Hello & welcome, Beautiful Humans!
I’m Elaina (she/her), an empathetic and strategic Learning and Organizational Development professional based in Malaga, Spain. I’ve been supporting organizations, leaders, and teams with their growth and professional development since 2017.
I have 20+ years of experience in the technology sector, with a deep background in user experience design and qualitative research. I’ve done everything from hands-on training design and delivery to rolling out global people programs related to performance, career development, teamwork, leadership, and more. I'm also an ICF Certified Coach, with 300+ hours of experience coaching clients through a variety of personal and professional challenges.
In my spare time, I’m engaged in activism and the struggle for collective liberation. I’m brainstorming meaningful ways to build community and provide coaching and mindset mentoring in spaces where important, world-changing work is being done.
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My agenda isn’t currently open for private coaching clients or consultancy work, but please feel free to get in touch for collaboration opportunities related to social justice and activism.
See what my amazing clients have to say... 💖
"On paper, I had everything someone can ask for: health, love, a good job, a house… but still didn’t feel fulfilled. I always wanted to contribute towards making The World a better place, and I knew I wasn’t doing it. I felt stuck and lost and that’s why I started coaching. Best decision ever. I discovered so many things about myself!
I thought I needed a plan with set objectives. Instead, I got something a lot better. Not only my self-confidence boosted but also now I have a much better understanding of what is important to me and what kind of compromises I am willing to make. In summary, I found the right tools, reasons and determination that will drive my decisions in life."
—Yolanda M.C. (Malaga, Spain)
“I can’t tell you what a difference it made to me having our session just before I went into that call. I got so much out of it and felt so much more calm, centred, and anchored… exactly how I wanted to feel.”
—Lulu L. (London, UK)
"I reached out to Elaina in a sensitive moment where I could foresee future problems if I didn’t tackle some identified issues—mostly related to work. In only one session, she helped me unveil so many other underlying things, completely unrelated to work, that were incredibly eye-opening—so much that work worries went to the back of the line.
Elaina is not only incredibly smart, sensitive, knowledgeable and professional in her coaching practice, but has this special gift where she sees things through, asks the right questions and identifies so naturally things you wouldn’t have ever been able to even put a name on. Her style is very warm and relaxed but very structured with a very clear direction. She will also offer you many different types of tools and will help you work further in your own coaching and make the most of it.
What started as a step to try to solve some difficult issues at work turned into a thrilling experience full of opportunities to improve many other areas of my life and to live free of some of my biggest blockages and fears.
Elaina’s professionalism and positivity make her the perfect coach that will help you overcome any obstacles and enlighten your way without getting in the middle of it. I highly recommend her and would be honored to be coached by her again in the future.”
—Isabel B. (Benalmádena, Spain)
“Elaina is luminous. Her gentle, loving warmth allowed me to open up and speak my truth. She gave me the space to focus on myself with her kind empathy and understanding. Working alongside Elaina has allowed me to overcome my limiting beliefs that had been holding me back from achieving true happiness. I now have the clarity to move forward with positive enthusiasm.”
—Victoria R. (Greater London, UK)
"I reached out for coaching after getting promoted into a role with more seniority and responsibilities changing. I wanted to reflect on the transition process and its implications. Elaina gave me very valuable frameworks and materials to confront my thoughts and manage them in a constructive way. I feel calmer, more confident and the process incorporates very well with my personal life and values. In a short time, I was able to set my fears under my control (yay!)”
—Katy P. (Berlin, Germany)
“Coaching was recommended to me by a dear friend when I was struggling with certain aspects of my job and also personal life. I felt like I was suffocating at times, and I wanted to gain clarity by talking to someone external. I learned that speaking out things you know by heart actually helps you to become more clear in so many ways and to heal some old wounds. I loved Elaina's positive vibes and openness. I feel I have gained clarity on my values, as well as expressing my thoughts more clearly to others. I got a new job that's been really nice so far—each and every day I enjoy going to work and being happy with my colleagues who are great fun."
—F.D. (Hamburg, Germany)
"I first got in touch with Elaina because I was constantly thinking I wanted a different life or at least a very different relationship with work. I was unhappy and stressed out, but I was afraid to make changes. I wanted to get more perspective and be able to make the right choices without so much doubt clouding my judgment, among other things.
Elaina is able to read between the lines and, when presented with problematic circumstances, to quickly point out the exact thing that might hold the key to unblocking the situation. In just a few weeks, we were able to change my mindset and my relationship towards work. I feel like a lot of weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
Two months ago I felt trapped, and now I am at the beginning of a great adventure and feel so excited about the present and the future. Now, my work-related troubles feel like just one small piece of the big picture of my life, which is rich and pleasant. I feel more equipped to deal with whatever the future might bring, and more in control of my own life—much happier and less fearful. I'm now days away from leaving my previous job behind. I am starting my own company and I feel so excited about it."
—Alfredo H. G.-G. (Benajarafe, Spain)
"I was feeling really lousy about my job after my favorite coworker left. I felt like I had lost my momentum and passion for my work, and I didn’t know whether I could find it again, whether or not I stayed in the same job. I was also concerned whether the overall impact of my company – and by extension, my own contributions – was really positive for the world, but I also wasn't sure there was anything better out there. I wanted to get to a point where I could feel comfortable with a decision either to stay at my job or to look for something else.
I came out the other side of coaching with a better, clearer understanding of what I really want to be doing and why. I did a clear-headed analysis of the actual likelihood of my contributing to any potential negative impacts that my company and industry might have, against the likelihood of my own positive impact. I’m feeling a lot better about my current job situation and the likelihood of my staying, and I no longer feel any internal pressure to run away. I also feel much better about not pushing myself too far beyond my comfortable limits, and about my ability to have positive impact on the world regardless of things that are beyond my control.”
—Adam E. (Sunnyvale, CA, USA)
"I decided to try coaching after I'd received some feedback at work that was difficult for me (mostly because I knew it was valid). I felt like I was defined by this piece of feedback and that it was just 'how I was'. On a bad day I would go back to a mindset of 'I'm always going to be this way', 'some people have it and I just don't'. It was a bit of a battle with myself to avoid that kind of thinking, and I knew it wasn't something I could solve without help. I wanted more comfort in having confidence, but in a way that felt natural to me and not like I had to be someone else.
The most valuable thing that I discovered is that it feels a lot more effortless to be what I understand to be my genuine self. It's a lot easier to be the kind of person I want to be, without it being an act. I have much higher self belief, and I have more energy from not 'forcing' it. I think it's been noticeable to people around me too—I got really positive feedback from some of my trickiest stakeholders at work, and I finally got the promotion that I’d been working towards!
I just love the way that Elaina never tried to force me to believe that any of this stuff is easy. She really is an encyclopedia on everything to do with the mind and the way we think! She gave such credibility to the kind of problems I was having, in the sense of helping me understand why my mind might work this why, that it was it was something way more common than I felt like it was. By never saying 'it should be easy', it made the sense of achievement much more powerful."
—Rachel. (Midlands, UK)
Elaina Martinelli
Nonconformist Educator, Activist, Creator of High-Impact People Programs,
& ICF Certified Coach