About

I’m someone who has rarely taken the traditional route and has never believed that “usual” automatically means “right.”

I help people who feel overlooked, underestimated, burned out, or boxed in by systems that were never designed for them. I work with the underdog, the creative thinker, the quiet high-achiever, and the person who knows there has to be a better way and is brave enough to build it.

At my core, I’m a problem-solver, a pattern-breaker, and a guide for people ready to pave their own path.

I entered this work after living it. I learned the hard way you can’t outthink stress—you have to know your nervous system, honor your body’s signals, and reshape how you live, not just what you do. That realization became the heart of my signature Befriend Your Life™ framework, which blends neuroscience, psychology, and real-world strategy to help professionals and entrepreneurs rebuild energy, meaning, and intentional growth.

I work with:

• High-performing professionals and entrepreneurs feeling stuck in stress or burnout
• Creative thinkers and problem solvers who struggle when their systems overwhelm their capacity
• People who feel like the “outsider” in traditional success narratives
• Folks who want sustainable success without sacrificing their health or joy

My clients learn to work with their biology—not against it—to create lives that fit them, not the hustle culture.

I’m fueled by creative problem-solving: making complex ideas feel simple, actionable, and even joyful. I love:

• Helping people unlock their potential and rewrite their definition of success
• Nature and adventure (from mountains to waters to forests)
• International travel—exploring the world expands my curiosity and connection
• My kids—my everything—and our shared adventures
• Animals and equine work—horses are not just companions, they’re powerful therapeutic partners in resilience and emotional insight

I can go from camping under the stars to a 5-star hotel in 30 minutes flat—because life should be lived fully in all its shades.

If you met me in person, you’d experience:

• Enthusiasm that’s grounded in experience
• Clarity without complication
• Compassion paired with challenge
• A belief that everyone can shape their life from the inside out

I don’t just talk about possibilities—I help people create them.

I speak on stages, in workshops, and for executive retreats about:

• Why exhaustion is not productivity
• From Surviving to Thriving: The Befriend Your Life Roadmap
• Rewriting Identity After Burnout
• Executive Functioning for Real Life Flow
• Resilience Through Regulation, Not Hustle
• The Art of Creative Problem-Solving

These are designed for business leaders, educators, healthcare professionals, high-achievers, and organizations committed to transformational growth.

At the Help To Grow Institute, you’ll find:

• One-on-One High-Performance Coaching
• Group Workshops & Retreats
• Befriend Your Life™ Membership & Community
• Executive Function & Stress Resilience Training
• Speaking Engagements & Customized Organizational Programs

👉 Explore all programs here: https://helptogrowinstitute.com

You don’t need a different life—you need a new way to be in it.

Your potential isn’t found in pushing harder.
It’s found in moving smarter, with purpose and presence.

And that’s the world I’m helping people build—one step, one shift, one life at a time.

I was born in Warsaw, Poland, grew up across cultures, attended high school in Texas, and completed my university education in Poland before building my professional life internationally.

Living between systems, languages, and expectations taught me early on that there is never just one way to succeed and that creativity often comes from standing slightly outside the norm.

That global, cross-cultural lens still shapes everything I do.

Because I’ve lived the cost of following paths that look good on paper but ignore human reality.

Much of my work is informed by my personal journey of overcoming trauma and the long-term effects of a traumatic brain injury. I learned firsthand that willpower alone doesn’t heal. Hustle doesn’t restore clarity. And pushing harder often makes things worse.

Healing, growth, and success require understanding the nervous system, honoring capacity, and designing life from the inside out.

That truth became the foundation of my work and my book-based framework, Befriending Your Life.

I help people who are:

• Burned out but still ambitious
• Capable but overwhelmed
• Smart yet stuck
• Successful on the outside but exhausted inside

Together, we untangle burnout, stress, and misalignment by simplifying complex problems and building systems that actually fit the person living them.

Most burnout isn’t a motivation problem.
It’s a design problem

I blend neuroscience, psychology, executive functioning, and lived experience but I explain it simply.

Clients often tell me I make complicated things feel clear, doable, and human. I bring enthusiasm, compassion, and structure without rigidity.

I don’t believe in fixing people.
I believe in helping them befriend themselves.

I have a deep soft spot for:

• The underdog
• The one who doesn’t fit the mold
• The person told they’re “too much” or “not enough”
• The one rebuilding after loss, illness, injury, or identity shifts

My work is about restoring dignity, choice, and agency.

My children are my everything. Family anchors me and reminds me why sustainability matters.

I love animals, especially horses, and I use equine-assisted approaches as a therapeutic and regulation-based tool. Horses teach presence, boundaries, and emotional truth faster than words ever could.

Nature is my reset.
You’ll find me hiking, kayaking, fencing, or traveling internationally whenever possible.

And yes, I can switch from camping under the stars to a 5-star hotel in 30 minutes without missing a beat. I believe life gets richer when we stop limiting ourselves to one identity.

My speaking topics include:

• Burnout is not a failure, it’s feedback
• Overcoming obstacles without self-override
• Befriending Your Life: a new model for success
• Executive functioning for real-world demands
• Resilience after trauma and identity disruption
• Creating your own path when the standard one doesn’t fit

My talks are practical, human, and deeply validating while still being challenging and forward-moving.

You don’t need to become someone else to succeed.

You don’t need to push harder to prove your worth.

You need a life that fits your nervous system, your values, your season, and your truth.

I help people build that life one aligned choice at a time.
That’s how high achievers build lives that are not just successful but deeply fulfilling.

They often say:

• I make complex things simple
• I explain neuroscience in a way that actually changes behavior
• I’m enthusiastic without being overwhelming
• I challenge without shaming

I don’t fix people.
I help them befriend themselves so they can lead, create, and live from alignment.

• CEOs and founders
• Leadership teams
• Healthcare professionals
• Entrepreneurs and business owners
• High-achieving, high-pressure industries

Karolina’s speaking style is engaging, grounded, compassionate, and direct, leaving audiences with clarity, relief, and immediately usable tools.

👉 Bookings and programs through Help To Grow Institute
👉 https://helptogrowinstitute.com

My work is NOT for you if:

• You want hustle culture, grind, or “push harder” strategies
• You believe burnout is the price of success
• You want quick fixes without internal change
• You are unwilling to look at how your nervous system, life design, and expectations interact

• You want high performance that lasts
• You’re done sacrificing health, family, or joy
• You’re a capable, driven, possibly neurodiverse professional
• You want clarity, calm, and consistency without losing ambition

She holds a PhD in Rehabilitation and an MS in Psychology, grounding her work in both clinical science and real-world application. She is also a certified life coach and wellness coach. You can learn more about her education here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karolinalabrecque/

Yes. She works with high-level professionals navigating relationship stress, emotional disconnection, divorce prevention, and recovery, especially when success has come at a personal cost.

Yes. Her work includes meltdown prevention, emotional overload regulation, and “punching walls” prevention, particularly in high-pressure leadership environments.

Befriending Your Life is Karolina’s signature framework that helps people stop fighting themselves and start designing lives and systems that fit their biology, values, and season of life.

Yes. Karolina is highly experienced in supporting neurodiverse, ADHD, and “neurospicy” professionals whose brains work differently and often burn out in systems not designed for them. Her whole PhD was on ASD.

Karolina does not teach hustle, rigid productivity systems, or motivation-based pushing.
Her work is capacity-based, neuroscience-informed, and nervous-system aligned, focusing on prevention, regulation, and sustainable performance.

Yes. Karolina works extensively with CEOs, founders, small business owners, physicians, and high-level professionals who carry significant responsibility and cognitive load.