From
Silence and politeness
To
Clear truth, still in contact
For leaders, founders and people building something that matters
I help people get where they want to go — without losing themselves on the way.
I see the pattern. You make the choice.
I help you see where you actually want to go, what's in the way — and take the steps that get you there. Master what you want but can't quite reach.
- Direction
- Leadership
- Entrepreneurship
- Bridge-building
- Innovation as readiness
- Cheer culture
- Internal communication
- Generational understanding
- Conflict handling
- Self-leadership
- Psychological safety
- Burnout
- Nervous system
- Presence
- Truth without shame
- Safety without kid gloves
- Challenge without judgment
- Decisions without chaos
I support you in standing for what is true and important to you. Without losing contact with yourself and others.
This is what we solve together
What and where you actually want to go.
What is stopping you from doing it.
The steps that take you from here to there.
The support to walk them.
The problem
I help leaders, founders and people in positions of responsibility understand what's actually standing in the way of what they want to build — in themselves, in the team and in the culture around them.
Often the problem isn't a lack of competence. It's human protection: fear, shame, silence and over-accommodation that keep us from saying what we mean — and doing what we know.
Through keynotes, workshops, sparring and longer processes I help people and teams move from polite dishonesty to real contact, from silence to accountability — and from drive that's stuck to steps that actually move something.
Other times the problem sits beneath the words — in a nervous system too busy to feel, a body no longer being heard, an intuition drowned out by demand. Then the way home isn't a new strategy, but a quieter movement: back to breath, to body, to what's true before it's said.
This might sound familiar?
Communication seizes up
People talk past each other, and no one says the real thing.
Everyone walks on eggshells
You feel it in the room before anyone opens their mouth.
Generations talk past each other
Values, pace and expectations collide.
Burnout lurks in the wings
In you, or in someone you lead.
Same problem, again and again
Just with new faces. The pattern won't break itself.
You don't know what to prioritise
Everything feels equally important, and nothing moves.
You live in your head, not your body
You think more than you feel — and notice only when the body says stop.
You've lost contact with your own “yes” and “no”
Boundaries blur. You say yes too fast, and feel the cost only after.
If you nodded at one, two or six — you're not alone. There's nothing wrong with you or your team. There's something wrong with the room you're talking in.
Did this land? Book a no-strings conversation
What's at stake
I've seen what happens when people wait too long.
Bodies that break down. Relationships that snap. Careers that erode while you smile on the outside.
Teams that lose their best people — not because they were headhunted, but because no one dared to say what needed saying while there was still time.
That's why I do this work. Not because it's comfortable. Because the alternative costs more.
For you who lead, build or carry responsibility
Do you recognise yourself in any of this?
- You're building something that matters — and you want it to reach where you can see it could go.
- You lead people — and you want them to dare to speak up.
- You're in the middle of a change that asks for something other than what you've done before.
- You want a cheer culture where people dare, try and succeed — not one where everyone watches their own back.
- You don't want a coach who pats you on the back — you want a sparring partner who dares to disagree.
- You know what you want — but you don't get going. Again.
- You want to come home to your body — stop performing calm, and actually feel it.
- You want to dare to take up space in your own life — also with your needs, joy and what's tender.
The shift
This becomes possible when truth, accountability and connection get more room.
- People who dare to say the hard thing — and stay in contact while they do.
- Leaders who take responsibility without taking over.
- Teams that argue about the issue, not about hurt disguised as strategy.
- Feedback that is precise and warm in the same sentence.
- Decisions that hold because they're rooted, not imposed.
- A culture where truth doesn't cost the job — it builds it.
This is what I help with
Concrete movements — from protection to connection.
From
Blame and positioning
To
Accountability and learning
From
Conflict avoidance
To
Brave conversations
From
Over-accommodation
To
Your own limits, said out loud
From
Victim, rescuer, accuser — locked roles
To
Grown-ups in the room
From
Feedback that doesn't land
To
Feedback that moves people
From
Decisions that drag on
To
Clear next steps
From
Hidden friction
To
Healthy disagreement
Ready for the next honest step?
Book a no-strings callHow I work
Two directions, 5 ways to work together.
01
I listen for what isn't being said.
The patterns, the contradictions, what sits beneath the politeness — what you keep circling without landing. That's often where the answer lives.
02
I mirror what I see. Clearly.
Not what you want to hear. What's true. Direct, without kid gloves — but in contact, not in confrontation.
03
You make the choice.
Together we find clarity, direction, focus and define the next honest step. You decide what to do with it.
The five questions I keep coming back to
- 01What's actually happening here?
- 02What are we protecting ourselves from?
- 03What isn't being said — and why?
- 04What's our responsibility in this?
- 05What's the next honest step?
Want the longer method — sharp observation, deep listening, nervous system, pattern recognition, next honest step — read more on the services page.
Offering
Two movements, 3 forms to work together.
Track 01 — From words to action
Track 02 — Home to the body
Behind the work
Therese Fallentin. Strategic sparring partner.
HVORFOR AKKURAT DETTE
«Jeg gjør dette arbeidet fordi jeg har vært i rommene der det viktige ikke ble sagt; som leder, som kollega, som menneske. Jeg har sett og kjent prisen. Min egen og andres. Jeg ble ikke coach for å lære folk teknikker. Jeg ble coach fordi noen må tørre å si høyt det som er sant, selv om det er ubehagelig, skummelt og utfordrende sårbart. Fordi sannheten bringer oss hjem til oss selv og hverandre.»
VENDEPUNKTET
Jeg husker dagen jeg satt i et møte i Brussel og smilte mens jeg sa noe jeg ikke mente. Noe i magen vred seg. Jeg hørte min egen stemme komme ut høflig, profesjonell, akseptabel. Jeg sa ikke det jeg egentlig tenkte, ønsket og hadde behov for. Jeg turte ikke ta opp plassen jeg ville eller be om støtten jeg trengte for å få det til. Jeg gjemte meg og skammet meg. Antok at det ikke var plass til denne siden av meg.
Der og da innså jeg at JEG sto i veien for det jeg ville og trengte, og jeg lengtet etter å bli sett, hørt og forstått. Det var en stille innsikt hvor jeg så at «å ikke være til bry» hadde blitt en maske jeg hadde båret så lenge at jeg trodde den var ansiktet mitt.
Slik startet reisen min med å utforske og finne mitt sanne uttrykk, samt i å tørre å uttrykke det til verden. Ikke for å bli mindre snill, men for å bli sannere, for å ha det bedre med meg selv, for ikke å sitte alene i det som er vanskelig. For å ta opp mer plass med mitt behov for støtte når jeg bærer mye ansvar, sjonglerer mange baller og støtter andre. For å føle meg trygg i å være den jeg faktisk er og bygge relasjoner og muligheter derfra.
Det kjennes bare mer og mer magisk ut for hvert modige steg jeg går mot den sårbare sannheten som bor i meg. Når jeg slipper verden inn i det som faktisk skjer på innsiden. For meg er det friheten jeg alltid har lengtet etter.
MSc Management Science from Brussels. Over ten years in organisation, strategy and human dynamics. Five years of facilitation, podcasting and deep conversations about what we usually don't say out loud at work.
I know what it is to stand in it. To carry others' expectations. To talk around the hard thing instead of about it. To over-accommodate, even in your own meetings. That's not where anyone needs to stay — and that's where much of my work begins.
“I'm not here to save anyone. I'm here to help people find their own power.”
Between Brussels strategy and mountain hikes in Norway — same human.
My style
Sharp and warm. Direct and whole.
Working with me isn't just getting support. It's being met, mirrored and challenged — at the same time. Two voices, one person.
I laugh out loud. At work too. Especially when things are actually quite serious.
Leila
The one who says what no one says.
Sharp. Direct. Brave enough to point at what sits beneath the pretending. Not brutal — just honest enough that something can actually move.
Frøya
The one who holds the room while the truth lands.
Grounded. Warm. Present. The nervous system that can hold what's hard. Not comfort that papers over — contact that lets the truth stay in the body without becoming shame.
The bridge-builder
Much of my work is bridge-building. Between what we say and what we mean. Between people who can't quite reach each other. Between the corporate and the human. Between your drive and what actually happens day to day. That's where I stand — in the in-between, helping you across.
Cheer culture
I believe in people who build. In solutions that emerge when we dare to see each other. Anti-polarisation. Anti-cancellation. Pro-disagreement, pro-difference, pro-staying-in-it-together.
Innovation isn't just a product — it's a readiness. A society that can hold each other, cheer each other on, and find solutions together. That's where I want my work to land.
Truth without shame. Safety without kid gloves. Challenge without judgement.
What people say
Voices from people who have stood in it — and moved through.
“Therese has been a fantastic coach and challenger for me. As a female CEO and co-founder she helped me explore my full potential, my priorities and my values. She balances the deeply corporate with the soulful — direct, clear and brave. I can't recommend her work highly enough.”
“I lead a leadership team and saw no light on the horizon. In a month I went from considering quitting to enjoying work. Collaboration flows, we talk, conflicts get handled, and we have a whole new structure and flow in the leadership group. Suddenly I'm not dreading work — and I can see how we can meet whatever comes.”
“I'm a coach myself and know the value of good guidance. Therese guided me through a process where both feelings and thoughts had room — and I got them sorted. Her approach was effective, and I felt safe and held. A week later I had made big decisions, and I stand steady in them.”
“Therese saw, recognised and named patterns in a way that crystallised them. Patterns that have been with me for a long time, but never had the light she gave them.”
“Therese asks questions that both challenge and land. She gave me the chance to see situations in new ways, see connections, and get to know myself better.”
“Come as you are, and leave with a comfortable sense of acceptance and rootedness in yourself. Being coached by Therese is magic.”
“I found my way back to a perspective that had slowly disappeared since I was a child. Therese is a good guide with deep experience.”
Become the next story
Write to meThe podcast
The Gut Feeling — conversations about what we usually don't say out loud.
No lifehacks. No morning routines. Just conversations about what's actually hard.
Since 2020. Over 80 episodes. Now also in English as The Gut Feeling Podcast. Guests from leadership, entrepreneurship, culture, health and politics — in honest conversations about following your own gut over others' expectations. The same work I do with leaders and teams, in a different form.
In good company withIsabelle RingnesMina GerhardsenNina JensenMaren Hjorth BauerKathrine Aspaas+ many more
For organisations
What this does to the numbers — without becoming a slogan.
The research is clear
“Workplace satisfaction drives sales growth, higher earnings and higher market value. Good leadership is positively associated with mental health and job performance — while destructive leadership has a negative impact on psychosocial health and performance.”
For HR, People & Culture and senior leaders: this isn't soft. This is what sits underneath the numbers you already measure. When truth gets more room, everything else moves too.
A leader directly affects health and absence in the organisation. What kind of culture are you building?
Health-promoting
People dare more, stay longer, perform over time.
Avoidant
Quiet friction, half-truths, slow exhaustion.
Health-damaging
Fear, sick leave, turnover, loss of competence.
§4-3
Working Environment Act — psychosocial work environment
Requirements for the psychosocial work environment: promote health and performance — and reduce sick leave and dissatisfaction.
This is no longer optional. It's legally required (Norway).
The risk picture
Risk arises when leaders and employees stand alone — with too much to do in too little time.
Role stress arises in the contact between leader and employee, and is made up of three things:
- 01Unclear roles — the gap between available and needed information.
- 02Role conflict — the gap between expectation and reality.
- 03Overload — too much, for too long, too alone.
Especially risky among healthcare workers, leaders and founders — and for their investors.
Movements
- Hidden frictionClearer collaboration
- Quiet turnoverPeople who stay, and contribute more
- Decision dragFaster, braver decisions
- Competence on paperCompetence actually used
- Leadership that performsLeadership that anchors
KPI areas we touch
- Psychological safety (measurable, not as a slogan)
- eNPS and engagement
- Sick leave and turnover
- Time from idea to pilot
- Quality of the feedback culture
- Trust across levels
Offering
Two movements, 3 forms to work together.
For you — leader or founder
01
1:1 coaching
Sparring for clarity and action — or embodiment coaching to come home to body, intuition and expression.
For the organisation
02
Leadership & team processes
Longer engagements for culture, trust and agency.
For the team
03
Workshops
Training in honest conversations, feedback and accountability — or embodiment workshops with breath, movement and presence.
For stage and events
04
Keynotes
Set the tone with words that land — or an embodied keynote where the room feels it in the body.
For podcasts and media
05
Podcasts & panels
Voices that move the conversation about leadership and culture.
15 — Next step
If you're ready to stop performing and start telling the truth — let's talk.
One message is enough. Tell me what's alive for you or your team right now.