Exclusive Interview With Anna Filatova – Business And Success Coach
Anna is a Business and Success Coach, Mentor and DISC Personality Profiling Expert at Dreams and Beyond Coaching. After becoming a certified coach, Anna finally decided to pursue her childhood dream of becoming an entrepreneur and opening her own coaching business. She now shares her knowledge and expertise with new entrepreneurs and established business owners and helps them to take actions towards building and growing their business and living the life that they’ve always dreamed of.
Anna Filatova, Business And Success Coach
Who is Anna?
I would say that I’m a loving partner, daughter and sister, loyal friend, and an encouraging mentor. I’m originally from Estonia but I have lived abroad since I was 19. Because of my first career in Hotel Management, I lived in many different countries including Ireland, North America, Germany and Spain. I moved to London to pursue my MBA for Executives with Global Perspective 8 years ago and transitioned from Hotel Management to Investment Banking a year later. I always believed in people’s potential and wanted to be an entrepreneur since I was 14 and finally had the courage to pursue my dream 2 years ago. I’m very curious and I like learning so you can find me researching something online or reading a non-fiction book. I love sport (I have played basketball since I was 4), animals, travelling, discovering new places, learning new cultures and meeting new people. I’m definitely a foodie and I like exploring new restaurants and cafes. However, I also love experimenting with ingredients and flavours and cooking at home.
How did you end up where you are today? What was that turning point?
I had a long journey of self-development, learning and understanding what is it that I really want. I had two major turning points that got me where I am today.
When I was in Hotel Management, all I wanted was to climb the career ladder as quickly as possible. I moved from country to country, from hotel to hotel as I thought working hard would get me to the top faster. Unfortunately, one day, when I was 25, I woke up and couldn’t get up out of bed. It was scary. I felt like I couldn’t move and I didn’t have any energy to do anything. I was signed off for 3 weeks with a diagnosis of burnout. The recovery weeks were tough. I had to learn to walk again. Even a 20 min trip to the shop was a challenge. After about 10 days, my doctor said that if I didn’t start walking more, I would get worse. That scared me even more so I started pushing myself even harder and the more I walked, the easier it got. That’s when I knew that my health and wellbeing is far more important than climbing a career ladder.
When I moved into corporate, I thought that things would be different. I really liked my job but soon I started feeling underappreciated and that I wasn’t doing anything meaningful. Around the same time, I didn’t get the promotion for the position that I was already doing successfully for two years. That’s when I decided that I didn’t want to continue like this. I wanted to feel valued and appreciated. I wanted to be able to contribute to someone’s growth and success. I wanted to do something meaningful and have a bigger purpose in life.
What is it that you do for your clients and who should hire/work with you?
My clients come to me for different reasons but the main thing that connects all of them is their desire to be successful and live their best lives. I don’t only help my clients to launch, build and grow their businesses but I also ensure that they live a fulfilled life and have flexibility and the right balance that they desire. I help them to overcome their fears, push their limits and unlock their true potential that allows them to pursue their biggest dreams and goals, both business and personal. I offer my services to individuals who are either starting out or have been in business for a while, and small businesses with teams that are struggling with business growth. My role as a coach and mentor is to meet my clients where they are at, guide them at their own pace and help them to take actions towards achieving their business and personal goals.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
Honestly, I prefer not to plan so far in advance as things change so quickly but I will definitely have written a book or two, expanded my team and hired associate coaches to run some of my group programs. In the next few years I’d like to focus more on entrepreneurs and business owners who are looking to grow and scale their businesses, run business and wellness retreats both in the UK and abroad, and speak on stage internationally. I know that I can empower and impact many people so my plan is to help as many as I can through my group programs and one on one work. Everyone deserves to live their dream life.
