1. Tell us a bit about yourself?
I was born in Johannesburg from Italian parents and lived there for 40 years before moving to Cape Town in 2010. I speak Italian and really treasure my Italian heritage. Just over two years ago, my wonderful husband and I moved to the countryside, where, in between doing the work I love, we plant and harvest vegetables, walk a lot in nature and connect with people from our small community.
On the work front, I qualified as a pharmacist in 1992 and specialized in complementary medicine. For many years, I worked as an educator and trainer in all matters related to supplementation and general health and well-being.
I left the corporate world in 2013 to follow my passion and I am now an internationally certified Life Coach. Since 2016, I have run my own private Coaching Practice and I am also a media spokesperson and complementary health consultant to Natroceutics, a company specializing in high quality nature-based supplements.
I also locum as a pharmacist for the Clicks group of pharmacies.
When my mom died suddenly (I was 14 years old), it was a huge trauma in my life and also the catalyst that sent me on a spiritual quest seeking answers to those universal questions – who am I, why am I here and how do I relieve or end this suffering that I am experiencing. My own journey of seeking and healing has become my offering to Life through my work with clients, where I support them on their own journeys of healing and awakening.
I am passionate about waking up and exploring all dimensions of awareness and the flowering of human consciousness. I enjoy spending time in nature and love dance and movement, music, hiking, mountain biking, meditation and yoga.
2. How long have you been in the industry?
I have been practising as a pharmacist for thirty years now, as a media spokesperson for about twenty years and as a life coach for almost eight years.
3. Has your work always been your passion? Tell us why?
No, when I first qualified as a pharmacist, I was not passionate about my work, in fact, I was quite disillusioned, because I had no clue who I was on the inside and why I was here in my life. Over the years, as this (who I am and why I am here) has become more and more clear to me, the passion has evolved from that. Being a life coach and supporting people on their journey is now my passion. When my clients become aware of why they are suffering and through journeying together, they find their own way out of that suffering and live a life of more joy, peace, fulfilment and meaning, this gives me great joy.
4. Being a women in the industry – what does it take?
What is takes is BEING MYSELF. That’s it.
And what do I mean by that? Well, it’s about discovering your true essence – recognizing and knowing the one who was there before the conditioning, editing, wounding, labelling that comes about through our childhood, education, family, culture and just being in the life.
Expressing, creating, doing, receiving, living from this place of truth, wisdom, clarity and love, changes everything.
During my journey, I got curious about who I really am, what I was struggling with in my life, where my challenges were in my relationship? I stayed very intimate with my heart’s guidance and intuition. Rumi said: ‘ Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love – it will not lead you astray. ‘I have come to know this truth deeply.
The more I came to know, heal, release, integrate the lost and wounded parts of myself, the more space opened up inside for my light to shine and it is the same for all of us. We are here to open to that light and let it shine in the world and those people who need what we have to offer, will be drawn to that light.
5. What has been the most difficult challenge of your career?
There have been a few:
- Completing my pharmacy degree and realising that I did not like the pharmaceutical industry, whether it was in the retail or the corporate space.
- Being retrenched and not knowing what I was going to do next and not having the security of that salary at the end of each month.
- Finishing my coaching training and going out there and starting my own business and attracting clients.
But every challenge presented an opportunity to get more clear about what I really wanted. Knowing what I did not like about that current job or situation propelled me to pivot and look at what my deep heart’s longing was leading me to.
6. What advice do you have for other women in your industry?
If you are starting out as a life coach – start coaching before designing a website, or getting caught up in creating the platform to ‘launch yourself’ out there in the world. Keep it simple, maybe with one social media platform, and just start having conversations with people from a space of sincere interest and curiosity, just being yourself, and you will find your unique groove and expression as you coach. Keep it simple and don’t get swept away by all the things you think you need to have in place before you start coaching.
When I started out as a life coach, I was very much in the drivers’ seat, thinking I had to ‘make it all happen’ and try harder and do more. Over the years, another aspect of my being has revealed as the divine feminine where I now surrender more, let go, trust, allow, flow, be still and listen deeply and let the river of Life take the driver’s seat – I experience more ease and joy in my life now.
As women, when we tap into BOTH our divine feminine and divine masculine energies, we become a vessel where we can create, flow, get comfortable with just being, get comfortable with the unknown, with uncertainty, we slow down, we tap into our intuition and deep inner wisdom in our bellies, we listen deeply to the spaces in between thoughts, to the stillness, AND we are also able to focus, get things done, know where we are going and have healthy boundaries, face our fears and do it anyway with a courageous, wise heart.
7. Plans for the future?
For me, the future is right here and now. I live and act a lot from inspiration, which arises in the moment. My intention is to keep returning to the love that I AM and coming from that. And when this gets veiled and I get lost in activities and emotions and busy-ness, to know that the moment I recognize this, I am home. I enjoy growing my coaching practice so that my light shines brightly and I can be that light for others who are drawn to it – only because they recognize something there that calls so deeply to them, even if it appears at first as discomfort, pain, dis-ease and unhappiness.
I really love supporting people who are struggling in some way, and they know, somewhere deep down in their being, that there is another way, there is more, there is something else that they perceive on some level. They have heard the call ………………. And on this journey together, they discover so much and let go of so much, and come to know the answer to that call, and through that, come to know a deeper happiness, joy, fulfilment, well-being and ease.
Giulia Criscuolo
083 383 7457 (Calls)
