In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Alessandra Patti, an Italian coach based in Zurich and founder of Find Your Way Coaching. Alessandra shares a childhood story about trusting strangers that shaped her belief in humanity, emphasizes the importance of speaking up and distinguishing assertiveness from aggressiveness in the workplace, and offers business advice to be authentic and show emotions. She reflects on personal lessons, recommending learning German for expatriates and obtaining a psychology background to enhance coaching practice. Alessandra discusses her definition of happiness—doing work you love, expressing affection, and minimizing complaints—cites her favorite book, The Six Pillars of Self‑Esteem, highlighting self‑worth, and shares two inspirational quotes from Fernando Pessoa and Nelson Mandela. The episode concludes with her contact information (website, Facebook, LinkedIn) for listeners to find her coaching services.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with the support you need to finish your book. Best part is, after you finish your book, they take care of the entire publishing and marketing process 100% for you. So if you want to become a successful author, make sure to check out authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Have a good friend of mine on today. Her name is Alessandra Patti. She is an Italian coach living in Zurich and founder of Find Your Way Coaching. She supports people and company teams to develop assertiveness, She uses psychology elements, language transformation techniques, and she provides workshops, seminars, and trainings on the importance of speaking up. She is also the co-author of Activate Your Life book coming out on the 23rd of this month. So welcome to the show.
Hi, thank you so much, Tyler. Hi everyone. It's an extreme pleasure to be here. Very honored.
Of course. And we're very grateful to have you here. So let's jump into the first one, Alessandra. The first one I got for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Okay, well, there are maybe a few stories. I was thinking about one in particular from my childhood, which is a little bit like, it's very significant to me. So I'm happy to share it. So when I was a little girl, I was about like 3 or 4 years old and I was in Italy. I grew up in Sicily and I had the tendency of trusting everybody, Yeah. So I would hug just everybody coming along, you know, the caretaker of the building or, you know, people I just met. And my mother was complaining all the time, like, oh, come on, you cannot trust everybody. You're a little girl, you know? And once I got lost in a very like big toy store and like my parents just got distracted and I got lost. And actually, like, I found a man, like, I asked him, can you just help me? You know, I think I lost my parents. Yeah. And he said, wow, okay. So he took me in his arms and just, you know, we went to the main place where you can actually have like, like the lost and found, let me put it that way. And there was a microphone and he said, okay, this is little Alessandra looking for parents and so forth. And my mother was so grateful and I was hugging, you know, the guy. And then, you know, for me it's very meaningful because I learned one thing, you know, Many things can happen. Of course, you got to be realistic and have a reality check, but you can trust people sometimes, you know, you can actually, you know, hug people and believe in humanity. That's the message I want to give, actually.
Absolutely. Thanks for sharing that with us. Um, the next one I have for you is what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Okay. For me, you know, my expertise is coaching and communication. For me, one of the most important things in the industry that I would like to say is just speak up for both teams, managers, and companies. It is so important to communicate. Like, you know, you keep hearing this story of, you know, communicate better and everyone knows it, but sometimes I would like to say, really speak up. Do not hide your thoughts and feelings. Try to analyze yourself, know what you want, and as soon as you know yourself, you will know what you need as well. And you know also what you can change. So for me in the coaching industry, what I can say is assertiveness is always mixed with aggressiveness. And I want to raise awareness that actually it's not always the case. So speak up at work.
Yeah, no, I agree. You definitely need to. And then it could tie in Alessandra, but what's your best piece of like overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
Yeah. I mean, um, I, like I always say, for me in business, one of the advice is actually, um, be yourself. Do not use a persona, uh, where you have to work, be who you are. This can clash of course with the people mentality and it's not always welcome, but in general in business, I think the more you are yourself, the more, uh, people will get to know who you are and know your boundaries. And therefore they won't take advantage of you, right? It is easier said than done, but I think it is very important. And do not be afraid of showing your emotions at work. I mean, of course, like with all the boundaries that my affirmation of course entails, but be yourself and do not hide who you are.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Learn German, because I moved to Switzerland when I, you know, 10 years ago and I didn't know German. So I struggled and I studied till last year. So it took me like 8 years to speak it properly. So if I could give myself, the younger myself, an advice, I would tell her, go to school, learn a bit of German so you can have a little bit of an advantage. Like an advantage on other people or your future situation and get a degree in psychology. I do have a certificate in psychology, but I think like I could have also had a degree and that would have, you know, made a kind of interesting situation right now because I use psychological elements in my coaching practice.
So, well, guten Tag to that. Yeah, I know a little bit and I know Flieger, which I think is flight in German. But so, you know a lot, Tyler.
I'm impressed.
Thank you. Yeah, almost all of it. So kind of going a little bit down a different path here. I'm excited for your answer on this one. In your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Yeah, that's a very deep, important question, but I've been thinking about it and for me there like a few things for me is do a job that you like, be affectionate to the people that you love and tell them you love them. Um, and don't take this for granted. I think happiness is, uh, for me is really tied, of course, also to the people that you have around. So tell them what you think and what you feel, and also complain less because if you always complain, you miss the now and you miss your life. So actually how Like, how can you be happy if you are constantly complaining, for example, right? So I believe a lot of like in happiness from, from not complaining too much and just being, and just, you know, like I'm an action pro. Let me put it that way.
And then what is the best book you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Uh, my favorite book is The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem and it was written by Nathalie Branden. So my learning from this book has been that you have the right to feel that you deserve things just by the mere fact that you exist. So some people think, okay, how can I dare to want something? Who am I to want that? Who am I to be happy? Like, on a deeper level. Well, you are somebody to be happy. You are yourself.
You were born.
You are a great human being. So just, you know, have self-esteem and believe in yourself. So that's what— yeah.
And then what is your favorite quote and why?
Can I quote two quotes?
Yes, absolutely. Is that okay?
Yeah. So, okay. So, um, the first quote is from my favorite writer and poet, who is Fernando Pessoa. He was a Portuguese poet from the 20th century. He's great. So I really recommend. And the quote goes like this: I've never done anything but dream. This and this alone has been the meaning of my life. My only real concern has been my inner life. So I like this quote because actually he's telling you what reality is. Look, I have done nothing. I've just been dreaming like crazy and been dreaming as, you know, like open door for me that I couldn't think of. So that's why I love him. And then the second quote is a very famous one from Nelson Mandela, but I love it and I always mention it because I love learning. So, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." So, you know, learning is everything. Knowing stuff helps you really making an impact. So, those are quotes.
I agree. And thank you for sharing those. The last one I have for you, and thank you so much for coming on. The last one I have for you before we let you go is where can our audience best find you online?
So there are many ways. So you can find me with like my website, findyourway.company. And of course on Facebook, if you like type in how to say no coaching or find your way coaching in Zurich, you can find me. And of course also on LinkedIn. With my name and last name. So those three are my main sources.
Perfect. Thank you again for jumping on with us.
Thank you, Tyler Wagner. Very exciting. Thanks a lot.
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