Learning to trust my way of thinking

🦒

I realise that there are certain people who change the direction of our lives.

Not because they give us answers. But because they see something in us before we’re able to see it ourselves.

For me, one of those people was Kirsti Lindberg-Repo.

I learned everything I know about branding from her.

But it’s not because of branding that I often think about her with gratitude.

For me, she will always be the one who believed in me and was interested in my professional opinions when no one else really was.

When I had just started Hanken’s Master’s programme, her Brand Management course was the first one I took.

I can still see her walking into the lecture hall.

Bright pink jacket.

Freshly cut hair.

High heels clicking across the floor.

She had studied for her doctoral thesis in the United States, bringing with her fresh branding examples and a completely different energy. A dynamic and inspiring way of thinking that I had never encountered before.

There was a woman who trusted her way of thinking and valued her own expertise.

She was completely all in on what she was about. I admired her spark, her feminine air, combined with a professional passion for research.

And I wanted that.

Not the pink jacket.

Not the high heels.

The permission.

The permission to take myself seriously.

The permission to become deeply devoted to the field that fascinated me.

The permission to own what I knew instead of constantly wondering whether someone else knew better.

The permission to say,

“This is my field.”

She used to pick me from the big audience, ask me to stand up and tell everyone what I thought about our assignment.

This had seriously never happened to me.

I was in shock.

Looking behind me and thinking,

“Who does she mean?”

“She must be confusing me with someone smarter…”

Back then, I had yet to learn to believe in myself.

But she was there, mirroring self-belief right back at me.

She could see how excited I was.

How I had poured my heart and soul into every assignment.

And that is how I ended up working for many years as her Brand Research Manager.

She could really see me. Looking back, what a life—transforming gift that was.

There is something else I’ve come to realise over the years.

We don’t only learn from people’s words. We learn from who they have become.

She didn’t simply encourage me to value my thoughts.

She valued her own.

She respected her ideas.

She expected depth.

She was passionate about her work.

I wasn’t only receiving her words.

I was receiving the way she lived.

She became my first real model of self-belief, because she showed me that professionalism didn’t have to come at the expense of femininity.

Not because she believed she could do everything.

But because she knew what she was good at and devoted herself wholeheartedly to it.

She wasn’t carrying the whole world on her shoulders.

She simply owned her field.

And I think that’s why her belief in me had the power to transform me.

She wasn’t asking me to become someone she wasn’t herself.

She embodied what she was inviting me into.

Those years became about much more than learning branding.

They were the years I claimed my strategic thinking.

The years I began recognising the value of my reflections.

The years I learned that my voice matters.

That what I think has value.

Today I see so many women reject themselves far too early.

They finish an education.

They start a business.

The first months feel difficult.

And instead of asking,

“What skills do I still need to learn?”

They ask,

“Maybe this isn’t for me.”

We become so quick to question ourselves…

…when perhaps all that’s needed is more time to develop our craft.

Looking back, I realise my professor interrupted that pattern before it had the chance to become my story.

She expected my thinking to grow.

She expected me to contribute.

She expected depth.

And little by little…

I started expecting those things from myself.

Perhaps that’s where self-belief begins.

Not in believing we already know everything.

But in refusing to reject ourselves before our potential has had the chance to introduce itself.

Give yourself permission.

Permission to take your own thoughts seriously.

Permission to value your unique way of seeing the world.

Permission to become exceptionally good at the thing that fascinates you.

Permission to keep learning instead of prematurely rejecting yourself.

Permission to trust that your voice matters.

And that what you think…

…has value.

Lots of love,

Tiina ❤️

About Tiina

I help women entrepreneurs find success and fulfilment by being themselves.

Through Human Design, mindset coaching and practical self-discovery tools, I help women reconnect with their inner compass and trust who they are.

If you'd like to explore your own path together, you're welcome to book a 1:1 session.