Certified coach, business mentor, and group facilitator. Here is a woman incredibly passionate about her work and her mission, successfully coaching numerous individuals and helping them achieve their highest potential. 

As women continue to be a driving force for change around the world, this series aims to highlight those who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to creating an impact.

On the outside, it seems as if she has it all and can do it all — from leading organisations to building businesses from the ground up.

In this interview, we sit down and talk to her about her work and, more importantly, what drives her and what keeps her grounded.

You are a woman of many titles—could you please tell us about these and what exactly it is that you do?

I help entrepreneurial leaders to successfully build soulful businesses while making a positive impact and living a fulfilled life. Of course, I do have “traditional titles” such as coach, facilitator, speaker, self-leadership expert, and human development catalyst, but I prefer to see myself as a change maker.

For me, it is all about helping others to unleash their full potential, play big and be on top of their game. Quantum leaps and big dreams are the ways to go because right now the world needs strong, compassionate and purpose-driven visionaries more than ever.

We live in fascinating times, when cultures and languages merge on a daily basis, traditional social and business systems are about to collapse, information becomes the hottest currency, businesses are able to influence millions of people, and individualisation is the strongest trend. I help leaders to be one step ahead of the time.

Have you always known that you wanted to help people? Why?

Yes, I did. For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated with human potential and success stories. Seeing the best in people and helping them to bring it out has been my main focus since I was a child.

At the age of 10, I read How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie and, after that, studying people and their behaviour became my biggest hobby. For many years, I was reading dozens of books about behavioural psychology, human potential, stories of people “who made it in life” and talking to as many as I possibly could. I was looking for an answer to one simple question: What is the secret to success? Every time I found a “new” answer, I would test it on myself and see what results it would give me.

After more than 20 years of trying and experimenting, I finally developed a system that sets humans up for success, and decided to share this information with as many people as possible around the world. I am doing this through training sessions, workshops, coaching, writing, speaking, and YanaTV.

The Truest Form Of Inspiration

You seem incredibly passionate about your work; what are the things that inspire you? What ignites your fire?

Life is my biggest inspiration. Several times in my life, I have seen death really close up and it put things into perspective for me forever. Every morning when I wake up, I am happy and grateful because I am given another day of life and so are my loved ones. That’s all I need for inspiration – to be alive.

I view the world through the eyes of a five-year-old child, who sees magic and beauty in everything and everybody. This is where my passion and fire come from – people, the human mind, nature, traveling, cultures, languages, books, music, movies, conversations, meditation, walks, energy and my own journey. Given that my work is something I have chosen to do, it became a congruent part of my life, where passion and fire are easily transmitted through everything I do.

The Power Of You

In your line of expertise, what exactly is it that you aim for when dealing with clients and people? What is your core message to your clients?

Ultimately, I help people to find their purpose, create possibilities and build their lives on their terms. Living your dream means different things to different people. For some it might mean being in a happy relationship; for others it is all about building a successful and meaningful business; and for somebody else it is about finding a way to live a purposeful life and leaving a legacy … or all of the above.

I aim to enable people to play big and be on top of their game. My core message is: YOU can be, do or have anything you want. There are literally no limitations in life. My own life is just one of many examples. There is an abundance of resources, wealth, love, health, and opportunities in the world.

It all comes down to YOU, because your entire life is simply a reflection of your inner self. You are the one who creates all experiences, invites all people, sets challenges and determines prizes. Once you fully understand that you created all that you have, you can change things and co-create anything you choose. Life is a blank canvas and you are painting on it. Every day.

Overcoming Stereotypes

Have there been any setbacks while establishing yourself as a professional in your field? How did you deal with them?

That’s a good question. My entire professional journey is a combination of big, small and huge setbacks. To begin with, when I was 19 years old, I was told that I could not be a trainer because I was “too young, too blonde and too female”. Yet I decided to do it anyway.

For years I did not have a formal education – I dropped out of university and left my country of birth at the age of 20 in my pursuit for a better life. I chose to build my career not just in a foreign country, but in a culture that is very different to the one I grew up with. And I have never regretted it.

I decided to establish my career in English – a language that is not native to me (and we are talking about speaking and teaching people!). Now, I am not only teaching but also writing a book in English.

When I came to Asia seven years ago, people would laugh at my aspiration to build a business with a focus on personal development. I was told that it would never work, because “no Asians care enough about personal development and/or fulfilment of their dreams.” I was also constantly reminded that “I am a foreigner who looks very different and there is no way locals would open up their hearts and minds to me because, in order to succeed in the training business, you have to be a male Chinese or Indian”. I never bought into that; I started my own company Yana Fry Coaching and, since then, I have worked with hundreds of clients, of all kinds of nationalities, including Asians.

When I started YanaTV, with zero previous experience in the field of journalism and video production, no connections in entertainment or public relations industries, no clear plan and hardly any money, people would think once again that I was crazy. The same people stopped talking, though, as soon as YanaTV started getting public attention and admiration.

The truth is – yes, I am. I am crazy enough to dare to dream big and to take massive actions towards making my dreams the reality. I live by my own rules and follow my own path. How do I deal with setbacks? I accept them, learn from them and forget about them. Setbacks are simply “a course-correction” that life sends our way with the intention of ultimately bringing us to where we are meant to be.

To this day, I have succeeded in everything I have started, despite other people’s opinions about what I should and shouldn’t be doing. I learned to filter words, and even people, and keep in my environment only those who believe in me and genuinely want me to succeed.         

A Channel To Full Potential

It seems like you can do almost everything—and successfully at that. What’s your secret? More importantly, what keeps you grounded?

It is very simple. I view myself as one of the messengers: a person who passes knowledge and information to other people, to help them to unravel their full potential and find the courage to pursue their dreams, while making a positive impact on the world. It means that, in my eyes, what I do is much bigger than who I am.

Whenever I become afraid, start doubting, or lose focus, I remind myself that I simply do not have the right NOT to deliver messages to people. I also remind myself that delivery can be done in many forms – YanaTV, coaching, speaking, training, etc. The form is not important, but the incentive is.

People look at my life and think that “I have it all and I can do it all”, but what they do not know are all the journeys I had to go through in life in order to become the person I am today; all the mistakes I had to make in order to learn major life lessons; all the pain, disappointment and despair I had to deal with in order to find inner strength and craft my path. And, like any other human being, I am still work-in-progress.

One thing I know for sure, though, is that the world is an ecosystem and each person is a valuable part of it. We all came here with a unique gift and it is absolutely your main responsibility in life to find out what is YOUR gift and to SHARE it with other people.

What keeps me grounded is a deep understanding that life is one big, beautiful, inspiring, unpredictable, generous and fascinating game. It is a game in which each person can create his or her own rules, own context, own prizes and own world. In the world that I have created, I am surrounded by people who genuinely and deeply love me and care about me – their unquestionable support is what keeps me grounded.

Advice For Entrepreneurs

Do you have any advice for budding, young, and passionate entrepreneurs such as yourself?

My advice is, do not listen to other people’s advice.

It is ok to get information from people about their experiences and leverage their knowledge, but always remember that they are creating their world and you are creating yours. What worked for them might not necessarily work for you. And what didn’t work for them could quantum leap your business to success in no time.

Always remember that when you are an entrepreneur your company is a direct reflection of who you are. It means that your business will never outgrow you. If you really want to make it big in life, start with stretching your own boundaries; learn to get out of your comfort zone by choice and not because life crushes you against the wall.

Confront your deepest fears and they will stop sabotaging the growth of your business. Actively participate in life experiences, learn from all your mistakes and forgive yourself for all of them, too. Ask yourself what your business is really about; follow your instincts more than your intellect; keep learning; be confident enough to hire people who are smarter and better than you; lead by example, and dare to dream.

I know that you will make it, because this is what life is really about – love, happiness and success

Visit Yana Fry Coaching page to find out more about Yana’s work.