Hello, I'm Diana!

After 13 years working in Marketing for various multinational companies across different countries, nothing and no one could prepare me enough for the enormous identity shift and internal turmoil that came with motherhood two years ago.

I had very high expectations for my role as a mother, as my own mum had dedicated her entire life to my brother and me. However, this directly conflicted with my equally high expectations for my career and my need to be independent and in control of my life.

I returned to work after maternity leave when Lua was only three months old. I felt deep anger towards a capitalist society that is only valuing what is essentially productive, since it was forcing me to leave Lua with another caregiver before she could even sit up on her own, when physically it hurt me to separate from her every morning.

For months, I tried to show everyone (and myself) that I was still the same ambitious woman I was before becoming a mother. And that in addition to that, I could devote the same time to motherhood that my mum did. During that first winter of daycare, a new virus showed up into our home each week, making balancing everything increasingly difficult. But instead of asking for help, the Superwoman appeared to tell me that I alone was capable of everything. There came a time when that level of pressure and perfectionism that had always been in me became unsustainable... and I collapsed.

The worst part of going through such a big identity crisis was to not have the words to explain it. And it was especially difficult because as an expat in the Netherlands, I was living far from my family in Spain, without a tribe to support me, without enough hands to take care of Lua. And especially with that deeply ingrained belief in me that prevented me from asking for help when I couldn't take it anymore.

​That's why, the first time I heard the word Matrescence, something clicked in me. I spent months devouring books, podcasts, and scientific articles to fully understand what transformation women undergo when becoming mothers. And to understand that being strong means being vulnerable and asking for help. I had finally found the words I needed to explain (to myself and the rest of the world) what I was going through.

And I also began to have more compassion for myself, realizing that, when Lua was born, another version of me was born too, with new values. And to make decisions that aligned with that new identity.

In this process of transformation and change of values, my new life purpose emerged. And that's how I got certified as a Life Coach by ICF and EFIC and got specialized in supporting women in their Motherhood and Matrescence, thanks to Mama Rising.