Ten Minutes With … TCI’s Wow Queen of Love Paula Bernardić
A TCI student before she joined the team, triple psychology graduate Paula shares how to make authentic connections and support anyone—and talks that time she wowed a PM.
‘Paula Be’ is famous for giving great conversation. She’s an expert in quirk, metaphors galore, pushing boundaries and supporting mentees to see past a predicament and connect deeply with potential.
“I’m the queen of love,” says Paula, whose Wow role is to mentor and support the stack of students who reach out to TCI every day.
“A loving gentle taskmaster who holds the line always but does it with kindness and keeps students accountable.”
Recruited to the team in October 2019, Paula is a perfect fit for the TCI frontline. In 2015, she joined the school as a Pro Coach student after graduating from her third psychology degree.
Then a car accident changed her life trajectory and her business development took a backseat to healing. When Paula got “tired of not living in alignment with what I really wanted” she decided to invest in as as much education as I needed to get myself properly back on track.”
In 2019 she did 11 TCI trainings—yep, 11!—plus boot camps, flying down from Sydney to Melbourne for the face-to-face events.
“My beautiful now-fiance told me after one training that when I came home I was the really inspired, outrageous, energised, vibrant, passionate Paula he met all those years ago,” she recalls.
“TCI was rebooting me!”
A couple of conversations later with head trainer Matt Lavars, Paula was officially on the Wow team, moving with her fiancé Joseph, dozens of plants and a tapestry done by her Croatian mother to beachside St Kilda.
Since then, Paula has spoken to around 2500 students—that’s 10 or 15 every day. Here she reveals her ‘why’ and how to nail supporting anyone:
What does your job involve?
Student support emails, call backs, responding to students on Face Book. Responding to questions whether it be personal development, business development, coaching skills, micro-coaching. I also do planning sessions with students who have just enrolled.
Biggest challenge in your role?
That there aren’t enough hours in the day!
Best thing about your role?
Making a difference by supporting people to live their dreams and overcome challenges to take action.
Best thing about your role?
Making a difference by supporting people to live their dreams and overcome challenges to take action.
How can anyone nail supporting someone else?
By really being into them. Don’t make it about you. When you listen, listen. Don’t listen to respond. Let go of the need to have answers and fix the situation. Be there for the other person, by their side as an equal, hearing their story, holding space. People are starved of significance and attention, so witnessing them is powerful.
Which qualities are behind your success?
My willingness to get shit wrong. Not needing to be top dog. A deep genuine love and care for people. Humility, fun, being expressive and being very connected with who I am. I’ve battled with my weight most of my life and it’s also been a really wonderful gift. I haven’t been able to rely on having a great body so I’ve had to have a great personality. That means I can build relationships with anyone and see past the physical.
What is TCI’s great strength?
Supporting people to feel fully taken are. Over-delivering. I absolutely love TCI and am super grateful for the consistent support. As a student, after my car accident, I went AWOL and was not in a very well state and I consistently got calls from TCI. I was met with love and support and encouragement that helped me overcome shame around not having the answers.
Career highlight?
Doing my first 11K month in my business, seemingly quite gracefully. I’ve always had this dream of not having to grind, my parents worked really fucking hard so a big driver was to have all the things I want and do it in a way that’s easeful and enjoyable. Doing that while getting great results in my full-time TCI job has been inspiring. I can actually do this!
What makes a good coach and Wow team member?
Humanity. Humility. Not narcissism. Integrity. Creativity. Curiosity.
Your passions outside work?
Anything to do with nature. Animals, flowers, gardens, walking in nature, being at the beach, being on a boat. Weightlifting. Being with people I love.
Secret talent?
I tend to be the plant whisperer. I can encourage any plant to bloom, and that ties in beautifully with being on the Wow team and coaching. I’m a Croatian dancing champion and performed for the president of Croatia during an international tour in 2018.
How do you make great connections?
Genuinely be interested in other humans.
If you weren’t putting the wow in Wow you would be …
Living my dreams, raising my four children on a farm growing my own crops and coaching people remotely.
What do you wish you were better at?
Discipline.
Describe yourself in one sentence:
I love supporting people to reconnect with their power and their divinity and to live what I think is the purpose of life—love.
Your karaoke song?
When Will You Fall For Me by Vika and Linda Bull.
Your life maxim?
Do you—live your truth and don’t worry about what other people think.
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