From Invisible to In-Demand: How Owning Her Voice Changed Everything (with Cristina Amigoni)

We’re told to be team players. Not to make waves. To shrink ourselves to fit someone else’s version of success. But what happens when playing small stops working—and your body starts telling the truth?

In this episode, Cristina Amigoni shares how years of feeling invisible led to one powerful moment of walking out of a meeting and into a new chapter. She’s the co-founder of Siamo, a human-centered consultancy helping organizations navigate change by putting people—not processes—at the center. Siamo exists to unlock the full potential of individuals and organizations through authentic leadership, aligned values, and meaningful connection at work.

From navigating toxic work environments to launching her own company, Cristina reveals what it really takes to lead with courage, integrity, and self-trust.

If you’ve ever questioned your worth at work or stayed in the wrong room too long, this one’s for you.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

[00:01:00] Teenage Cristina: introverted, invisible, and uncertain of her future
 [00:03:30] The bold move to the U.S. that shifted everything
 [00:07:15] Letting go of her father’s plan and choosing her own path
 [00:12:00] The opportunity she “wasn’t qualified” for—and why she went for it anyway
 [00:18:00] Becoming a leader abroad through courage and self-trust
 [00:24:00] The meeting that broke her—and sparked a turning point
 [00:29:00] Her son’s question that made her walk away for good
 [00:31:00] Building Siamo to bring humanity back into the workplace
 [00:36:00] Why authenticity is Cristina’s non-negotiable in leadership
 [00:43:00] What companies get wrong about culture—and how Siamo changes that
 [00:48:00] The deep self-trust it takes to choose yourself (over and over again)

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• You don’t need to be “qualified” to make the ask
 • Feeling invisible is a warning sign, not a life sentence
 • Leadership isn’t about a title—it’s about showing up as your full self
 • Integrity means backing your values with action
 • The right people and opportunities will find you when you stop shrinking

KEY THEMES

• Women reclaiming their voice in male-dominated environments
 • Authentic leadership and human-centered workplace culture
 • The cost of invisibility—and the power of choosing yourself
 • Building self-trust and walking away when it’s no longer aligned
 • Creating a life and business that reflects who you really are

QUOTABLE MOMENTS

“I was told not to speak to people… while I was doing change management.” — Cristina Amigoni

“That was the moment I knew I was done. And I never looked back.” — Cristina Amigoni

“Choosing yourself isn’t a finish line. It’s something you do every single day.” — Cristina Amigoni

GUEST CONTACT

Website: https://www.wearesiamo.com/
Podcast: https://uncoverthehuman.wearesiamo.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearesiamo/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearesiamo/

CONNECT WITH EIMEAR

Explore Working With Eimear: Book a Call -> https://eimearzone.as.me/gameplan

📱 Instagram: @eimearzonecoach

💻 Website: eimearzone.com 📧

Email: hello@eimearzone.com

Subscribe to Girl, Choose Yourself on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

© 2025 Eimear Zone Coaching. All rights reserved.

Transcript

Transcript: From Invisible to In-Demand: How Owning Her Voice Changed Everything

(with Cristina Amigoni)

Eimear Zone: [00:00:00] Hello, Cristina. I'm so glad that you are here. Thank you for being on the podcast.

Cristina Amigoni: Hi, thanks for having me. I'm excited.

Eimear Zone: Awesome. I think, well, first of all, you're just one of my favorite people, you know that, and I'm so impressed and inspired by all that you do and what you've created with Siamo, with your own podcast and just kind of watching you flourish.

over these years and creating so much value and being so authentic in a space where it's not the norm at all. And I just want to jump into our conversation with taking you back in time and taking you back to maybe a teenage girl, like 16,17 year-old Cristina. And when you think about how she thought and what she believed and her looking at the path ahead, does the [00:01:00] trajectory look like what you believed possible where you've landed today?

How do you, how do you think she would feel about it?

Cristina Amigoni: That's a very good question.

I don't know. Let me, try to go back there. My instinct would say no. My instinct would say that especially 16, 15, 16, 17 year old, pre college Cristina was way too introverted, shy, used to feeling invisible, used to being, assuming that she's invisible, to possibly even imagine being in a situation, being where I am today, [00:02:00] where I created my own place to, get on my own soapbox with the podcast.

And I also have done so many different things and have been in situations when I look back, the things that stand out throughout my career, especially are the hard conversations that I didn't think I don't know that my teenage self would have thought I would have the courage to do. I would have the intelligence to do, and I would even be heard if I did.

Eimear Zone: Mm. I think it's, I mean, when we think about our, our teenage selves, I mean, obviously we are within the context of our families and what was viewed as possible within that environment. [00:03:00] And that is not necessarily what we go on to create, you know, once we move into different environments. And I think learning to have those tough conversations, you, you kind of change what you believe is possible because you begin to ask for more. 

And I remember in one of our conversations, you were telling me about a pivotal moment in your life because, you know, for our listeners, you're Italian, you grew up in Italy, but you were educated - you did some high school in America, a term or semester.

Cristina Amigoni: I did. I did. I was an exchange student. And so I was in the U. S. equivalent of the senior year of high school. And actually. When I was trying to figure out how to answer your question, I had to kind of distinguish my 16 year old self and my 17 year old self because my 17 year old self was in Maryland and was very different from my 16 year old [00:04:00] self.

Eimear Zone: Yeah. Like, like a huge, a huge change and a big move and, and then you went on and did college.

Cristina Amigoni: Yes,

Eimear Zone: in the US as well. And there's big, you know, trajectory change right there coming being pretty much by yourself and being thrown in at the deep end. Tell me a little bit about finding your feet as a European.

It's a different language, obviously you'd studied it, you'd done your senior year, but it's like, I'm European too, but an English speaker, but it's a huge culture shock to be in, a different country, particularly at that young age and beginning to just getting into your adulthood, just beginning to know yourself as an independent person away from your family and beginning to think, [00:05:00] what do I actually want to do?

What path do I want to take? So tell us a little bit about, you know, how that experience was for you and kind of finding your feet in that.

Cristina Amigoni: Definitely some of that began, especially the culture piece. Some of that definitely began with is that when I was an exchange student.

When I was in Maryland, my senior year of high school, I wasn't alone. I mean, I was alone in the sense of I was away from my family and from my friends and the, the place where I grew up. But I was in a host family, a very, very caring host family, that showed me that I wasn't invisible, uh, that was kind of like one of the first times where I didn't feel invisible.

It was the first time where being different, being Italian in the U. S., having this different culture was an asset. It wasn't a fault. It wasn't a reason to become even more invisible. Uh, [00:06:00] the, so I was able to take a lot, quite, quite a lot of that experience into my college years where I was alone because I now lived with other college students and it was that, you know, that rite of passage, into adulthood where you make your own decisions and you're kind of completely left to your own devices really from feeding yourself to everything else.

And I would say that was also kind of a reinforcement and the beginning of a whole new. world, a whole new identity, uh, where I don't know if it was on a daily basis, but I'm sure, at the beginning it was on a daily basis and then it was building up it with the years. It was that constant discovery of who am I?

based on who do I choose to be, not who I was told to be. It's interesting because when I started [00:07:00] college and in a lot of, especially in liberal arts, you don't necessarily have to choose a major, until probably until you're at least end of freshman year, by sophomore year, you want to have chosen something.

Otherwise you're adding on years. But you have some freedom because there are enough prerequisites to give you a whole gamut of things, but I was even pre college, I was already following a path that my dad, my parents, but especially my dad had chosen for me, based on a passing conversation at some point when I watched the movie, uh, which was, it was like, I actually remember that movie.

It was actually like, oh, you know, like you just, you know, study political science so that you can get into law school and then going to international law. Cause that's your trajectory. Um, well, I, I wouldn't call it a rebellion. [00:08:00] Rebellion as much as a reevaluation of that path that hadn't even started yet.

It started right away when  I started talking to some sophomores that I became friends with, and I told them like, oh, you know, like, this is why I am, you know, I'm, I'm looking at political science as my major. And they were actually philosophy majors, and they actually said Philosophy may actually be better for law school than political science and here's some great professors and here's some great philosophy classes that we are taking.

And so, you know, and there was a particular  boy in that situation. So of course I'm following the boy and if the boy is saying that, I’m going to go ahead.

Eimear Zone: We have to pause there. First of all, just. Okay. Yeah. To normalize the, the kind of influences in these decision making. First of all, when you said I made this [00:09:00] decision because I had this conversation or I watched this movie and I, I just, yeah, I was like having a conversation with my sister about careers.

She wanted to be a doctor. I thought, Oh, I'll be a doctor too. Cause she wants to be a doctor. And then I decided, no, I don't want to be a doctor. And then I made the decision to go into a business course based on, oh, I want to wear nice business suits. So basically fashion. So just kind of saying crazy pathways that we find ourselves on are often just on the whim.

Cristina Amigoni: Yes, yes. Yeah, so I went from what my, here's what my dad tells me to do to what this boy tells me to do. So I just, which is a whole therapy session on those decisions. But I did actually like the professors a lot. I did like philosophy a lot. I did take some political science as well to compare with great professor, fantastic professor.

But I did find that trajectory. I would say a couple of years in, I know you say, I mean, [00:10:00] that's generous. So I would say. probably within the first couple of months of college, I was like, I don't want to become a lawyer like that. That's out. So now it's very much of an open ended thing.

Now I have a blank page and I have no idea what my future is going to look like.

Eimear Zone: And I think we're, I mean,  we're not supposed to know, right. A lot of it is, you know, when we're that age, we're always bringing curiosity and kind of finding it out. And it's often the most useful signal is knowing what you don't want to do.

It's kind of like, uh, actually not for me, like for you, it wasn't law for me. It wasn't, it wasn't, it wasn't medicine, but there was a point that was a really interesting trajectory for you in your college years that I think when we spoke about it, I think it will, it was really inspiring and such a great message about so often.

When we're thinking about [00:11:00] doing something a little bit different or taking a risk, or we see an opportunity, we often talk ourselves out of it because we think, Oh, I'm not going to get that. Or there isn't space. Or I'm not qualified, and share that there was an opportunity that came for you that was mentioned by, I think it was a mentor, or an advisor in college, and you had a really powerful experience of how not to listen to that voice that assumes it's a no.

So share with us about that.

Cristina Amigoni: Yeah. So this was my junior year and the it was my career advisor. So my philosophy major career advisor, who was the reason why I stuck to being a philosophy major, because he was a phenomenal person. And he was one of those people that really, truly made me believe in myself and made me believe that I was, I wasn't invisible, that I was [00:12:00] capable of doing anything I wanted.

And that I had a lot to bring to the world  if I chose to do that. And if I had enough people like him to constantly remind me of that until I could find that in myself. And so with the college I went to works slightly different than other colleges. They work on what's called the block plan.

So it's one class at a time every single month. And you take four classes during a semester. And so I was, it was my junior year. I had covered most of my requirements and there was no class during a specific block piece that I wanted to take. There was nothing interesting. There were no interesting professors.

I was having a hard time choosing, choosing what to take. And he suggested that I go to this, history majors, seniors only class in Florence cause I would have the chance to stay home after Christmas break [00:13:00] and just meet up with a class since that's, they were all flying in. I was already there, so I wouldn't have an additional cost of flight.

And you know, and it was with a phenomenal professor that I had heard about. She's just renowned, you know, It was like a privilege to make it in one of her classes and it would just be great. It would be a great fit for me to be back in my own culture, uh, for something that interesting.

One of the things that, one of the hurdles was, well, the class had been full with a wait list for over a year. Uh, oops. And this was about, I think it was after, I think it was like the last day of signups for classes too. So, there was that, there was the pressure of that. It was for history majors only, and I was a philosophy major, and it was for seniors only, and I was a junior.

So there were quite a few hurdles there too, to overcome. And so I kind of asked him like, why, How [00:14:00] do I even get into this?I don't meet any of the requirements. I'm not even close. And so he's like, just go talk to Susan Ashley, tell her I sent you and you'll see what happens. 

Eimear Zone: And how optimistic did you feel given all of that sort of it's full - for a year? It's, you know, it's got a wait list. It's a, I'm not a senior. All of these things. It's the very last day. How optimistic did you feel as you were walking to that office to kind of say, Hey, jump in there. And I need to know today.

Cristina Amigoni: That's a good question. I think that there was a definite, uh, there was something in my, career advisor, John, in John's faith that it would work out, that motivated me, [00:15:00] to have some optimism, to even consider the possibility of this happening. And to motivate me enough to not fall into my teenage self or previous self of pretending that I had gone and talked to Susan and it didn't work out and then going back to him and be like, sorry, it didn't work out, help me find another class, but not actually have the courage to go in and try this out and have this conversation.

I went to the history department, I asked for an appointment, and I got the appointment. And 100 percent because I mentioned John Riker's name there's no doubt. And I got the appointment and I went into this appointment with Susan, who is a very, very direct person and doesn't have any time to waste.

And so, you know, as soon as I walk in, she basically looked at me. [00:16:00] She knew she didn't know me. We had never met. And she, I mean, her greeting was pretty much like, why are you wasting my time? Why are you here? And you're wasting my time. And so I explained, you know, I wanted to be in this class and she looked at me and she repeated everything that I knew.

I was like, I, you know, she asked me, she's like, are you a senior? I'm like, no. Uh, like, are you a history major? Which she knew the answers because she was the chair of the department. She knew all the seniors, history majors. They had been to her house and in her classes for four years or three years. And so I said, no.

And she's like, okay, so again, why are you wasting my time to get into a class that has been full for a year? And it has a 20 person wait list. And so I explained that John Riker had sent me and I was from, I grew up in Italy. And that's where he saw the opportunityfor me to talk to her. And that's when she became curious.

And she asked, you know, she had spent time in Italy. She understands the Italian school system quite well. And so she asked me, [00:17:00] if I had spent my entire schooling before college in Italy. And I said, yes. And I was like, okay, so you've basically studied history three times from the beginning to the end, five years in elementary, three years in middle school and five years in high school, because that is what happens in Italy.

You learn global history three times over. And so I said, yes. And she's like, okay, you meet the requirements. You probably know more about history than all my history majors at this point. And she said we can't get around the fact that the class is full. And even if I put you on the wait list, you're never going to make it.

There's 18 people in front of you and I can't prioritize you because it is priority to senior history majors. But she did say, she did realize that because I was fluent, I could help her as a teacher's assistant. And so that turned into not only she could let me into the class, not just as a student to give me credit for the class, but to be her on the ground speaker [00:18:00] and to do logistical stuff, whether it was buy train tickets for the entire class or get us into restaurants or, you know, carry around a little purse of coins for donations whenever we went to a church, or help people navigate the cities during free time.

And then she gave me a bunch of work to do before we even went to prepare. So I ended up getting in the class, not paying for it, because it was an extra charge, because I was now working my way through it, getting paid for the extra hours before the class and be part of all of this.

Eimear Zone: It's just amazing.

I just think it's such a wonderful example, that story of how there are possibilities. for amazing things that we don't get to experience if we don't go and make the ask. If we let the assumption that it's a no or these [00:19:00] circumstances that seem like so obviously like a barrier. I know I have a very good friend who's Dutch and she's very direct and her ethos would always be, it's a no already.

If I don't ask, I'm going to go and challenge the no, and then it'll be a real no. But until I do that. It's an illusion or a delusion. It's not real. And I think that that story is really a powerful kind of demonstration of that. Like you're a teaching assistant and you're getting paid and you don't have to pay for the class.

Like there's just, it's a small example, but very powerful example of, of the possibility that's on the other side of just a step in the right direction and courage and also how important it is. particularly when we're younger, but I think it never goes away to have mentors and people around you who are [00:20:00] going to create the environment that makes you walk in those doors, knock on those doors, pick up the phone, make those calls and make the ask.

So I want to kind of jump, jump in time a little bit because you've had such a, a rich career and You know, that's taking you to this place where you've built Siamo, which I just think is a game changer when it comes to changing company culture and really fostering deep connections and authenticity, but there's a really powerful story, I think, behind why Siamo came into existence and, and why it's so important.

Eimear Zone: so powerful and you were at the helm of it. And it comes from, you know, your background when you were working in other projects, you were working for other people, you weren't the center stage. So tell [00:21:00] us a little bit about really the moment, the shift from working for other people, being part of somebody else's team and finding that you just didn't, that didn't fit for you anymore.

Because you remember exactly the day and time when you, you know, that just wasn't going to work for you anymore. So can you tell us a little bit about that?

Cristina Amigoni: Yes. So the, the overall desire to own my own business and call my own shots and be responsible because there's a level of responsibility. It's when you call your own shots, then it's your responsibility.

Well, how those shots end up for good or bad, you know, failures and wins, it's still your responsibility and your fault in a way. And I've always had that desire coming from a family when my mom, my mother was an entrepreneur, and [00:22:00] seeing that, that life turn out the pivotal moment of moving from wanting it to taking that leap.

So being on top of that cliff and jumping and hoping that the wings show up and splattered at the bottom of the canyon, like Roadrunner. It was when I was part of a project and I was working with some people that I already knew. And I somehow, because the project and the situation was slightly different from our past team dynamics, I somehow was thrown back into being invisible and irrelevant.

I had. I fought, or what it felt like fighting, my way through years and decades of not being invisible anymore. And in this [00:23:00] specific project, I became invisible again. I felt treated like I was invisible and I was, defaulting to that. I took it for a little bit and I just felt this internal major disturbance.

My body was rebelling after opening up possibility after possibility and, and having the mentors and having the people tell me I was invisible and then proving that through many small steps and some big steps for decades, really, because this was only five or six years ago, to then be thrown into that and almost feel like I had to fit into that box.

I swallowed it for a couple of months and then it was done. And then that was it. I was like, no, this, this is, this is the [00:24:00] moment. And I remember a specific meeting that was the beginning of the end, where I had done all this work that wasn't even part of my work but it needed to be done, which is how I've always operated in my career.

I've always, done things that just need to be done and they're not really part of my role because nobody else is doing them. And so I've done all this work and we're in a meeting where I'm presenting the work, which I do believe needs to be done and will help the entire project greatly because the project was already suffering.

And as I'm sharing this, there's side conversations happening and there's a side conversation happening with the one person that I had worked with before. I had admired, and I had decided to get into this project with, and follow into this project when he asked me to, to join. He just had a side conversation with somebody else, did not care that I was presenting something and talking in the room.

Eimear Zone: In the room, you're standing up presenting.

Cristina Amigoni: Yes. In the room. I am [00:25:00] presenting something that the whole team of five, six people needs to brainstorm and go through. And he stands up and starts having a conversation on the side with somebody else. And that was it. That was the moment where my heart stopped, my stomach turned upside down, I stopped talking, and I walked out.

handle what had just happened.

Eimear Zone: Good. 

Cristina Amigoni: And then I walked around the block for 20 minutes because I could not handle what had just happened.

Eimear Zone: That's incredible. That's incredible, isn't it?.And I'm sure there were signals and you've said there were signals along the way. Oh, yes. It wasn't every, everything wasn't going swimmingly and then you're in one meeting and somebody disrespects you in that appalling way.

It's just extraordinary because then you're thinking what is, well, I would be, what is it about me[00:26:00] that makes you think that that behavior is acceptable and okay. I'm seeing very clearly what you think of me right in this moment because there are other people and you sure as hell would not be doing that if it was them standing up there.

Cristina Amigoni: Oh, yes, that was also very clear. If I had been somebody else, I was the only woman in the room. If I had been another, anybody else, that would not have happened. And what was even more jarring was the fact that this individual had worked with me for two or three years in different capacities and knew very well that that was an unacceptable behavior.

With me, that was an unacceptable way of treating me and had never treated me that way. And so that shift, it was the beginning of the end. I mean, after that, it doubled down, it got worse. I was told to become invisible by being told, like, I cannot talk to people. Mind you. I was doing change management, which [00:27:00] would be the only way to do change management is actually talking to the people going through the change,but I was not allowed to talk to people.

I was not allowed to reach out to people. I was not allowed to be in meetings. I was not allowed to communicate. And that's when that was it. That's when I was like, I'm done.

Eimear Zone: I'm sure so many women will relate to this on some level, that they have experienced this. It happens on a continuum of severity and depends how long you stick around to how bad it'll get or, or many, many other factors.

What was You walked around the building, right? This majorly offensive, disrespectful action has happened. In the weeks afterwards, you find yourself excluded from meetings and sort of disempowered in your role. It's a big obstacle to being successful in change management

Cristina Amigoni: Yeah, I mean, I was set up for failure. There was no way for me to [00:28:00] be successful.

Eimear Zone: What did you do? There was no point for me being there. What did you do? What did, did you confront or what were the steps?

Cristina Amigoni: Yes. I confronted, because that's also, you know, part of what I had learned through many years of coming out of the shelf and standing up is I confronted and I explained why that didn't work.

And I explained what the cost would be for me and for the project on that. And there was no budging. And that's when I knew, oh, and I remember the, there was a very specific instance where. I decided that Siamo, which existed as a company, it existed on paper, but I hadn't made the jump really to invest all my time in it.

It was just very slow rolling on and we'll figure it out, you know, slowly. And Alex was still in his full time job. So there was no urgency yet. The urgency came when, as And it was the day that I gave notice to this project when I was sitting [00:29:00] down and my son, William, came to me and looked at me and asked me, he's like, mommy, why are you so sad all the time?

That was it. That was the moment where SIAMO became the only way out and the only way forward.

Eimear Zone: Isn't that incredible really when it is the child's eyes seeing what we know to be true. Yes. And we think we're masking it or that it can wait or just one more week or one more effort or maybe I can make them see it differently.

And when a child comes to you and pierces through all of that delusion, then it's the, then it's the moment. Then it's the, okay.

Cristina Amigoni: Yes.

Eimear Zone: Enough already. Enough already. So SIAMO had been, you know, this idea of like this, I can do this thing. It's like it's there, but it wasn't getting the rocket fuel of your focus and your energy.[00:30:00]

It, it, it didn't have, you didn't have that self discovery. Trust to say I can go it alone and that's where, so tell me about that then. You walk away in not a good place emotionally because

You've been rejected. You've been disempowered. People have treated you like you're less than. So I'm sure that there was some, you know, you needed some time.

To kind of remember really who you are a little bit and kind of go, just because they treated me like that doesn't mean that I am that, and I believe that takes time. How was that journey for you? That kind of pivot from a disappointment, a rejection, which, you know, a rejection is often a redirection in the right direction.

Cristina Amigoni: Oh, that was definitely a redirection.

Eimear Zone: Yeah. Tell us how you. Turn that corner and began to really [00:31:00] go on this pathway, which is just you in alignment and kind of shining. I doubt William comes to you and says, why are you so sad mom anymore?

Cristina Amigoni: Yeah, when my, when William said that, my heart sank. That's when I realized this is bigger than me.

This is now giving my children an example of what not to do. This is what showing them what life should not be like. And because SIAMO as a concept was really around people do exist. That's why SIAMO means we are, in Italian. It's because the premise is we exist. We exist at work. We exist in, in this world.

We exist in life. We exist even when people don't want us to and tell us to, you know, that we are invisible. And it was really about being able to bring your full self and, and being someone. [00:32:00] And so I wasn't, I was doing the opposite by accepting the situation. And  hearing my son ask me  why I was so sad.

I realized, I am not myself. anymore to the point that my kids are noticing that and that is absolutely unacceptable. Integrity being one of my core values. I'm like, Oh no, no, no. My actions are going to have to follow my words. And so I gave notice. I, you know, I, I got out of my chair. I wrote my notice email.

There were a couple of conversations, but I am also one of those people that once I'm disturbed to the point of, leaving something and walking away, I don't look back. I have gotten, like, I've given it way more chances that most things would have deserved. I have tried all sorts of ways. And so when I get to that point, it is the end of the line.

And so I gave notice. I had a [00:33:00] couple of conversations that didn't change my mind. I didn't think it would, cause I had no faith that things would actually change. I'm like, I've heard the sales pitch before. I know things are not going to change and it's not going to be enough. And I decided in that moment that I was no longer going to wait for somebody else to give me permission to have a voice.

I was no longer willing to wait for somebody else to tell me that I existed.

Eimear Zone: Yeah, yeah, like I am, we are, you know, yes, a whole ethos of SIAMO is all about that whole, that whole self, isn't it? That whole authentic self being honored. And it sounds like as well that you describe it, that shift as being you feeling it in your body.

And I forget the name of that very, who wrote the very famous book, like the body keeps the score. But we do. It's just in the nervous system, isn't it? And that when you're out of [00:34:00] alignment with your core values, or when you're trying to squeeze into some box to suit somebody else, and it is just not where you belong, if you just feel so diminished in it, I mean, it affects your health.

It affects. Oh, yes. It just, it's not who we were who we are. And so it just hurts. It hurts in so many ways. And when you kind of, you then step away from that and you walk away from it. And I'm sure many people know that thing when you've made the decision and then you're having that conversation with the company or whoever, even in a personal relationship going, come back, I'll change.

You're like, no, no, it's when you've made that decision in your core, that you're leaving. I feel like it's just It doesn't matter how much more money somebody offers you for the job, you've emotionally, spiritually, on so many levels, you've kind of left the building. But it's, you know, it's [00:35:00] just keep walking, keep walking towards where you truly belong.

And you create it where you belong. Which is a really powerful thing to do as an entrepreneur, is going, I've tried to fit in there, I've looked at that, I've worked for other people, I've worked sort of giving my services to somebody else in charge of the end relationship with the client, I've tried all these other things, I have so much experience, and so many ideas now, it's just like I'm bursting.

I need to give birth to this,, and SIAMO was that place, is that place for you, and, but it's not an easy road. You're an entrepreneur. You decided, I'm going to go, I have this idea, and we all have great ideas and lots of people have every moment. What is it about this journey with SIAMO and bringing that to life?

Why is that working for you?

Cristina Amigoni: I would say. [00:36:00] And I'll vaguely paraphrase more than quote, because I don't know the exact quote, but I'll paraphrase some of the, some of what we've heard our clients say about it and even our podcast guests, but our clients especially. It's about that theme of authenticity and of the human being.

The humanness. And so our clients have, it's interesting because have a clearer understanding of what we bring to the table than we do sometimes. Because they are on the receiving end of it. And they've said it. They've said it multiple times. Uh, they, authenticity is not just a word for us. We show up.

They know that they're getting our real selves when we show up all the time. They know that we will prioritize the humanness, the human side of the workplace and all the decisions and they know that we [00:37:00] will follow through with what we say. So there is a big level of integrity there.

Where we follow through. We have the hard conversations. We have the hard conversations all the time. So there's a level of trust that's built into knowing that in a polite and a candid but polite way, they will hear what we actually think, what we can actually provide. And they don't have to guess,and wonder if there's a sales pitch in what we're saying, if there's an angle, if there's a schtick. 

Because that's not what we do. We just bring our genuine self and they can just trust the human, not the title, not the role, not the sales pitch, not the, we don't also don't do sales pitches, but you know, not the words, not the PowerPoints.

It's not, it's not that it's, it's the [00:38:00] space we provide. It's a safe space for them to show up as themselves because we're showing up as ourselves.

Eimear Zone: That's just so core, isn't it? That safety, that psychological safety, and it's absent, it's incredibly absent from so many workplaces. I'm sure many people are, you know, listening and they're kind of going, you can't bring your authentic self to my, you know, there's a version of myself that they've paid for.

To show up in work and that's the one that's welcome and I better stay in that box or else things might get a little bit tricky. So really in the work that you're talking about it is a sea change for that. It is a cultural change. That is why when you work with a company and the partners at SIAMO and the staff at SIAMO are within a company, you really are reaching from the very, it has to come from the absolute top, right, Cristina? [00:39:00] You have to have that person because they can't be just saying, could you, could you do that for all those other people down there.

And I'm just going to continue being who I am, but you have to have that buy in at the very highest echelons because for everybody else in the organization, they have to trust, they have to have that trust. And it can only. happen if they see the buy in at the very highest level, right?

Cristina Amigoni: Yes. Yeah, definitely.

Eimear Zone: And I think in, when you think about this is where you are, where you're creating this amazing change with companies that are really saying, this is how you get, I mean, it's so expensive to, if you have high turnover in your organization. And it's such a key issue for people like retention and all of these things that like, we'll give you the gym membership and we have the nice cafe and you've [00:40:00] got this and there's only so much you can do with that. 

And there's only so much you can do at a salary level to like people are emotionally. So to their, it's very exhausting to be walking into work with a mask and to be in performance mode all the time.

And so people, the wellbeing that companies before thought that they could give an employee through that simple sort of here's your gym membership, or even, you know, we'll pay for this sort of therapy session here. It's the day to day experience of being recognized and valued and respected in an organization, which is foundational to your work like imbuing, you know, Igniting that within an organization and making that come alive that really changes things on the ROI level of these people are saying, I want to stay somewhere where that is the culture.

How important do you,think that is? And do you feel [00:41:00] that companies are beginning to realize that the old ways of doing this don't quite they're just not working long term that people are going to jump ship.

Cristina Amigoni: I think that it's vital. I don't think that there's a separation between how people feel about their work and the bottom line.

Now on a short term basis, you can slice and dice data however you want. Data is one of the least objective things out there. And I am going to piss off a lot, you know, upset quite a few people. I know quite a few people saying that, but you can't take away the subjectivity of looking at the data, slicing the data, bringing the data to tell the story you want to be told.

And so the pieces, if you're looking longterm, and if you look at companies like Patagonia, they're known for that. They're known for [00:42:00] being different from a cultural perspective, for really focusing on making sure everybody loves their work and it shows.

It shows in, in their long term success, from a short term perspective, I'm sure somebody could look at a month or a quarter and be like, Oh, no, that's not working anymore. But that's not how they look at it. Long term, it is about that. Unfortunately, I've seen kind of the pendulum, and I think the pendulum is going to swing a few more times, where there was definitely a trend four years ago, right before five, four or five years ago before pandemic, where there was definitely a trend swing into like, oh, we maybe it's we need to realize people are humans - employees are humans. 

And, you know, it's, you know, work shouldn't be miserable. And when they enjoy what they're doing, when they feel valued and seen and heard, they bring the magic that will help us all help the [00:43:00] bottom line, help our team. Customers and our clients help the organization.

There was definitely that trend growing. I think pandemic accelerated that quite a bit. All of a sudden, that became a priority and it became an acceleration. And then post pandemic, there was almost a swim back to To, Oh, we've given them too much freedom as humans. Let's take that back, uh, and make it all about the corporate bottom line again, and show who has the strong arm.

And I think, unfortunately, not in all cases, but there's, there's quite a bit of that trend, you know, from return, you know, mandatory return to office through arbitrary layoffs, because I'm sure there are, I'm sorry, but they are arbitrary, thousands of people layoffs while there's, while, from a revenue perspective, the company is making, is exceeding expectations from a revenue perspective. 

And so there's kind of like the swing back of like getting back the control. But it's not going to last [00:44:00] because it's a short term gain. If there is a gain. Yes, there's more trepidation because there are less jobs out there on people jumping ship, but you know, what's happening is the good employees are the ones that are jumping ships because the good employees can actually find other jobs, which will hurt the companies even more. Because now not only they're left with, you know, the less committed employees, the ones that are left are less committed.

Your high performers are jumping ship because they can find jobs. If you look down the line a year or two, three, you're going to see the hurt from an organizational perspective from wanting to grasp that control on, you know, people are numbers and we tell them what to do.

Eimear Zone: Yeah. And I think in a culture, particularly in America, where people don't feel necessarily that loyalty to a company as much as they do in other [00:45:00] countries.

Um, you know, I, I know Europe more where I did employment law for a while. You, you're a lot more secure as an employee in Europe than you are in the U. S. And that works for, to the advantage of the U. S. corporation in some ways, but in other ways, not so much because you lose people very quickly because they figure you're not invested.

So it, the culture really plays such an important role in that. And I just want to talk a little bit about, you know, that journey as an entrepreneur for you. You know, that was the big shift of moving into that and, and really going all in on SIAMO. I know it started with the podcast and there is this time of fear, isn't there?

Because you're going. You're like betting on yourself and it's scary to bet on yourself. And for a while there, you know, the clients are lean and it takes a while. So can you [00:46:00] maybe reflect a little bit on that earlier journey when things did feel a little bit, maybe thin on the ground while you were building and how you continue to sort of, how do you sort of fuel that self trust and In that period and that you keep sort of choosing yourself and choosing SIAMO as this vehicle and continue to have faith in that.

Um, while the trajectory, it takes a while as an entrepreneur, it's not necessarily for the faint hearted, right?

Cristina Amigoni: Yeah, no, it definitely isn't, uh, it's, uh, there is no overnight success. Every success is not overnight. It's over several months and years, and ups and downs. I would say having started, so if we look back into five years ago, not only I left the project and fully jumped into SIAMO, but that was also at the end of my coach training journey.

[00:47:00] And so a lot of that self trust and confidence had been building up going through coach training. I have gathered new tools, new ways of looking at myself, new ways of finding my own strength and self trust,, through coaching. I had continued that journey by being coached for several years, and you know, I still am every once in a while, whenever I feel the need to get that fuel.

And so that helped a lot. And I would say just this deep, deep trust, deep intuition of knowing that I didn't need the data. I didn't need to find somebody else that had done what we're doing to prove that it's, it was working. There was something very deep in me that just knew, I just knew.

And somehow, [00:48:00] throughout the podcast, I think it came out in the podcast quite a bit. And throughout our podcast, not super early interactions, some of our early interactions with our early clients, but then after that with some more regular interactions with those clients, um, that's when it became obvious that not only, I didn't need to have the data before I could prove that it worked, which in itself is an oxymoron because, well, you have to do, actually do something to get the data to then show that it worked.

You can't just have the data out of nowhere. It's not, you know, it doesn't spawn from the core of the earth if nobody actually does it. But there was enough conviction, there was enough. There was enough of that self trust and confidence that was [00:49:00] coming out in the way we were approaching things that it was never questioned.

We were never questioned whether it would work or not. It was never in doubt. It was never, I love this, like, we were never asked for data. It was actually really interesting because my old consulting self was worried about that. It was like, Oh, we get to keep proving and keep creating PowerPoints and keep providing value through random documents and random things here and there.

And then I started noticing that, yes, a lot of them had value. A lot of them provided opportunities for space and conversations, but it was really more us bringing those things than our clients asking for them. We will get through the end of the cycle and that tendency to, you want to show, especially our sponsors and executives, to show Oh, we've been here for six months or nine months and these are all the things that we've done. And this is what we accomplished [00:50:00]. 

And one of the first things that we've noticed is that he couldn't care less to have a list of things that we had done and accomplished. He was like, okay, whatever. Tell me how the people are doing. Yeah. We start this conversation by literally saying like, okay, this is our fully subjective opinion based on a one hour conversation every two weeks.

And we're going to give you our opinion. And so we were, we were doing the opposite of coming in with, here's the data and here's the proof. And here's the, all the data points and all the people we've talked to. And here's how I know this is true. It was literally the opposite. It's totally subjective. It's based on my opinion.

And what's going on with me? And it's from a one hour conversation and not knowing what actually happens in the rest of the rest of the week. And they latched on to that. That's what it was. Yep. Yep. We see that. This is so key.

Eimear Zone: Because first of all, you know what you said, that was really important that I want to pick up on is doing the work on yourself.

It's who you [00:51:00] become and you invested in your own sort of becoming through coach training education, educating yourself through, you know, therapy, through all of the modalities that could serve you to know yourself at a deeper level. And then when you express how you are bringing into the consulting space, something that's very new, that isn't a model that everybody else is offering it.

You don't have this proven trajectory going. Oh, yeah, we're in category A like all these other places. You invented it. You created it and you created it from a place of deep knowing.

That comes from doing the work and saying, and being able to say, I'm not going to pretend anymore. I'm not going to be silent or small or listen to the way everybody else is doing it because I've really, [00:52:00], I've kind of opened up the channels to receive this sort of deeper communication level of this is what I am meant to do.

Because. I can feel it in my body energetically that this is the pathway. And then you describe when you go into prospective clients and you're just sharing what your proposal is or what you feel that you can offer them that it is who you are being. That is like, there's no picture. Here's my deck on PowerPoint, it's just like, I trust you. I trust you because you are the embodiment of what you are saying that you are able to create for us and by God, I want that. I want that in my organization. And that is just like hugely, hugely powerful.

Cristina Amigoni: Yes. Yeah, and it's not for everybody. No, it's very selective.

Eimear Zone: And we don't have to be [00:53:00] for everybody, I think is another really, I mean, it's essential that we're not actually, if you can't be choosing yourself and be for everybody. I don't think those things go together. I think for my own journey is sort of being on a path of choosing myself is like, I'm going to piss people off.

And you're, you're You know, people prefer the version of you that they're most comfortable with. And when you choose to be intentional, intentional in your own sort of personal development and begin to tune into who you truly are and what you want to create, that's not comfortable for lots of people.

And, and so the self trust that you were talking about, as you walked away and you pivoted, I mean, there are people that you will spend a You will not spend time with anymore that will not be in your circle. And then there are people who you will spend a lot less time with. And I think just to acknowledge that that can feel a little bit lonely and uncomfortable.

And that's all [00:54:00] part of the journey too. It's not all like, and then I trusted myself and I chose myself and then created my business and my podcast. And he was like, no, no. Like. And that's why being in relationship with, and I'm very lucky to have you in my circle is like, and we would not have found each other.

We met each other in coach training. We would not have found each other if we were not in a process on a pathway of, of choosing ourselves and kind of looking, being on a journey of, okay, where I am now, there needs to be more. I'm going to, I'm going to set my sights on, I don't know exactly where I'm going, but I know that this feels like the right place.

The right next step. So speaking of, of next steps, I mean, I'm looking at, I could just talk and talk with you. And we do that when we're not on the podcast. Yes. And we will definitely come back, please. I hope. Oh, [00:55:00] yes. But for now, I just want, this has been a really powerful conversation. And I just want to make sure that People know where they can find you and they can learn more about just the incredible work that you and Alex do with SIAMO

So I'm going to hand it over to you to kind of share where they can find out more about you.

Cristina Amigoni: Definitely. Uh, so we are, we can find us on our website which is a. A double wording 'cause it's our website is we are si amo so if you actually translate si amo. It's, we are, we are. Uh, so it's W-E-A-R-E-S-I-A-M o.com.

You can find us on LinkedIn. On Instagram  and you can find us on our podcast, which is called And so you can find us there and you know, just searching our names, my name, uh, the podcast should come up. [00:56:00]

Eimear Zone: Perfect. Thank you so much for this. I'm just going to ask you to sign us off by telling us or sharing just some thoughts on what you feel choosing yourself means for you today in your everyday life.

Maybe just a few examples of how you choose yourself in any domain of your life or what choosing yourself means for you.

Cristina Amigoni: Good question. So I would say choosing myself, it means doing it every single minute, every single second of every day. It's not, it's not a medal. It's not something that you get to and you cross the finish line and you're done and you say like, I chose myself and I'm done for the rest of my life.

Choosing myself really means in every interaction. in every action, in every inaction, even when it goes sideways or [00:57:00] when it's not the way that I would have liked to shown up. Uh, it's then going back and recognizing that and apologizing, acknowledging when other people are involved, but it is, it is a constant muscle.

It's like breathing. I can't stop breathing if I actually want to get to the end of the day.It's that awareness, that everything I say, everything I do, everything I don't do, it's choosing myself. Uh, and sometimes it's not choosing myself. Uh, sometimes it is choosing myself.

Sometimes it's choosing my old self and recognizing that that doesn't exist anymore. That doesn't align anymore. And it's that constant self reflection. You talked about self care besides coach training. Having a circle of coaches, being a client in coaching therapy, I have [00:58:00] found two major things that I started doing five years ago, and I don't think that that's a coincidence.

The timing of all these things, it's not a coincidence to where I am today. And one of them is meditation. I have started Transcendental meditation, uh, in May of 2019, and I've meditated every single day ever since. I have started a gratitude journal I think at the beginning or at the end, at the beginning of 2019, where I write down three things I'm grateful for every single day.

And those are the things that, that is the choosing myself first thing in the morning. If I start that to then remind myself, how do I keep choosing myself? And it is sometimes the small things, uh, I make my bed every single morning, uh, well, my kids do too. They don't really have a choice.

But you know, that's another piece. It's like, there's, there's all those little pieces of, I choose myself when I make my bed. I choose [00:59:00] myself when I decide to go for a walk. I choose myself through meditation every day through gratitude journal and so once you kind of get into those routines and that's when then the bigger pieces become a little bit not easier because it's not easy it just becomes a muscle that we I knowI can use for the big stuff.

Eimear Zone: It's so powerful that building of momentum just through that process. Thank you so much for sharing all your wisdom. Thank you. This was great. And yes, we could talk for hours.