My Story

Ioana Maxim - trainer de actorie si public speaking si actrita cu experienta scenica in Romania si UK
Ioana Maxim – consilier de carieră din România, ofer consiliere profesională și coaching pentru români din țară și diaspora

I grew up believing you always had to “work hard”

Born in 1990s Romania, like many people from my generation, I grew up with the mindset that you always had to “work hard” — to get the best grades at school, get into the best university and, later on, secure the most stable job possible. Life felt like one endless competition, and the work never seemed to stop. On top of that came the social pressure: by 30, you were somehow expected to have already ticked off the whole list: career, home, marriage, children. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Work had started to take over my entire identity

I was spending so much time working that work had started to take over my entire identity. It’s true, I’d had an incredible professional journey and had ticked off that whole list above, but I felt like I was losing my sense of purpose. I went through a period of burnout and came out of it having only learned half the lesson. Then came the chaos of the pandemic and the emotional rollercoaster that comes with becoming a new mum. Suddenly, I realised: something had to change.

I remembered the parts of myself I had left behind

I remembered that, in the rush for achievement and social status, I had left behind the inner child who longed for creativity. Even though I had been painting since primary school and had graduated from drama school, somehow those passions had got lost along the way. In practice, I had erased who I really was, partly out of fear, but also in the name of adapting and building an identity that felt more acceptable in our society.

But what if I didn’t have to choose who to be?

Today, I’m on a mission to reshape my life and career around my natural talents. My passions for art  & theatre now have leading roles, while work has become another way of expressing who I am.

I realised that sometimes you don’t have to limit yourself to having just one job; perhaps your identity needs to be honoured and expressed through several activities at the same time, with your job being just one slice of the cake, not the whole thing.

Ioana Maxim - speaker si trainer de public speaking si actorie in Bucuresti

Enter stage: Portfolio career

There’s also a name for the way I started rebuilding my career: a portfolio career. Instead of having a single professional role define who you are, a portfolio career can bring together multiple roles, projects and activities that coexist and evolve alongside you.

For me, that means no longer trying to choose between the things that are part of who I am, but finding the right place for each of them within the same professional story.

What my portfolio career looks like today

Career counselling

I help people rewrite their professional stories and rediscover forgotten parts of themselves, so they can build a career around their life, not the other way around.

Discover

HR

I work with people and organisations, bringing together my HR experience with the way I’ve come to see careers, work and the people behind the roles differently.

Learn more

Public Speaking

I bring experiences, ideas and questions about career, identity and the courage to build your own path to the stage, opening up conversations worth having.

See me speak

Theatre

It’s one of the parts of myself I once left behind and chose to make room for again. Today, theatre no longer competes with my career. It’s part of it.

Step behind the scenes

I believe this is the only way we can build truly fulfilling lives, break patterns that no longer serve us, and raise a new generation of self-aware, responsible and authentic adults who are capable of creating positive change in the world.

If my story inspired you and you’d like to talk, I’m only a coffee away.

Tell me your story