In the 2025 season finale of the Emotional Business Podcast, host Olga Skipper welcomes Daria Saharova, founding partner at World Fund—a €300M venture capital powerhouse tackling climate, tech, and decarbonization. Known for her vision and grounded humanity, Daria Saharova brings over 15 years in tech, investment banking, and entrepreneurship to a profound conversation about belonging, risk, and the relentless pursuit of meaningful innovation.

Together, Olga Skipper and Daria Saharova chart the journey from Riga to Munich, exploring the emotional landscape of immigration, integration, and finding home. The episode pulls back the curtain on Daria’s path: navigating cultural difference, language barriers, building bridges outside her comfort zone, and manifesting resilience that fueled a career spanning multiple disciplines, culminating in the birth of World Fund in the heart of Europe.

Their conversation illuminates the internal calculus behind risk-taking, the mindset required to start—and stay—the course as a founder, and the discipline of seeking impact without succumbing to market skepticism or the turbulence of global politics. Daria Saharova discusses breaking ground as a woman VC, her “capitalistic” drive, building a team and portfolio with integrity, and investing in companies whose products thrive—even in the hands of climate skeptics.

In this episode, we explore:

• The Immigration Journey—how open-mindedness, resilience, and language fluency fuel personal and professional integration
• The Art of Building Social Bridges—proactively stepping out of cultural enclaves to create genuine local connections
• Choosing Entrepreneurship (and Venture Capital)—decoding the pivotal career dots that led from startup founder to investment partner
• Facing Down External Forces—navigating COVID, geopolitical strife, and unsupportive market climates while closing a landmark fund
• VC as a Platform for Change—investing in deep tech and climate solutions, and the necessity of optimism in the face of systemic inertia
• Resilience & Competitive Speed—the “immigrant advantage” of spotting and seizing opportunity, building without a backup plan, and outpacing the market
• Multiplying Impact—how mobilizing communities and teams expands a founder’s reach beyond the constraints of time and resources
• Looking Forward—how Germany and Europe must shift from preservation to radical innovation, and why technological sovereignty is essential for future growth

This episode is essential listening for immigrants, VCs, operators, and executives wrestling with commitment, self-doubt, and the desire to create radical impact in shifting, sometimes hostile environments. Founders and fund managers—especially women and those building in deep tech—will find Daria’s deeply honest journey particularly resonant.

Settle in for this candid, energizing, and unfiltered year-end conversation that moves far beyond investment returns to the emotional reality of pioneering a new future.

Don’t forget to subscribe and share with a founder, investor, or anyone craving courage for bold moves!

Connect with Olga: LinkedIn: Olga Skipper Website: www.olgaskipper.com

Connect with Daria:

LinkedIn: Daria Saharova

Website: https://www.worldfund.vc/

Share your reflections on this episode or reach out with your own emotional business story—Olga loves hearing from you!

In this episode of Emotional Business, host Olga Skipper is joined by Jennifer Cabala — seasoned journalist, longtime tech storyteller, and now a communications coach helping founders and CEOs articulate the narratives behind who they are and what they build.

Jennifer enters this conversation with years spent on both sides of the story: crafting them as a journalist, and now guiding leaders as they shape the stories that define their companies, their leadership, and their public presence.

Together, Olga and Jennifer explore what it really means to build a narrative from the inside out — not as a branding exercise, but as a deeply emotional and strategic process rooted in identity, origin, and intention. This conversation goes far beyond messaging frameworks and dives into the internal dialogues, motivations, and self-perceptions that shape how founders show up in the world.

It’s a grounded, transparent look at the craft of storytelling as an emotional skill — iterative, vulnerable, and profoundly connected to how we see ourselves.

• Understanding Your Origin Story — how childhood, environment, and early experiences form the emotional foundation of your narrative

• Personal Storytelling vs. Personal Branding — the crucial difference founders often miss

• Letting Your Story Evolve — why storytelling is iterative and changes as you change

• Communication as a Trainable Skill — not a talent you’re born with

• The Founder–Company Identity Loop — how to separate yourself from your company without disconnecting emotionally

• The Power of Self-Talk — how your internal voice shapes public confidence

• What a Storytelling Coach Actually Does — from shaping clarity to reducing narrative overwhelm

• Navigating Visibility and Public Persona — how to build a persona that feels authentic to you

• Balancing Personal and Professional Narratives — what belongs in the business story and what stays yours

Together, Olga and Jennifer go beneath the surface of “telling your story” and into the deeper emotional architecture founders rarely discuss publicly — identity, fear, motivation, upbringing, and the lifelong relationship we have with our own voice.

This episode is for founders, executives, and leaders who want to communicate with more clarity, presence, and authenticity — especially those navigating visibility, identity, and the vulnerable work of telling the world who they are.

So get comfortable and enjoy this reflective, warm, and insight-filled conversation.

Connect to Jennifer here

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifercabala/

https://jennifercabala.com/

In this episode of Emotional Business, host Olga Skipper speaks with coach and leadership expert Anna Shakhovets about the profound identity shift women experience when becoming mothers. Anna shares her personal journey and introduces the concept of matrescence—the emotional, psychological, and professional transformation that accompanies motherhood.

They explore how this shift impacts leadership, ambition, creativity, and a woman's sense of self, and discuss why grief, anger, and uncertainty are natural parts of this transition. The conversation provides clarity and tools for female executives navigating motherhood and for coaches supporting women through this period of change.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How motherhood acts as a deep identity shift, not just a career pause
• Why matrescence mirrors other major life transitions
• The role of grief and loss in redefining oneself as a mother
• Why women often focus on logistics instead of the emotional transition
• How creativity emerges from the chaos of early motherhood
• Why ambition often increases—not decreases—after becoming a mother
• How to normalize difficult feelings like anger, guilt, and confusion
• Why the motherhood transition is cyclical, not linear
• How coaches can incorporate motherhood perspectives into leadership work

Keywords: motherhood, female executives, identity shift, coaching, leadership, transformation, emotional business, motherhood transition, women empowerment, personal growth

Book we mentioned: Jessie Harrold - Mothershift : Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage

Links to find Anna:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-shakhovets/

https://www.reco-consulting.com/

If you want to work with Anna, join the interest list for The Fireside Circle for Female Leaders — a space to learn how to lead with depth, clarity, and connection.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYVb5ZlpXLDxwta5aXn6RkD8_DP3ARGeJrmV-6D9pOBTh4bw/viewform