Legacy Talks by Legacy Architect
Real conversations with real people about the stories that shaped them and the legacy they are building. Hosted by Katarzyna Krawiecka, founder of Legacy Architect.
Legacy Talks by Legacy Architect
I Am Not a Victim. I Am a Warrior. | Oana Stoica | Legacy Talks EP. 06
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From housekeeper to 5 businesses. Then she lost everything. This is her story.
Oana Stoica arrived in the UK at 24 with nothing. No connections. No money. No safety net. Within three years she built five businesses across the UK. Then came the burnout. The divorce. The debt. The surgeries. The moment everything collapsed at once.
In this episode of Legacy Talks she shares what nobody talks about when it comes to immigrant success. The anxiety behind the achievement. The identity crisis after losing it all. And how she rebuilt herself from zero. Again.
This conversation is for you if you are an immigrant who feels lost. A mother carrying a dream she is afraid to say out loud. Someone who has lost everything and does not know if they can start again.
Her final words in this episode will stay with you.
I am not a victim. I am a warrior.
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There is a moment in every person's life when the ground disappears, when everything they build, everything they worked for and they believed about themselves suddenly no longer exists. Most people call it failure. I call it the beginning. Welcome to Legacy Talks. I'm Katya Kravitska. I created this podcast because I believe that the most important stories in the world are the ones that we that have never been told. The stories that happen behind closed doors. Today's guest arrived in the UK at 24 with no connections, no safety net, and a dream that had no guarantee of working out. She knocked on doors and did everything she had to do to survive in a country that was not her own. And then she built a business, five locations across the UK. And then she lost everything. And then she did something that the most people would never have the courage to do. She started again, not from where she let off, but from the very beginning, as a mum on universal credit at university in her second language, in her 30s. And what she built from that place is changing thousands of lives across the country every single day. This is Oana, and this is one of the most important conversations Legacy Talks has ever had. Welcome. Ladies and gents, this is Oana, and this is one of the most important conversations Legacy Talks has ever had. Thank you. Thank you for the amazing introduction. Thank you very much for being here with me. I want to start in the simplest possible way, before the story, before your journey, before everything you have built, just you.
SPEAKER_00Who is Oana in your own words? Woman of 39 years old. I have a son, he's six years old. I'm also um mother, I'm a partner, I'm a sister, I'm um a career person, I'm a business woman, I'm a friend. I have a lot of um lot of features inside me.
SPEAKER_01I love that because I've already I can hear something in the way you describe yourself. There is someone who thought deeply about who she is, not what she does. And I think that's where your story really begins. So let us go there. 24 years old, a new country, no connections, no one to call, no safety net. Most of people uh need to feel ready before they make leap like you did. And most people wait till their conditions are right. You didn't wait. What gave you the courage to to go? And what were you hoping to find when you got there?
SPEAKER_00That's a very good question. It was my identity crisis. I uh was looking for freedom and I was looking to reach my potential. I knew I could do more. I was um working in uh an environment that was blocking me from uh from evolving, and also the financial background was a massive push. So this was the reason why I decided to relocate to the UK and to start from zero, so from an office job in management back in Romania, I started here as a housekeeper, and now I'm very proud of my very humble beginnings.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. As you mentioned, the early days, cleaning rooms, working in hospitality, starting at the very bottom of everything. There's something I want to name there because I think it matters. A lot of people would feel shame in that position, especially someone with ambition, as you are very ambitious. And it seems that you knew that you're capable of doing much more than you're supposed to in the in the place where you were at the moment. Did you feel that? And if so, how did you carry it?
SPEAKER_00I started to feel it after I was promoted in my positions. I was promoted uh from um front desk uh management, I was promoted to general management, and this is the moment that I felt that I strongly need to reach out and to improve myself and just to grab all the opportunities and progress. So basically, the moment of my promotion was the validation of my skills, of my hard work, and this is what motivated me as well to go further. And um, I was trapped in an identity cultural clash of the woman who will get married, who will give birth, who will raise children, and I wanted more for myself. Nothing bad in having family and career, however, in the community I was in, family plus career was not mingling well.
SPEAKER_01I think it is going to mean a lot to someone listening today who is in exactly in that position and who's doing work that feels beneath them while carrying a dream that feels too big to say out loud. Ohana, what would you say to that person right now?
SPEAKER_00Thank you very much for following your instinct and for not giving up. Definitely, I will say that. A lot of gratitude and um a lot of respect because I had a courage, you know, and I kept it. And um I started from zero. No connections, no knowledge, no friends. I just came here literally by myself. And uh the progression was then in my hands. I was in charge with my progression. I was responsible, not my family, not my community. So I found the freedom that I was looking for to be in charge of my own destiny.
SPEAKER_01That's amazing. And I think that a lot of a lot of us feel stuck in the life we have, but deep down we feel that we're capable of so much more than we are. For example, um, I'm from Poland, and I lived, I used to live in a place where eleven people lived. Just at the seaside there was a forest, field, and 11 people. So me coming to England, I can I I can relate to what you're saying. Three years after arriving with nothing, you opened your own business, and then another, and another, until you had five locations across the UK. I want to ask you something that people rarely get asked about success. What did it feel like on the inside? Not the achievement, not the pride, but the actual feeling of standing in something you build from nothing.
SPEAKER_00What was it like? I was actually overwhelmed. I did not know how to embrace it, and I had no financial education either. So for me it was quite overwhelming to to see you know the financial part and also um the team growing and expanding. It was overwhelming. It started to cause me a lot of anxiety. And uh this anxiety triggered all sorts of panic attacks, all sorts of health issues. So the success that I was looking for was actually a burden at that time. It was not a liberation, not a satisfaction.
SPEAKER_01Not many people realize that success has its own cost and it's not a single event. We need to become a certain person to be able to handle things that we can't see when we are we're a bit lower. Um, so what did you think you had figured out at that point about life, about yourself, about what was possible?
SPEAKER_00Well, I was confident, you know, that uh I can reach and um I can progress. However, the competition with myself, this is what I've also realized that I was in a massive deep competition with my own person, and um I pushed myself till burnout. Basically, the body and the mind could not function anymore together. And from there, you know, I started also to attract all sorts of negativity in my family life as well. So from there, from the success, it started also the decline, and it was a very fast decline. The success that we build in years, the decline was so fast. Many people could see you as a very, very successful people. I was very unhappy. I was unhappy, you know, because I created myself like a vicious uh cycle. And um the family, the family that I had as well, you know, the partner that I had, I was married at that point. It didn't function anymore, so everything was crashing. My friendships, my family, then the business, and then my health. So basically I paid with my health, and then the massive payment was with the divorce. That was like the ultimate paper.
SPEAKER_01I would like to ask you about the question underneath all of it. Who are you in that moment when the business was was gone, when the life you had built not not no longer existed? When you when you looked in the mirror and the person you had worked so hard to become had disappeared, at that point, who was left?
SPEAKER_00I was a scared child, and I was lonely, I lost my identity, I lost my marriage, I lost my business, I was losing my friends, and um I needed again to escape from the environment. So I've relocated. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's I think that's the one of the most honest responses I got. And I think this is the question that sits at the heart of every story on this podcast, because losing things is one kind of pain, but losing yourself is something something else entirely. You said that the hardest part was emotional, feeling that you had failed while still needed to show up as a mum, as a woman, as someone surviving in a foreign country. How did you keep going when there was nothing left to hold on?
SPEAKER_00Well I was too embarrassed to go back to Romania and I was too embarrassed to uh want to share what I was going through. I just uh decided again to restart, to build myself. For me, it was very, very important uh at that moment to keep the appearances still. But actually, behind the scenes the reality was different. I was in bankruptcy, getting through the divorce, having to move out from the house, all the stuff packed, um, no money left. So basically, what it helped me in order to reveal myself was an advice from um from the job center that I received. And the advice was why, you know, don't you do a course? What would you like to do? You know, to socialize, to escape, to to improve your skills. I didn't even even think, you know, about doing a course, getting back into education. And she suggested, you know, to get back uh university. She said, maybe you're overqualified for a level two course, so you can go back to university. And this is how I started. I said, hmm, that sounds interesting. How does it work? So I applied on new class. It was not easy on your class, it was quite complex. Personal statement, CV, the whole process, admission, interview. And then I started university and I loved it. For me, this was the moment that gave me again the confidence and the power and the mindset that I didn't come in a foreign country just to cry and to be happy for a little. I can do better. And now is my time to rediscover myself, to rebuild myself, to get back on track. So the education, the start of the university was a massive, massive shift in my identity, in my uh mindset as well.
SPEAKER_01That's amazing because, as you mentioned, there was a bit of shame that you didn't want to go back to to Romania, but at the same time having that inner strength and say, no, I'm not giving up. There's something else I would like to say before we move on. What you are describing is something that millions of people are living right now in silence. They are holding it together on the outside when they are falling apart on the inside. They are performing strength because they feel they have no permission to break. Um, what do you wish someone had said to you during that time?
SPEAKER_00I just wanted a hug, you know. I was like really, really feeling really lonely and um disappointed. I was really looking for a mentor and the academic background and also uh the lecturers, they became my mentors. They, you know, discussing uh with them about the business life, about what I wanted to do. They offered me a lot of support. And um this is how I rebuilt my identity. I started to do volunteering work, I started to attend workshops, I started to meet um all sorts of entrepreneurs from the UK at the webinars and networking, but networking with the right type of people, it really brought um my appetite back.
SPEAKER_01Uh there's a saying that we are average of five people that we surround ourselves with, and I think that's what you said is really, really important that you decid you started being in different places, the the places who reminded you who you really wanted to be.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. I I I changed the environment and I found the support that I was really, really desperate to find.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so you started you were in your 30s, you had a six-month-old baby, you were on universal credit, you were studying in second language, uh going through bankruptcy. Um I think that people hear that and they think, how brave, but I would like to go underneath that bravery, because bravery is not absence of fear. It's it is doing something terrifying anyway. What was going through your mind when you made that decision? What were the voices saying in your head? The one that told you, uh did you have any voices that were saying, Oh, this is too much, too late, it's too hard?
SPEAKER_00Yes, for sure. Uh my family was telling me you have to come back, you know, to Romania. You can't uh you can't just stay there and watch struggle. Then you know the circle that I had, the main circle of friends, again, they were not really supportive. You are too old, you have a child, it's gonna be too difficult. Why are you doing this? You're making your life even more complicated. But I didn't listen, I just followed my instinct. I really followed my instinct and I wanted um and I wanted to, you know, to to escape from the victim mindset because I realized I'm gonna stay blocked there in my comfort zone together with the other people that are doing the same. How I'm gonna progress, how I'm gonna visualize my life within five years, how I'm gonna become a role model for my son, how I'm gonna influence him in a positive manner. I want it more than me going to sign at the job center or do part-time jobs because of the nursery I couldn't do full-time. So then I started to look for alternatives. How can I work online? How can I build a business? How can I work online? And this is how the education consultancy it appeared. From my need of help, I decided, you know, to apply all the knowledge that I received, all the support I received within a consultancy that can help other foreigners as well progress, refine themselves, and establish know the confidence that your accent or your passport does not define who you are, does not define yourself worth in a foreign country.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely, especially a lot of foreign people are very ambitious. We very very often we are overqualified and we still feel that we don't feel good enough. That's what I would that's just what uh what hit me when I came to England. When we've got uh um electrician, one is for sockets, one is for light, one is for this, one is for that, and for some reason Polish could do everything. And I think that is quite similar with people who come here, we've got skills about what what we're lacking is confidence. I don't know, was it in Romania like this that we had we used to have belief that if something was to the to east is worse, and if something is to west is better?
SPEAKER_00100%. You know, it all comes from the beliefs that you we were raised with. For sure. I mean, labeling ourselves as second-class citizens, this comes from from the beliefs. And again, uh, and I'm saying this to everybody, you know, your beginning, your passport does not define who you are. And I agree we come in different countries with huge knowledge and skills and education, but due to language barrier, confidence barrier, we tend to accept what's beneath us.
SPEAKER_01For some reason, some of us feel that we're not good enough. And as you said, things can be reprogrammed if we establish that, oh, this is a belief I have, we can switch it into something else. Um, your first days at university, sitting at the in the lecture hall with a baby at home, studying in English, knowing everything you had lost to be in that room, what did it feel like?
SPEAKER_00Oh, I felt so scared. Really? Really, really scared, really scared. Starting in a second language, it's not uh it's not easy. And also, you know, the fact that I had the imagination of the traditional university, but little did I know. Because in the UK, the university is not a traditional where you stay in the library, you have to read, you have to do a lot of exams. University is a massive networking hub. And there's a lot of talent, a lot of talented people who are looking to network, who are looking to for joint partnerships, or who are looking to motivate each other. There's a lot of business uh joint ventures. This is how I discovered and I met my business partner. And uh the whole the whole system, it's not based on um on reading and copy and pasting in an exam. It's it's based on practical work. It's a lot of uh accent on putting in practical real life what you are studying there, which is absolutely amazing. It pushes you out of the comfort zone and you start using your crucial mind. Something that in my country I was not taught how to use my critical part, how to analyze better, how to filter better everything.
SPEAKER_01Yes, you learn through you learn and you can apply the knowledge, uh, and that's the way assessment works. And I think that's the main uh the main difference. I can compare it with Polish because I'm a Polish teacher. There's so as you mentioned, there's so many things we need to memorize. Things have been there's a key with answers, a lot of tick-in-box exercises, and I think uh, as you said, university allows you to network, and not many people see it as an opportunity. Many people see it as oh, you have to I have to go, I have to learn. But if you go and find like-minded people, what actually can happen is you can build a project based on the skills you learn. Um, you learn in the course and in certain modules. You said something that I think is one of the most important things anyone can say on this podcast. You said that experience forced you to stop living just to survive and start building a future with intention. I want to give that sentence the space it deserves because I think there are two ways of living surviving and building. And the most people spend their whole lives in survival mode without even realizing they had a choice. When did you first feel yourself moved from one to the other?
SPEAKER_00I started um to experience the the survival part when I was on benefits. Because for me that was um personally, it was my rock bottom. My rock bottom to depend financially on um on welfare. I I've never I've never had in my life experience that in my community again, people being on welfare they were labeled as lazy, and I was not lazy, I was just a mother, and you know the the universal credit came as a massive, massive support for me, but also massive disappointment in the same time. I was feeling really embarrassed. And um starting university again and having also the student finance support that came uh the massive help. The student finance they gave a grant that covered my son's nursery fees, and that was a massive relief for my expenses. I had also the council tax free, so it came with this type of benefits that I never even imagined, and I was not aware of them. And this is, you know, basically when again my Mindset shifting, meeting with people who were already building something, people who are younger than me. And uh I thought I can do it as well. It's never too late. I can restart, I can reset. I just need to see the opportunity and just to grab it, not to think too much, not overthinking, just stay hit and then grow it into something beautiful. And this is what this is what I've I've done. A lot of fear, a lot of issues of well, you know, because the transition was not smooth. But now we've grown into a beautiful established uh consultancy. We have umwards three years in a row. We have now partnered with 55 universities in the UK, and our team um it's growing beautifully. We have 80 plus team members that are collaborating with us, and I want to believe that we are bringing a positive impact within the foreign community.
SPEAKER_01Today you help thousands of migrant men and women across the UK realize that it's never too late to rebuild the future through education, career development, and personal growth. Tell me about ABG education, not the business description, the soul of it. Why does it exist and what does it mean to you personally?
SPEAKER_00It started um as a small project. It started as a startup. Um I received the amazing opportunity of having an apprenticeship in the student finance department. And um in that moment, you know, it was meant to be, but there was a massive need for diversity inside the university whereas I was studying. And um I was all the time involving different events, and I was speaking as well, I was putting a lot of questions, and because I had a sales background, you know, they proposed the collaboration to connect, you know, people from my community, from the Romanian community, with a university degree. In the UK, you can study without A levels and without GCSCs. It's amazing. Not many people know about it. Exactly. And also you can uh work and study, there's a lot of flexibility. The courses they are designed for working people, working adults. You can study up to 60 years old, which is again unbelievable. So the reset, uh, you know, and the restart, it has uh it has it has massive potential. And uh there's no upfront payment because I was all the time, you know, how much it's gonna cost me. Tuition fees they are quite high. The student finance loan, you access financial support, and uh there's no payment upfront. So um the whole package, the whole opportunity, it was really attractive. But I was not aware of this opportunity. I discovered it at the job center due to the universal credit.
SPEAKER_01Uh talk about the people you serve, because I think they are so important. You help people who feel behind, who lost confidence in themselves, who believe it's too late because of their age uh the because of their age, because of their language, because of their finances, because of their past mistakes, their circumstances. And you were once that person. What do you know now that you wish you had known then? What would you say to the version of yourself who was sitting on universal credit with a baby wondering if there was still a future for you?
SPEAKER_00Look for the opportunities and step out of your comfort zone. It's very important to take action. As you know, we we live uh with the idea of tomorrow is gonna be the day, or we live with certain plans, we manifest. Unfortunately, few of us take really action. We know what we need to do, but we stay blocked. So a tiny push for myself, it was the divorce, the bankruptcy, the universal credit, was this tiny push that I needed in order to find solutions. And for me, going back to education, networking, looking for opportunities, surrounding myself with a highly ambitious background, people, it made a difference.
SPEAKER_01And for anyone listening today who is in the UK and wants to find out about how OANA can help them, uh, I want to make sure they know how to find you. Tell us a little bit how do you work and how people can reach you?
SPEAKER_00They can apply online on our website. There is an application form, then um, we're gonna uh contact uh the person following day or the same day. We contact them and we analyze together their situation. So we're starting from their actual job, their previous job, their career plans, their English level, and also we're discussing about uh the eligibility check for the for the funding. All the services that we provide uh they are fully covered by the UK government. So there's no fees for our clients. And we are doing the analyzing together. We are giving them professional advice based on the career path or the business they are looking for. After we match the student with the right job, with the right career path, then we select the course. We are checking through almost 500 different types of courses, so we have a lot, a lot of options, a lot of opportunities. And uh, according to the timetable, if they can study one day online, one day campus, or two days per week, daytime, evening time. Or if they are looking for masters, or if uh they are looking for one course. There are different pathways in the UK. The system is so flexible, it's unbelievable how much support and how many options you have. We are doing the application together. So we give them support for the CVs, for the personal statement. We offer them support one-to-one for the admission. We are doing uh support for the student finance application. We are together with them at the enrollment until graduation. Because their stories, they are here to inspire everybody, and we set their success.
SPEAKER_01It's amazing because a lot of people are scared of paperwork, how is it in other countries? Ladies and gents, I'm I'm really excited to share that Oana and I are going to be collaborating, and I think this is going to bring something very special to both of our communities. Please watch this space. Uh, there's more to come very soon, and you can find uh in the links below. I'll make sure everything is easy to find because of your service to people. Lots of uh us could graduate. Step up in what we do.
SPEAKER_00We have amazing successful stories, stories that inspire all of us, and uh, we are so proud of uh of all the people you know that uh we have helped. Um I love going to the graduations. I I I love it. Unfortunately, only two people can go to graduations. I managed you know to go. I'm gonna go now to a graduation in July. Last year has been as well. And it's so amazing when you see families with children, children clapping their hands for their mom, who's uh graduate at almost 40 years old. It's absolutely so emotional and so rewarding, you know, because education doesn't change one life, it changed the whole family's life. It all starts from us parents, we are the role models, and we can inspire our children that they can do more because we can do more as well.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely, and as you mentioned, once you become a parent, oh yes, priorities change. I can speak for myself. I've got two children and I want to be the hero, and whatever I do, I just always check how would they feel if I did something different. So I think that as you mentioned, seeing your parent graduating can be such an inspiration for even like not for the children, but for friends and for everyone really.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. I remember when I graduated, uh, I come from like a small community in uh in Romania, and basically the whole village knew the priest was talking in the church, you know, being the first one in the family with a UK degree was massive uh massive accomplishment uh from the outside as well, and for the inside, it feed it as well my ego, but also my confidence. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01As you said, not if someone is proud of you, and people who just saw you 20 years ago when you were a little girl and they're proud of you, that is that's a different level of achievement, isn't it? Yes, exactly, exactly. The doctor, the teacher, the priest. You said something in your form that I want to bring into this conversation as well. You said that people see the success, the business, the awards, the growth, but they do not see the years of rebuilding that happened behind the sc behind the scenes, um, the discipline, the effort, the private cost of all of it. Why do you think we find it so hard to show people the real story, the messy, the difficult, the building part?
SPEAKER_00We are scared of failure, you know. We don't take failure as a lesson. So we are scared to share the story. We are scared of um failing again and then being judged. So this exterior puts a lot of pressure on us, especially especially when you're far away from your community. When you are not anymore in your country, you as a person, you change and your identity it changes. The migrant mindset comes with such a big emotional luggage and such a massive sacrifice. So then to bring on the table also the hard stories, you prefer to go back to your country as a winner, right? You don't want to look at, you know, he felt, she felt. But unfortunately, people, you know, they're hiding and hiding and hiding and lying themselves and the ear passes. And um, it's so sad for me when I see a lot of talented people how they are just blocked.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's true. And I think even sometimes people may have the qualification, but if they don't feel worthy enough, that is something it's worth looking to because uh I was this kind of person. I had two different qualifications and I achieved so much and I still felt not that no, no, maybe not, maybe another time. And when I look back, I feel that I've wasted so much time to this. What would you change if more people were honest about that part of the journey? If we stopped performing success and started sharing the truth of how we got there.
SPEAKER_00I love what you said. This is uh one of the topics that I had uh yesterday on my social media about uh this world, you know, of um fake success. This uh the phrase fake it till you make it. Unfortunately, some people bring it to another level, and we are surrounded with imposters. And then you say you compare, like I have so many qualities, I have so many skills to know why I'm not there. And the thing is that they took action. This is you know, this is the difference. They took action, some of them an unethical way, some of them they are going for the fake it till you make it. Some of big coaches say it. It works for some, it works for some, especially on social media. There's a lot of successful people uh on social media. Everybody is owning their own business, everybody is an entrepreneur, everybody you know, like I don't know who is working anymore.
SPEAKER_01There are so many uh models on Instagram. Yeah, I just I think in the in the previous conversation I had with Paul and Gina, we were talking about it that people very often are disattached and when they are shame, they create another persona, like an actor that you could show online. And I think that's that's sad because if we feel if you if we have someone who believes in us, can we can get pushed the one you got uh when you started university. I also think that this is why this conversation matters so much, because some someone listening today needs to know that the person they admire, the person whose success they compare themselves to, also had a moment when they didn't know where they were anymore and they kept going anyway. As you said, someone took actions when they could stop because it was hard.
SPEAKER_00Exactly, 100%. You know, and um I'm also guilty of not sharing my my failure because I was ashamed, I did not trust uh the process either, so I also kept it hidden. And uh then I started, you know, to to show more behind the scenes on my social media, to show also the vulnerable part, um, how I lost the weight, how many years it took me to lose weight, then uh my recent surgery, then talking about my divorce, talking about mental health, opening up more. And um this has brought me closer, you know, to my community. And uh it's so rewarding when when a person, you know, gives you that thank you, you really help me. You really, you know, I thought that I'm alone. I thought it's only me who's feeling that. I think it's so important uh to normalize the lessons, not the failure. The lessons, they're all lessons that we have to pass in order to reach uh, you know, to reach a certain point. Because uh success is not there yet. I have not stopped. I still am working progress.
SPEAKER_01I think that the most the most knowledgeable people are the people who like giving advice are the people who do the least. And I think that as you mentioned, talking about why what it was hard is so so important because people can see you as a as a human because we all have our fa failures. My podcast, it's starting. I don't have many views. I could just do that, I could just quit right this moment. But I know that there are so many people who need to hear your stories, your messages. And for example, imagine that uh your son listened to it in 20 years when he himself is in some kind of hardship, uh, he feels that he doesn't know where to turn. What would my mom do? And then if he listens to this in 10-15 years, that is something you wouldn't buy anywhere else.
SPEAKER_00100%. Our our story, as you said, our story needs to stay alive, and we have the responsibility to share, to share the good and the bad.
SPEAKER_01Before we go to before we get to our final question, I want to give you something very important. A direct line to the person listening to right now who needs to hear your story today. Maybe they are uh mothers, maybe they lost their business, their confidence, their sense of who they are. Maybe they sit in there somewhere right now and thinking it's too late for them. What do you say directly to that person?
SPEAKER_00Believe in yourself, you deserve better.
SPEAKER_01I want everyone listening to hear what Oana just said. Please, if nothing else from this episode stays with you, let that stay with you. Your current situation doesn't have to become your final destination. As Oana said, your passport doesn't mean that you are worse. We all are from somewhere. Um say it again to yourself and say it to someone who needs to hear it. We all know we're going to die. Most of us just never stop to think about what we leave behind. When you are gone, when the noise of daily life has finally settled, what do you want to remain? Not a not the business, not AVG education, as important as it is, not the awards or the achievements or the numbers, just you. As a woman, as a mother, as a someone who survived uh unimaginable and very difficult stuff in a foreign country with nothing, lost everything, and built something that changed lives. What is your legacy? I'm not a victim, I'm a warrior. Thank you. That's one of the most beautiful answers this podcast has ever received. And now the world gets to hear it. Thank you very much for your time today.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Thank you so much. I really enjoyed it. I love the meaning of these conversations. They can bring value to all of us. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Is there anything else you would like to add I didn't mention?
SPEAKER_00Yes, I think um, you know, it's it's so important for us, the people who left, to be proud of yourself because you left your country. You've done something that others they only dream. So you had the courage to step out of the comfort zone. Or maybe your neighbor, your friend is still dreaming. So once you had the courage to come here for a better life, better future, for a career, however, the reality turned different. Remind yourself the moment when you stepped out of the plane. Remind yourself of the plans and the dreams that you had and reconnect to them. So you bring back that ambition, you bring back that desire, you bring back the discipline. This is what I would love for everybody to remember that moment when they stepped, what they felt, those butterflies, that energy, the excitement, and to bring it back in their professional and personal lives. Because they they have the power to do it. And we are here to help them and to inspire them and to support them.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Oh, and I thank you very much for your time today, and yeah, I'm really excited because I'm sure this episode will reach people who need who will want to change their future, and you provided information that they may not hear anywhere else. So thank you. Thank you for inviting me.
SPEAKER_00I really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01It was a pleasure. I've been sitting with everything Ohana shared today. And the thing that stays with me the most is this. Here's a woman who had every reason to give up, who lost her business, her identity, a sense of self, who was who was a new mother on universal credit in a country that was not her own, starting university in her second language in her thirties. And instead of hiding from that story, she turned it into the greatest strength. She did not just rebuild her own life. She built something that helps thousands of other people rebuild theirs. That is this what a legacy looks like. Not a perfect life, a real one, one that leaves something behind for people who come after. If you're listening to this today and you're in the middle of your own rebuilding, I want you to hear this. It's not too late. Your circumstances are not your destiny. And if you're in the UK and if you want to find out how Anna can help you build your future through education and career development, please check my description because there'll be links with that will help you find out more. And together we can do something amazing. And also, if you have a story that deserves to be heard, I would like to talk to you. Please complete the f or the form in my bio. Enjoy our Legacy Talks. Yes, this is Legacy Talks. I'm Katarzyna Krawiecka. Until next time, leave something that last.