We recently connected with Sonia Petecka and have shared our conversation below.
Sonia, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
First let’s start with defining what purpose means.
I believe that our purpose is to be here right now, experience this life and the whole spectrum of emotions rather than being about something we are supposed to do. According to this definition I was always living my purpose whether I was in the corporate world or in college, when I was depressed and struggling, even when I was doing things I didn’t necessarily enjoy, that weren’t my passion.
The more common definition of purpose refers to something that we are meant to create or contribute to the world, and that I believe shifts and evolves throughout our lives. For me finding this calling has been about becoming a Life and Business Coach, Mentor and Healer.
Finding what I’m meant to do and how I’m meant to serve, which now I know is about helping others to heal and live more fulfilled, authentic lives has been a long and nonlinear journey for me. I can now really appreciate the story I’ve lived up to this point. I know it was all perfect no matter how dark or confusing it seemed at times or how many times I wanted to give up on my dream and didn’t believe it was possible. It was all leading me towards doing what I feel is my true calling and looking back I can see how all the pieces fit together, though I often couldn’t see that along the way, especially in the difficult moments.
Here’s a little bit about my journey: I was born and grew up in Poland. In my childhood home there was a lot of tension and conflict and I didn’t want to add to the problems of the adults around me. I aimed to be perfect, I was always the best student and I grew up trying not to take up too much space. I didn’t even know what I wanted or what felt exciting to me and didn’t know it mattered. I just wanted to win the love and approval of others and worked hard to please them.
When I was 16 my mom decided she and I were going to move to the US, which I wasn’t happy about at the time, though later I realized it was a blessing. My grandparents really wanted me to be a doctor and I wanted to help people and alleviate some of the suffering in the world so in college at Tufts University, I decided that I was going to be pre-med and chose biochemistry as one of my majors. Due to the programming I received I wanted to prove how smart I was and picked the hardest subjects that I could think of because (as I now recognize) I unconsciously believed that would win me the love and approval I so craved. I compensated for the pressure I put on myself by drinking excessively and neglecting my body.
After college I decided to work in immunology research before applying to medical school. I worked for a biotech/pharma company and then in academic research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/ Harvard Medical School in Boston. I spent long hours in the lab, earning very little and I mostly hated it. I felt like there was no point to my life, which led me to the realization that I didn’t want to be a doctor or scientist. I decided to stop trying to meet the expectations of my family and what I thought others wanted me to do. I started looking for something that would be exciting to me. The only thing I knew was that I wanted to live in New York City. In 2012, I got accepted to an MBA program at NYU, which I thought would make me happy.
However in Business School more of my trauma and insecurities surfaced. I felt inferior and small, I believed everyone was smarter than me, had more experience than me and had it all together. I again compensated by drinking and partying to cope with the stress. In 2013, I went through a breakup that revealed more of my abandonment wounds and I decided it was time to look for some solutions. I embarked on a journey to heal myself, which led me to therapy and coaching, Kundalini Yoga and Meditation, Breathwork and other tools and practices like Human Design and Subconscious Reprogramming of limiting beliefs and stress.
After Business School, in 2015 I was working for a technology services company managing client relationships and went through another crushing break up. I decided to become a Kundalini Yoga and Meditation teacher and enrolled in several coaching programs. I soon realized I wanted to help others heal as well and decided to become a coach, however I still had a long healing journey ahead of me.
At the time I struggled with many unpleasant physical symptoms (getting off of birth control contributed to some of them) including depression, chronic fatigue, acne, painful menstrual cramps, digestive issues and insomnia. I tried so many things to feel better, from going to western doctors and trying pharmaceuticals to going to naturopaths, taking a lot of supplements, following restrictive eating protocols, working out and changing my lifestyle. Nothing really worked or brought lasting relief. Eventually I was guided to doing a lot of work around shifting my beliefs about my body and health and focused on finding and addressing my emotional trauma, which was the root cause of my issues. These efforts finally created lasting shifts and prepared me for helping clients with similar issues.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I tried all these different ways of healing so I could find the most effective tools that I would later use in my coaching and healing work. At the time it seemed like I experienced a lot of “failure”, but the trial and error process was key to discovering methods that worked that I could use with my clients.
In 2020 I was living in Seattle and working in my corporate job while teaching Kundalini Yoga, doing Coaching, Human Design and using other healing modalities with clients on the side. I wanted to focus solely on my coaching and quit my job, but was too scared of not having financial stability. Then the Universe gave me a push – I was let go from my corporate job, which was a shock but also a relief. I was still scared and tried to look for other jobs, but nothing worked out and eventually I realized I needed to take the leap and go all in on my coaching business. I was intuitively guided to move to Miami fulfilling my lifelong dream of living in a tropical climate, by the beach.
Now I see that finding what we call our true calling takes time, often has many twists and turns and evolves even when we think we know what it is. Every experience I went through on the way contributed to me being able to do the work I do now. At the age of 36, I feel like I’m just getting started in terms of living more and more from my essence and authenticity and I am so excited about helping others do the same.
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?
I am a Life and Business Coach, Mentor and Healer and I love supporting people in creating lives, businesses and relationships they truly enjoy and living in alignment with their authenticity. I am also passionate about helping people heal physically, mentally and emotionally so that they can experience true wellbeing and freedom. I’m committed to helping people create lasting transformation and shifting how they experience their lives every day, not just giving them a temporary solution or simply more information. I specialize in helping clients overcome the limiting beliefs they’ve picked up along their life journey around what’s possible for them. I challenge the stories and lies my clients have accepted as true and inspire them to step into their power. I use a variety of tools that I’ve found most effective on my journey and that I tailor specifically to the needs of each client.
I like to work with people 1 on 1 for an extended period of time (at least 6 months) because while it’s fun to see people shift in one session (I’ve helped a client heal from panic attacks in her first session) it’s also so rewarding to build a relationship and trust with the client and see new layers come up for healing with every session. Usually I meet with clients every week for an hour over Zoom and I also support my clients in between sessions over a voice messaging app called Voxer. Occasionally I host group workshops and programs (you can join my newsletter through my website below to receive updated offerings).
The most important process I use is Subconscious Reprogramming of stress, trauma and limiting beliefs with a technique called Psych-K. I love helping people find and address the emotional root cause of their challenges. I’ve helped people resolve a variety of challenges including panic attacks, allergies, acne, losing weight, making more money, starting and growing their business, making a career change, improving relationships and more.
Human Design is another powerful tool I use that teaches us about our unique path to success, for example it tells us about what strategy works best for us, how to effectively use our energy and unique flavor of intuition to have the things we want come to us more easily. It also helps us discover what our unique gifts and talents are, how to best interact with others, how to eat and exercise based on our unique design.
I believe I offer a unique set of tools and perspectives to my clients developed throughout my diverse educational, professional and personal experiences. I’m always upleveling myself so I can serve my clients in an even more effective way. I also believe the tools and methods I use with my clients are amazing, but what’s even more important is how much I care about my clients – I believe in them, see their full potential, I am a non-judgmental presence in their lives.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
First off, I think the most important thing on any journey, whether you’re an entrepreneur, starting a family or creating anything is to have the right support. I‘ve always prioritized investing in myself and working with coaches and mentors I resonated with and I recommend it to everyone. I wouldn’t be where I am without people who guided me, believed in me and showed me that my dreams were possible.
The next thing I recommend is learning to relate to your emotions in a truthful and resourceful way. I used to believe that the goal of personal growth and healing is to always feel good and for life to be easy. Now I know that to live fully means to welcome all emotions and experiences. Often in order to heal and live fully and authentically, we need to allow ourselves to feel what we’ve been running away from feeling. When we don’t judge how we feel or what’s happening as “bad” or “negative” and just experience emotions as energy moving in a certain way, we are free. Learning to feel all my emotions changed so much for me and my clients.
I also believe it’s essential to remember that each one of us has a unique path and it will look different than everyone else’s. There are no rules or formulas that work for everyone, we need to discover what works for us. The sooner you can stop trying to fit in, to make sense to others, and the sooner you honor your uniqueness, the better. It’s not easy to go against the status quo, but we build more fulfilling lives, careers, businesses and relationships through finding what’s authentic for us.
It’s also key to just try things and not be afraid to “get it wrong” because I believe there are no mistakes. I recommend focusing less on formal education and more on gathering experiences and following what you are really interested in learning. I believe my Undergraduate and MBA education were valuable, but I learned so much more through my own experimentation process as well as books I wanted to read and workshops I was excited to sign up for. Focusing too much on learning can also prevent us from actually doing things and learning in the process so I encourage people to just start and figure some things out along the way.
From my own evolution and my clients’ stories I see that there is an intelligence directing our lives even though it might be challenging to see it when we are facing obstacles. It’s important to keep going, trusting it will work. We think we want overnight success, but that doesn’t make a good story. I believe we are heroes – our lives are epic stories and like heroes in novels and movies we are meant to face our fears and other challenges on our way to achieving our goal. Throughout our journey we learn to live more from our authenticity and essence rather than the masks and identities we adopted to keep ourselves safe.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
My ideal client is courageous and open to questioning what they’ve always accepted as true and the right way to live. They are willing to try new methods and explore new ways of looking at things. I love coaching people who are committed to their growth and know that I can’t do all the work for them.
I enjoy working with clients who understand that this healing and growth work is a process and while it’s common to see overnight shifts and results in some areas, other things might take a few months to shift. They are willing to be patient through the ups and downs, they stay curious and appreciate the journey of discovery with me instead of only focusing on getting to the desired result.
My ideal clients are willing to invest in themselves, they appreciate me and the heart I put into what I do. They are drawn to my energy, see the value in my perspective and what I teach. Creating a life you love and healing can sometimes be challenging and I appreciate clients who have a sense of humor and want to have fun in the process.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.soniapetecka.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soniapetecka
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sonia.petecka
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/sonia-petecka
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/soniapetecka
- Other: Booking link https://app.squarespacescheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=23175995
Image Credits
Patrick Farrell Renia Orr Ashlee Newberry
