beyondbeing

Co-Founder

Allan Gray Proprietary Limited

Junior Developer

Jerry’s mission is to help people realize their full potential by turning perceptions of what people consider weaknesses into fuel to ultimately empower and enrich their lives. Through his background as a Masters in Biomedical Engineering he endeavors to find optimal and efficient systems to maximize human performance.

He has pursued his journey in personal development more than 7 years, specializing in human behavior psychology, is trained as a Demartini Facilitator and currently completing his Postgraduate Diploma in Coaching through SACAP.

Jerry is not one to express his achievements with words, rather by the measurable outcomes demonstrated by the various breakthroughs and testimonials of his clients.

"Keep going. Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations."

https://www.beyondbeing.co.za/

Jerry Sam

Irina Alexandra

Brightroom

Nobody should dread Mondays.

Brightroom partners with organizations that want their people to thrive — not just survive change.

We go beyond org charts and buzzwords to shift mindsets:

✅ From “it’s not my job” to radical ownership
✅ From silos to real collaboration
✅ From burnout to resilience

Our blend of live and self paced learning, reflection, and coaching is designed for day-to-day impact, not a check-box exercise.

The result? Teams that are more engaged, more capable, and more ready for the future.

Founder

CareerFoundry

Career Coach

Irina Alexandra 

Coaching for early stage founders.

🦄 Get clarity on your personal purpose and translate it into a sustainable business strategy 
🦹🏻‍♀️ Grow confidence and self-belief
🌱 Develop leadership and communication skills 

🧘🏻‍♀️ Build resilience to stay sane along the way

Business Coach

die andersberater:innen

Arbeitsagentur (AVGS) sponsored professional development: 

- Business coaching for entrepreneurs 
- Career coaching 
- Interview preparations

Business & Career Coach

Fired Up Space

Founder Coach

Sensera

We help startups scale their teams by fostering sustainable growth through conscious leadership development. 

People's most creative and resourceful work comes from a place of intrinsic motivation, which is impossible without the work being meaningful. 

"Work meaningfulness" is a subjective perception of an individual, impacted by many variables - personal (e.g. values, beliefs), organisational (e.g. job design, company's mission) and cultural. 

The role of a leader is on one hand to work with each individual to understand their motivations and create conditions for them to blossom, and on the other hand to create systems that nurture diversity of thinking but unity of action.

This requires a high degree of self awareness, emotional intelligence, understanding of human and group psychology and some practical tools to put this knowledge to use in the most effective way.  

We support founders and leaders in this challenging endavour through 1:1 coaching, group programs and training.

WEHub | Women Entrepreneurs Hub

Community for international women entrepreneurs or those striving towards self-employment supporting each other in professional and personal development primarily through online and in-person events.

Wayfair

Developed a strategy and an implementation plan for ensuring product findability on all Wayfair related platforms
Led crossfunctional work with Product, Engineering and multiple Business teams
Consistently achieved highest NPS score from all reporting teams

Global Findability Solutions Manager 

Increased output capacity by over 100% with only 33% headcount increase
Established a process for critical lane outreach, 80% faster than the regular process, set. savings $244K monthly
Automated imagery outreach, freeing up ca. 12% of total campaign capacity

EU Content Outreach Manager

Built out the team from ground up, defining its OKRs and individual team member's deliverables -Managed team's efforts enabling $50M worth of revenue
Created a self-service tool for internal teams, enabling a 3 people team do the work previously done by 50 experienced employees
Coached direct reports to higher performance (100% improved their rating cycle over cycle, 50% got promoted within a year of working together), mentored employees outside of direct reporting line

EU Root Cause & Purchasability Manager

Increased the performance on the key KPI by 79% QoQ within 4 months after taking on a new team Supported company efforts outside of direct scope by testing new competitive intelligence tools, outlining operational processes for the tool utilisation and delivering trainings to the wider department
Created a dedicated project group for managing findability issues within all product categories
Completed a certified interviewer program and actively contributed to the departmental hiring needs

EU Housewares & Outdoor Merchandising Team Lead

Ensured the team was hitting its KPIs even in the times when we were at a 30% capacity
Built strong relationships with the key suppliers, supporting their growth (up to 140% YoY) 
Developed and was the lead trainer for 5 onboarding trainings
Partnered with the global Competitive Intelligence team, provided actionable feedback for future iterations, managed testing process with the sample supplier group and presented a meaningful business analysis with recommended next steps

Outdoor Supplier Merchandising Associate 

Ensured that the amount and quality of the information provided on the website meets Wayfair standards and exceeds customer expectations. 
Identified most important attributes based on the statistical data and owned outreach to the suppliers, increasing CVR for selected classes.
Collaborated with other departments to achieve the best product representation and increase sales for selected partners.

Merchandising operations intern

Deluxe Hotel & Spa Resort Alpenpalace

Conducted sales, reservations, check-ins, check-outs
Represented the Hotel at a travel conference in Moscow; Established relationships with potential partners
Created daily newsletters in 4 different languages
Communicated with hotel guests and effectively resolved complaints

Front Office Employee

Path2University College at Internationale Hochschule Bad Honnef  •  Bonn (IUBH)

Introduced new material and ensured its understanding
Organised and coordinated group’s working process
Created and evaluated examination papers
Motivated multicultural group and provided support towards successful college graduation

Math/Economics Tutor

Guided prospect students through application process 
Handled inquiries and maintained statistics 
Mastered administrative tasks

Study Advisor

ICF Coach | Co-Founder @ Sensera | Self-directing Orgs

Leading high performing teams and international projects at a fast-paced, Fortune 500 company have taught me a few things. 

1. As much as we try to pretend that work is all about logic, facts and productivity - it’s mostly relational, emotional and (alas) political. 

2. Nobody really leaves “companies”. People leave people. 

3. Top down design doesn’t work for environments with constant change and many unknowns.

So to perform, innovate and succeed a company needs to take care of both structural and relational aspects in their org. I admire companies that push the envelope of what is deemed agreeable from the organizational design perspective and I have interviewed founders who have not only eliminated hierarchy but also implemented many policies that would seem crazy to most people. 

But the surprising thing is that even in those companies - that may seem like an absolute paradise with everyone setting their own salaries and working on their terms - some people were not happy. 

Why does that happen? 

“The lion sits in a cage. The door is open. But the lion remains in the cage” 

That was a metaphor one of the founders at a self-managed company used to describe the situation. 

Progressive organizațional designs are there to open the cage. 
Brightroom is there to remind the lion it never needed one to begin with. 

We deliver personal development and collaboration trainings for companies that want to enable more ownership, autonomous decision making and genuine intrinsic motivation in their employees. 

Check https://www.thebrightroom.de/ for more info or book a call if something sparked your curiosity https://calendly.com/irinalexandra/30min. 

PS: We don’t do org design or change management but if that’s what you need, I can recommend a few great people - feel free to dm.

Helping heart led entrepreneurs in 3 crucial stages of their journeys:

1. Taking the leap - Making the right decision for the future. Getting clear on the Why, What and How. Making a plan for the transition and building the confidence to execute.
2. Sustaining - Building resilience and learning how to "ride the bike" of entrepreneurship.
3. Scaling - Moving from surviving to thriving.

A surprising source of hope this morning:

A department head at a large corporate reached out. 
One of her teams is drowning - product launch went sideways, internal stakeholders are frustrated, pressure is high. 

Her request? 

𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲, 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. 

Let’s be honest that’s not a typical course of action. 

Here’s what I’ve seen leaders do in such situations: 

1️⃣ Tough it out
Let the team deal with it. Support with an occasional pep talk. 

-> 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴. 
 
2️⃣ The Hero move. 
Leader swoops in, shields the team from negativity 

-> 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘦𝘨𝘰), 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺. 𝘕𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.  

3️⃣ Reputation Management Theatre 
Package the narrative, hype up past success and reduce the perception of issue at hand. 

-> 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵-𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦. 

So, engaging an external provider to create a space for the team to just pause and feel (particularly when everything is on fire) - is a radical act of true leadership. 

And she’s not outsourcing it - she’s showing up, taking out a full day. 
But she is not coming with solutions - she’s creating an environment for the team to sit with the difficult emotions and find 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 way forward. 

That takes courage. 

The result? 

✔️ The team feels seen but maintains a sense of agency 
✔️ They come up with solutions that they own
✔️ They develop a collective self-esteem that is built with every moment a group overcomes a challenge together

The pay off? A stronger, self-sufficient team. 



———

👋🏼 Hi, I’m Irina - founder of Brightroom, ICF-certified coach, with a Master’s degree in Psychology and leadership experience in a Fortune 500 company. We help organisations build the mindsets, skills, and habits needed for autonomous, collaborative work. High performance doesn’t need to end in burnout - but it does start with ownership.

Founder @ Brightroom | Bringing radical ownership to your org | Self-Management Nerd | Psychology MSc & ICF Coach | Ex-Wayfair

Are you in Berlin and looking for a 𝗰𝗼-𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿? 

On 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟰𝘁𝗵 I'll be facilitating a networking session specifically designed to build the foundation for a potential co-founder relationship. 

It's not a speed dating kind of thing where you exchange pitches and walk each other through your resumes. But thoughtfully curated conversation invitations to help you see each other on a deeply human level and test the alignment for building something together. 

📍 Venture Café Berlin
🕔 5-6PM 
🎟️ https://luma.com/87xovcrg

There will be many other cool sessions running later in the evening - from inspiring talks to very practical skill building workshops. So even if you are not looking for a co-founder, do check it out.  

Thank you Yashvir Chawla for the invite 💜

Open article: Aspiring Founders Meetup #12 · Luma by luma.com

I’m opening the doors to my personal reflection ritual 🎄
And you’re invited.

Every December, I carve out a pocket of quiet to look back at the year - the growth, the surprises, the setbacks that taught me more than I could hope for, and the wins I didn’t slow down to celebrate.

Last year I realised something: doing this 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 is far more powerful than doing it alone.

So if you’re currently drowning in Q4 deadlines, performance reviews, wrap-up meetings, and back-to-back Christmas parties…
and a tiny part of you is craving a pause - a couple of hours to breathe, feel, and actually hear your own thoughts -

This is your invitation.

🎟️ https://luma.com/s7hktcfk

Nothing quite as uniting as a global Cloudflare outage 🥰 

We ain't so different after all.

Brainstorming blog title took an unexpected turn 😂

“Irina with a subtle side-eye” might become my new headline. 

Stay tuned for a new article ✌🏼
…with a human generated headline (AI couldn’t fake the slight amusement with humanity).

graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message

I have lived my life thinking that there are adults in the room, until I realised I 𝘢𝘮 the adult*. 

- Travis Harris on the recent episode of DOAC. 

This has really stuck with me. 

It’s stuck with me because it is the core of all problems we have - on a personal and on the most global level. Bear with me. 

This idea starts very early. 

As kids we have a natural belief that the parents, and adults more broadly, know what they are doing AND have our best interest at heart. 

Of course, sooner or later we realise - 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 knows what they are doing. 

And even if they genuinely care about our interest, they don’t often act in a way that supports it. 

In theory the belief then should be dismantled and we should take full ownership of our lives. 

In practice? 

The belief 𝘪𝘴 dismantled - we have trust issues and get relatively good at noticing when poor decisions are being made. 

But we don’t really look in the mirror to be the solution (or at least part of it). 

We complain about the leadership, the government, the rich, the immigrants, the neighbour next door. 

But most of us don’t change even the smallest habits if that causes inconvenience. 

We expect the solutions to come from somewhere external to ourselves - some people in power - or in other words, the adults. 

And I think the subtle but a very fundamental mindset shift each of us needs to make (and keep reminding ourselves) - I 𝘢𝘮 the adult. 

No-one is coming to the rescue. 

Don’t like the culture at work? 
- What is something, however small, that you can do to start changing it? 

Not happy with the relationship you have with your co-worker? 
- What if you were the only one responsible for making it work? 

It can be an uncomfortable practice at first. But it’s worth it. 

PS: Not preaching from a position of supreme mastery. Taking full ownership in every area of my life is a never ending work in progress. I do believe though that it’s at the core of any other goal we might want to pursue, that’s why it’s also such a central part of our approach at Brightroom. 

PSS: Highly recommend the episode. It’s refreshing in the space of AI talks - neither blindly optimistic, nor inevitably apocalyptic - a very grounded overview of current facts with a concrete call to action. 
https://lnkd.in/dEcMg9wp

*𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺.

Motivation is often treated as something outside of our control. 
Something that we just wake up to one morning. 
Some of us have it and others don’t. 

That’s not true. 

Particularly in the organisational context - there are systems, rituals and unspoken rules that make people feel naturally charged for top performance and then there are those that kill it. 

In my latest blog I explore the art and science behind the almost mystical concept of motivation. 

Have it a read and let me know what you think: https://lnkd.in/dxcHbZap

PS: I went a little overboard and created a cheatsheet with the practices you should consider for your org (download link at the bottom of the article).  

What's your relationship with motivation? 
Did you notice what tends to be in place when you feel most motivated at work?

Curious if going solo might be something for you? 
Or maybe you are in it already and looking for a partner in crime? 

Join me on Thursday at Venture Café Berlin 👋🏼 

Come slightly before the hustle and bustle (at 5pm) and you'll get a chance to take part in a values based co-founder matching activity. 

🎟️ https://luma.com/87xovcrg

🚀 ASPIRING FOUNDERS MEETUP #12

📅 December 4, 2025 | 🕕 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM

Thinking about launching a startup or going solo — but feeling overwhelmed by the first steps?
You’re definitely not alone.

Join Employed.world for the Aspiring Founders Meetup, a supportive space for emerging entrepreneurs in Berlin to learn, connect, and move forward with confidence. Whether you're exploring an early idea, transitioning into self-employment, or simply seeking clarity, this meetup will help you find both direction and community.

What to Expect
• Real talk about the challenges early founders face
• Guidance from experienced entrepreneurs
• Breakout discussions with peers who “get it”
• A welcoming environment to ask questions, share ideas, and get inspired
Come meet the people who can help you turn uncertainty into momentum.

Featuring
✨ Irina Alexandra – Founder, Brightroom
✨ Mozamel Aman – Founder & CEO, StartSteps
✨ Yashvir Chawla – Founder, Employed.world

I used to think I hated networking.
Until I realised, I just hated the 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 I thought I had to follow.

𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲 #𝟭: 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲.
“Number of new contacts” felt like an unspoken KPI.
As an introvert, that idea alone drained me before the event even started.

𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲 #𝟮: 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵.
Five years into self-employment and I’m still terrible at pitching. Absolutely hopeless.
(Could be because I myself get instantly bored when I hear a polished, predictably generic elevator speech.) 

𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲 #𝟯: 𝗜𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴.
The pressure to produce “results” made interactions feel transactional before they even began.

Then I allowed myself to do networking my own way.

I don't chase every person in the room.
I talk to just a few - but with full presence and genuine curiosity.
Less is more.

I let go of outcome expectation.
Yes, networking is there to unlock opportunities, but going in with that intention never worked for me.
Focusing on what I can offer - not what I can get - changed the experience completely.

And I stopped forcing myself into spaces that drain me.

Big events where everyone is let to their own devices awkwardly browsing around the rooms - are not my kind of party. And that's ok. 

I prefer smaller gatherings, with a shared theme and mix of structure and flexibility. 
I like when hosts create an environment where people feel comfortable being themselves and having deeper level conversations. 

Now I see, that my personal discomfort with “traditional” networking events has very much shaped how I design my own gatherings. 

Next one is happening tomorrow and we still have a couple spots left. 

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲: Year-End Reflections (of course)
𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: December 3rd, 6:30pm
𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Mindspace Skalitzer Strasse
𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲: 15 people max

https://lnkd.in/drPMkHTB

PS: What’s your relationship with networking?

View event: Reflect & Connect: A Year End Gathering

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Irina Alexandra

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The Battle

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