About Serban

  • Certified Professional Coach (CPC) – International Coach Academy
  • Master Certified Coach (MCC) – International Coach Federation
  • Completed ICF Professional Coach Training (CTI)
  • Expert in Sales Leadership & Management
  • US Sales Management Experience
  • Completed Marshall Goldsmith Certification

The 3 “I”s

Is there really a predefined path, that we generically call fate? Or we could avoid the inevitable by finding devious streets? It’s not just me wondering this, but also many of the people I meet. But I believe that a more important question is: “Who are you?”.

IDENTITY

I’ve been constantly trying to discover all the facets of my identity.

When I emigrated in the US, back in 1991, I was a mechanical engineer (a Polytechnics University graduate). This is when I had my first dilemmas regarding my identity and values. These doubts aroused from the fact that I had studied in the Romanian educational system, with its well-known issues. I finished the faculty by going to evening classes, while also working in a factory at the same time.

So when I arrived in America I felt I had a limited perspective on a market so advanced as that of the United States. Before 1989 (the fall of communism in Romania) I’d only worked in production and I had no experience in product design. In other words, I wasn’t really an engineer. But I was lucky to enter a whole new field: SALES.

iTRUST

Three years later, because the United States declined my request for another Green Card, I had to return. I was sad and I felt this was a step backwards. But it actually wasn’t. It turned out to be what I needed.

It hadn’t been easy to come back. At that time, Romania wasn’t a good place to be in business, while I went to the US with lots of hopes and plans. I was a fresh graduate and I was very disappointed by the new political regime, which was not far from the ex-communist one. Still, in 1993 I got involved in three projects developed by multinational companies (P&G, Johnson Wax and Chemsearch), which were at that time just entering the market, bringing new job positions. This was the start of a period that brought me self-trust, when I proved to myself that I am able to build something, to make the difference, to come out on top. Doesn’t this sound familiar? Don’t we all want this?

Although the US experience had been a disappointment, it’s the American endeavor that helped me. The three years of sales were an experience that weighted enough for being recruited by foreign companies that wanted to make business in Romania.

INDEPENDENCE

I’ll make a jump in time straight to 2001, the year of gaining my independence. This is when I founded my own company, I’Consultants. This change in my life came after being a full time and project-based trainer within training company Achieve Global. Four years later I entered the coaching industry and completed my road to complete independence.

Meanwhile, I discovered that I work best from home, feeling the sweet smell of a small consultancy business that covers my attic, where – of course – you are welcome at any time.

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