Meet our newest WOL Coach: Carolin Wesche

One of the things I love about the new WOL Coach program is the diversity and innovation in our community of 41 Coaches.

Carolin is unlike any of us.

One reason is that her work combines “somatic, scientifically grounded methods with professional experience to help her clients overcome emotional blocks.” This includes “a method that combines psychodynamic, systemic, behavioral, and hypnotherapeutic approaches.”

Another, even more charming reason, is her laugh. (“Not executive quiet,” she writes.)

I find I’m happier just being around Carolin. Even on a call, her laugh is infectious. It helps our work flow and feel more like exploratory play. She writes below that she lost her laugh once, but made changes in her life that enabled her to regain it, and view it as a source of strength. I’m so glad she did.

Carolin’s unique approach, combined with her empathy and humor, will make her a wonderful WOL Coach. I am excited to collaborate and learn from her.

Note: For each new WOL Coach, I ask three questions so you can get to know them and their reasons for becoming a Coach. You can also visit Carolin’s WOL Coach profile on workingoutloud.com. Or connect with her on LinkedIn or at cw-leadership.com.

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1. Please share 5 facts about you so people get to know you.

1. I am passionate about somatic methods such as PEP® by Dr. med. Michael Bohne and the Polyvagal Theory. They are true trailblazers and not nearly enough people know about them yet. My mission is to help bring these approaches out of the esoteric niche or therapy room and into everyday life and business. I see myself as a bridge between body-oriented work and the corporate world.

2. I laugh loud. Not executive quiet. People just know when I am around.

3. I used to think my laughter and my empathy were weaknesses. I was wrong. I was just in the wrong environment. Now, they are my greatest strengths. I became the woman I needed back then.

4. Lämmerspiel, Sayville NY, Münster, Wrocław, Hamburg, Trier, Oldenburg, Hanau. Eight places, eight chapters and from each one I took something that shaped me. Curiosity is just how I’m wired.

5. I also relax my vagus nerve by singing in the car. I love it when science confirms what my body already knows ;) ALSO: good pens and the right paper matter. A lot :D

2. What positive difference do you aspire to make?

I want to help people stop hiding from others, but mostly from themselves.

At 30, I lost my laugh. It happened gradually and one day it was gone. That was the moment I knew something had to change. What followed was one of the hardest and most transformative journeys of my life.

Today I laugh loud. I’ve learned to let lightness in, even after heavy times. That shift from surviving to truly living is what I want for the people I work with: releasing the blocks that keep them playing small and giving themselves permission to have what they truly want: success, connection, joy.

Heavy topics become lighter. That’s when I know the work is working.

3. Why WOL?

I first experienced WOL in December 2020, at my last corporate job. And it changed everything.

Through the program, I met a leader from another country who saw me differently thananyone in my direct environment had. He asked me about my strengths, challenged my assumptions, and said something I'll never forget: "I can't imagine you staying in this department. I see you somewhere else entirely."

That conversation - sparked by WOL - was the beginning of everything that followed. It also showed me, clearly and painfully, how unhappy I was. And it gave me the first real push toward finding my own path.

Six years later, I did WOL again. This time with a focus on empowering women. It confirmed what I had already felt: that self-worth and visibility are at the heart of so much of what holds people back. It was a perfect fit with the somatic work I do. People don't need more advice. They need a safe space to reconnect with themselves - and then the courage to show up.

That's what WOL creates. Not a group working on the same thing, but people walking their own paths - together. After years of experiencing corporate culture where people often worked against each other rather than with each other, that feeling of genuine togetherness means a lot to me.

I also just love connecting people. I once introduced two friends: one I met au pairing in New York, one from school - and they ended up living together in Göttingen for two years. That's just how I am.

WOL and my coaching work aren't two separate things. They're adding up perfectly, really: creating spaces where people feel safe enough to be seen, take up space, and move forward. Together.