From a notebook to the stage: Kristiina Maajärv's story of writing her way to clarity
- Jul 9
- 3 min read
A story of colorful detours, quiet listening, and one written dream that found its way to an audience of hundreds.
Some stories start with a leap. Kristiina Maajärv's starts with a pen.
During her International Coaching Certification training, she wrote down a dream she had no plan for yet: "Present at a big conference." She had no topic in mind, no stage lined up, nothing but the sentence itself. She simply let it exist on paper. Months later, she was standing in front of an audience at the IKEA Real Estate Conference, sharing the story of a hundred-year-old Tallinn apartment she had helped renovate and furnish. When the invitation came, she didn't hesitate — she said yes. It's a small moment with a big lesson: a written intention can quietly go to work long before we know how it will happen.
Before the course: craving clarity
Kristiina's path to coaching wasn't a straight line, and she wouldn't want it to be. Her background moves through learning and development, teaching, program management, customer care, entrepreneurship, and years living in Germany and the USA. Each chapter shaped how she sees people, growth, and change. The values she was raised with (resilience, responsibility, the instinct to build things from the ground up) traveled with her through all of it.
What she craved before the course was clarity: in herself, in her direction, in how she could support others. She had always been drawn to coaches, sensing that they held something she wanted to understand from the inside, a kind of presence and depth that felt worth chasing.
Why she joined, and what surprised her
Kristiina joined the ICC to understand herself better, to learn how to ask meaningful questions, and to pick up tools she could pass on to others. She was especially curious how coaching might blend with the practices she already loved — yoga, sound healing, burnout prevention — and how body, mind, and presence could work together to support people more holistically.
The course itself surprised her with how light it felt. Compact, fast-paced, and somehow still full of insight, it turned learning into something that felt more like discovery than instruction. What stayed with her most were the practical exercises, the powerful questions, and a room full of people genuinely curious about each other.
The lesson that stuck: the art of silence
If Kristiina had to name one realization from the weekend, it's this: we all carry the potential to coach, simply by showing up as ourselves and truly listening. Alongside the value of a well-phrased question, she discovered something less obvious: the art of silence, and how much can unfold when we create space instead of rushing to fill it.
The practice that changed things: writing it down
Of everything she took from the course, one habit has reshaped her life: writing down her goals and dreams. Kristiina has noticed that once something is acknowledged on paper, it gains a kind of weight, and life starts responding. Her energy, focus, and intuition begin searching for the right steps and signs. When she's calm and centered, the paths forward become easier to see.
The IKEA conference invitation is the clearest proof she has so far. But she's careful to note that self-coaching, for her, is still very much a practice in progress. The last years have been about exploring and refining what's uniquely hers. The work of guiding others, she says, will come, but the inner work has to come first.
Where Kristiina is now
Today, Kristiina still works full time supporting EMEA customers in her day job. Alongside it, she's preparing to offer private coaching sessions, likely woven together with movement, breathwork, and other mind-body elements — a natural extension of the yoga and sound healing work she already leads. She brings a coaching-style reflection into those sessions too, helping people connect body, mind, and inner clarity one thoughtful question at a time.
Her intention going forward is simple: keep sharpening her ability to ask clear, powerful questions, so the people she works with can reach their own clarity faster. Over time, she hopes to become a steady, trustworthy partner for anyone seeking direction or meaningful change.
Who she'd recommend the course to
Kristiina recommends the ICC to anyone who feels they need more clarity in their life or work, whether or not coaching becomes a career. The toolbox, she says, is practical and hands-on, and you leave with things you can use immediately. It's a grounding, eye-opening introduction to coaching, and one she genuinely recommends.
You can find Kristiina's current offerings at www.mindfully.ee.
If Kristiina's story resonates — that pull toward more clarity, that curiosity about what coaching could open up for you — maybe it's worth writing your own sentence down. Get familiar with our International Coaching Certification course, or keep an eye on our free workshops and webinars.
