We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katya Davydova. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katya below.
Katya, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
I was a newly minted seven-year-old when we made it.
Born and raised in Uzbekistan during turbulent economic times–I have a clear memory of standing in a long food line with my mom as a kid–my smart parents knew we had to get out.
So, we applied for a greencard visa lottery, and won, on our second attempt. This was our ticket to a better future. With less than 1% chance of winning, the American Dream was now close to being ours. We had hope.
I was born a happy kid–smiling, laughing, playing. In high school, I joined the Optimists Club because the name sounded yellow and bright. Part of my human makeup was–and is–looking forward to things big and small: college, my first day of work in consulting (which turned out to be soul-sucking, so I was very optimistic about leaving), grad school, moving to Los Angeles, the next milestone and the next.
(Ironically, if I’m being honest, this orientation and excitement towards the future is the other side of the coin of my anxiety about it, especially given today’s geopolitical climate.)
Optimism is defined as: “hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something.”
Given what could have been if we’d stayed in our homeland, my family had every reason to be optimistic about life here in the States. I remember walking into a grocery store in Washington D.C. for the first time and being absolutely gobsmacked at the seemingly thousands of gleaming apples. There was so much bounty.
But of course, like most things, there’s a tug between nature and nurture here. My grandpa set the stage for optimism, and my mom carried it forward.
One story stands out. The scene: My grandma, grandpa, and I were walking back from the market in Uzbekistan. The adults were carrying a huge watermelon. Being four years old and mighty, I asked if I could carry it, too. Grandma said no. Grandpa said yes.
So I lugged that watermelon for what seemed like a million steps.
Until I dropped it.
It cracked open everywhere on the dusty road. I was heartbroken and even more so when my grandma yelled, “Look what you’ve done! Just like I said was going to happen!”
My grandpa bent down to me at eye level, picked up the pieces, and winked.
“At least now we don’t have to cut it.”
He died shortly thereafter, and my mom continued this tradition of looking at silver linings. No money? Great! We’ll make our own pizza and wear crowns atop our heads like the queens of the kitchen we are. Wherever there was a physical lack, there was a bounty of love.
Over the years, I’ve learned to find the divine in things big and small. To celebrate the end of my 20s, I embarked on a yearlong experiment to find the tiny joys in life. Through a dark period of time in the nation’s history (with the pandemic and worldly ennui), I chose to go in search of–and find–the good. My first book, Joy in Plain Sight, was born.
Now where’s that parable about making lemonade?
(The book cover and the opening story feature a lemon.)
And now, given today’s shaky world, am I still optimistic?
Yes. Anxiety cuts deeper these days. Sometimes I spiral.
But we–my family, my circles, the people of the world–have been through so much.
The only thing left is to carry that hope onward. The future is ours for the making.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
If you could build a cosmic billboard, large enough for all 8 billion people on the planet to read, what would your message be?
Mine would be around increasing our awareness to live our fullest, most vibrant lives, individually and collectively.
I believe each of us has effervescence within us–that ineffable quality of zest and excitement for life.
My mission is to ignite a more joyful world by helping individuals and organizations rediscover their effervescence.
Career-wise, I’m an organizational and leadership development expert, sparking workplaces and environments where humans can flourish. This comes in three distinct flavors: speaking, consulting, and coaching, via my company, Effervescent You.
First, to multiply impact, I’m a keynote and conference speaker on leadership development, healthy productivity, and joy. My recent TEDx talk was on treasure hunting, and my favorite workshop I’ve led was on how to stay sane in our chaotic world. In the past, I’ve had the honor of impacting 6,000+ executives, managers, and individual contributors across 600+ workshops on topics like leading change, strategic thinking, inclusive behaviors, and habits of well-being.
I feel most at home on a stage, connecting with an audience–because it gives us all a chance to be wholly present. My workshops and talks tend to be energetic and interactive, giving folks not only something to think about, but also a new behavior to experiment with.
Second, I consult companies to clarify their purpose and streamline their systems to support happy employees.
Throughout my colorful career (and oh, how fortunate I’ve been to have it!), I’ve led, built, and scaled learning and development/people experience programs for global companies; impacted thousands in higher education; and consulted with federal and local companies in both human-centered design and healthcare. Got a thorny organizational challenge with people at the heart of the issue? I’m your gal.
Third, I’m a transformational and public speaking coach focused on helping high achievers bridge the gap between insight and action through sustainable micro-habits and systems. Working with ambitious, thoughtful individuals to help them navigate uncertainty and transitions (to a better career, season of life, and relationships) is deeply nourishing, and gives me a great sense of purpose.
A few years ago, during the heart of the pandemic, I decided to write a book that further delves into the human experience of finding wonder in the ordinary–because that joy, that effervescence, is everywhere…if we know how to look. That became the award-winning Joy in Plain Sight.
I hold an M.S. in organizational development and knowledge management and a certification in holistic coaching with an upcoming International Coaching Federation ACC credential. I draw from behavioral science, appreciative inquiry, co-active coaching, and habit-building to drive mindset and behavioral change.
While this may seem like an amalgam of interests and expertise, the core of it lies in the belief in the goodness of humans and in humanity as a whole. I feel grateful to play a small part in trying to make the world a kinder, more loving place.
If you’d like to check out some of my work, please feel free to connect with me below! I truly love learning about every person I meet.
– Book: Joy in Plain Sight (amazon.com/dp/B09ZDPJ23L/)
– TEDx Talk: Treasure Hunting (youtube.com/watch?v=TBWPB604NVw)
– Website: KatyaDavydova.com
– LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/katyadavydova/
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
As Rascal Flats once sang (and as my kid self belted out along to these lyrics), “Life is a highway, and I wanna ride it all night long.”
While I can’t claim wisdom to all of life just yet, I’ll share three pillars of this portion of highway.
The journey from full-time corporate into the full-time unknown in entrepreneurship has been one of my biggest learnings. Here are my top three takeaways thus far. What would you add?
1. Acceptance of ambiguity and emergence
2. Regular self-reflection
3. Action over preparation
1. Acceptance of ambiguity and making room for the emergent
We humans love certainty. Unfortunately, and especially in today’s world, that certainty is hard to come by. It’s funny, many of my coaching clients say, “Katya, I have no idea what I’m doing. What should I do next?”
It’s both curious and affirming to hear that we all have this questioning deep inside of us throughout various points of our lives, because, guess what? I ask myself that question regularly. How about you?
I grew up very Type-A: meticulously, jam-packed schedule, perfect grades, top of the class through graduate school, and career advancements left and right. Except that didn’t fulfill the soul. (Big surprise, huh.)
As I progressed through corporate and especially in running my own business, it’s been challenging to let go. Back when I graduated from college, my parents sat me down and asked me about my 5-year plan, and demanded a spreadsheet of options. Today, I still do yearly and quarterly planning for my business, but I’m more fluid with timing.
Why? Because we never know what beautiful, emergent thing is going to bloom into our life.
Take, for example, two large events in my life.
The first was writing a book. My gut told me it’d be nice to be a published author by the time I was 30. A few days before my 29th birthday, my dear friend texted me about a book writing program whose application closed that day. I applied at the last hour…and got in. Eleven months later, the book was published. Goal: achieved.
On the other hand, when I deepened my corporate training journey in 2021, I told my manager that it’d be a pipe dream to be on the TEDx stage at some point in my career. And then I quickly forgot about it…until I happened to see a random LinkedIn post announcing TEDx Huntington Beach in 2023. I applied at the eleventh hour (literally submitted my application at 11:55pm), and six months later was up on stage on the big red dot.
The book was planned. TEDx less so. But for neither could I have predicted the timing, and for both there was a sense of emergence.
That sort of uncertainty–or what I call the Universe’s magic when I’m feeling optimistic–is all around us. During my low points, the uncertainty feels like stuckness, anxiety, overwhelm, or even malaise.
But during deep self-connection and reflection, it’s a reminder to lean into the uncertainty fully, and trust that–with the relevant effort and hard work–emergent things will come.
2. Regular self-reflection
Speaking of self-connection, one huge lesson in my personal and professional life journey has been to have a regular system for self-reflection. I’ve been journaling since I was a kid, and have experimented with various iterations: daily notes, biweekly catchups on life’s events, and random musings in both Google Docs and in Notion, depending on the content.
When I launched Effervescent You, I made a point to carve out 30 minutes every Friday to write about my wins and lessons.
Any time I fall off the journaling wagon (which happens in cycles), I notice myself slipping into that anxiety and overwhelm. It really is a dedicated, almost sacred space to process.
If you’re not a journaler, that’s okay! Whatever gets you out of your head and into your body or a connection with something grander works wonders. Some weeks, my reflection time is going for a long run where I have uninterrupted space to make meaning of things. Other times, it’s a heart-to-heart with a dear friend (hello, external processors!).
The point is to tune back inward among the bombardment of news and social media and listen to your inner voice. I know, I know, it sounds cliché. But it’s well worth it.
3. Action over preparation
As a recovering perfectionist, this was a harder lesson to learn (and I’m still tweaking its application). It’s also a lesson that many entrepreneurs and perhaps people in general talk about.
Just do the damn thing.
Microexperiments and pivots pay off more in the long run than spending all the time in the world getting ready.
For me, this meant launching Effervescent You with a good enough website, and a good enough plan. (Did I stew over every little pixel while revamping the website for the umpteenth time? Yes, for a bit. Until my friend snapped me out of it.)
This also meant leaving corporate (and a cushy, six-figure job) without a crystalized idea of what was next. It was clear enough, though.
It’s really comfortable to stay safe. To not put our voice out there, or to spend too much time preparing the “right” or “best” thing. But action is what catapults us forward.
And as I write these words, this lesson is just as true for me now as it was six months ago, years ago, decades ago. And it’s the most challenging one to be consistent in, because our egos try to keep us small.
Don’t wait for the right moment. Just start.
How would you describe your ideal client?
These days, it seems like everyone and their mother calls themselves a coach. I appreciate that the coaching industry is booming–folks are realizing the power of having a mirror, cheerleader, and accountability partner in getting to where they want to go.
It’s a huge part of why I love the profession–what started as peer mediation in sixth grade, now exists as a meaningful, sustainable way to make a difference. It’s the connection that my amazing clients get to make with themselves, and the real, lived changes they carry into their next chapter. What an honor to witness and support that.
I draw on practices from behavioral science, both co-active and holistic approaches (accessing the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual aspects of the human experience), and some somatic work to meet clients exactly where they are, in three parts: awareness, experimentation, and sustainability.
1. Awareness – Explore and understand internal stories and beliefs
2. Experimentation – Micro-experiments after every session to practice new behaviors
3. Sustainability – Select new, aligned behaviors and update internal narratives
The goal is to support clients in updating and practicing new thought and behavior patterns that serve them better and empower them to sustain the change — bridging the gap between knowing and doing.
And since my areas of professional expertise span a few main themes, my ideal clients also tend to fall under several different categories.
1. Transformational & personal growth: support in a transition (career, season of life, clarity of next steps)
2. Leadership: core skills to advance and support others as a leader, and to navigate organizational challenges and complexity
3. Communication: 1) public speaking to make your voice heard and 2) effective communication in your relationships
What unifies my clients is that they are thoughtful, ambitious, and self-aware individuals (and often, teams) who know something needs to change, and need a bit of clarity and accountability to do the action of changing.
In that way, I help them bridge that gap between insight and action, between knowing and doing.
What’s neat is that age and career tenure are widely mapped: I’ve had clients from their early twenties to their late fifties, from stepping into their first career to planning a pivot after decades of expertise.
Below is a sample of the types of work we do together–and my clients’ brilliant outcomes:
– Received recognition and speaking & leadership opportunities within weeks of starting at a new company due to new-found confidence + communication coaching
– Established clearer boundaries to feel more energized in work and in life
– Created and maintained an organizational system for work and life tasks resulting in self-trust and self-reliance and recognition by leadership
– Successfully switched careers by understanding and applying strengths
– “Hiring you has been the best investment I have made in myself!”
My goal is to help as many humans as humanly possible in building a kinder, more joyful world.
If this resonates, feel free to give me a shout. At the very least, you’ll leave with clarity, a professionally trained listening ear, and a new friend rooting for you. Say hello at [email protected].
Contact Info:
- Website: https://katyadavydova.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/effervescentyou/ OR https://www.instagram.com/kdavydova13/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katyadavydova/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiOXtL3oHjnGlwwDVZTgWtQ
- Other: Contact: [email protected]
Image Credits
Kori Price
Rich Schmitt
Isaac Lee
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
