelligence" by Goleman, EQ can matter more than IQ!

Another book that I would recommend is: "What I talk about when I talk about running" by Haruki Murakami, running becomes the metaphor of life where “pain is inevitable, suffering is avoidable”. Every entrepreneur should also read “Atomic habits” by James Clear, every small habit can guide us to success.

2 What motivates you to keep going?

Optimism, curiosity, love for what I do, my father memory, he was an entrepreneur.

3 How do you manage the stress?

My stressors are boredom and the idea to waste my time, I manage them keeping alive curiosity and doing things that are meaningful for me.

4 How are you taking care of your mental health?

I ask a lot of questions to myself, and I listen: how are you sleeping? How do you feel today? What do you need?

I also collect feedback from others: how do they see me? If I collect signals that my mental health could be at risk, I design an action plan: rest, coaching sessions, counselling, self-compassion.

5 How do you prevent burn out?

I have in my agenda spaces booked for me: gym, osteopath, mindfulness or simply time to reflect and be more compassionate towards myself.

6 What does your typical workday look like?

My typical working day starts with a relaxing breakfast, I usually take my time to enjoy my coffee as every typical Italian. Every day is a mix of designing projects, calls with new clients, individual and team coaching sessions, webinars, study. In the middle of the day lunch is a must, I usually take one hour break.

I am morning person, I am more effective during the day, so I avoid taking commitments in the late afternoon. Since Covid, I became a digital coach and trainer, before Covid much of my time was spent in traveling. Working from home is allowing me to have more time for me, for my studies, for my personal life.

7 How do you manage your work-life balance?

I am a caregiver, and this role is not always easy to manage. I have been learning how to say no (to projects and clients, to many travels); how to delegate (it’s been challenging for me to delegate my mom’s care, but I am doing it.

I also learned to be more compassionate towards myself, reducing my expectations, going

from perfectionism (I always need to be perfect with my job and being a caregiver) to excellence (I am doing my best with what I have).

8 What are your values and ideals?

I believe in trust as catalyst for relationships, both professional and personal; I believe in the potential of every human being; my strongest value is authenticity. I strongly believe that coaching can promote a better world, boosting responsibility and constructive conversations among human beings.

9 How do you deal with self-doubts and doubts from others?

In the past, I used to have lot of self-doubts and I used to be influenced by doubts from others: now I listen to them and then if the noises of doubts become too loud, I simply let them go, if they are not helpful and constructive. Action is the cure for self-doubts and doubts from others!

10 When did you know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

I didn’t know it and from my father's experience (always busy for his job) I never thought to become an entrepreneur. When I met coaching, I decided that I would do everything for being a coach, included becoming an entrepreneur.

11 What do you enjoy most about entrepreneurship? What do you find the hardest about it?

I enjoy that I can open every door, without asking permission: If I like a project, if I need to invest money, If I want to study something different, I can open that door! I love how I can directly see how investing passion, hard work, I can directly see how many outcomes arise.

The hardest is managing the administrative tasks even if I have the support of my brilliant accountant, I need to consider numbers and profit and balance them with my passion.