E147: She Had Everything — But Was Living Someone Else’s Life | Natalini

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Perception Paradox. My name is Zhivila and I'm your host. And today we are trying to answer the question, what happens when you realize that the successful life you've built was never truly yours? And today I'm joined by Natalini, co-founder and CEO of the Cocoa Foundation, whose journey took her from global stages and rooms filled with political leaders and celebrities to completely questioning her identity, career, relationship, and even her name. We talk about grief, trauma, psychedelics, healing, and what it takes to reclaim ownership of who you are. Natalini shares why she left behind the identity created for her, why she moved to Spain, to the island of Mallorca, and rebuilt a life grounded in creativity, community, and her own definition of success. We also explore why creativity may become our greatest human advantage in the age of AI and why designing an unconventional life might be the most natural thing you can do. So welcome to Perception Paradox and let's dive in. Real people, real stories and real challenges that break the status quo. and welcome to Perception and Parapath. welcome to perception paradox we had to wait for this moment to happen we met nearly a year ago now very soon counting that one year at web summit was it uh one of the side events in the terrace and i was just passing by and i'm like hi how are you and yeah

that's true

open practically Engaging in conversation. And then we just started talking. Then one of my friends who came to see me, Simon, joined us, if I remember it correctly. And yeah, we had a nice chat. Later on, bumping into the Web Summit.

You know, I have this thing because I've been going to conferences and sort of like events my whole life. And at the beginning, I used to get really nervous to be on my own and to not know anyone and to have to like work the room, you know, this whole thing. But with time and with experience, I learned to like be still and stay on my own and trust that the right people will always... come to me, you know, always meet the right people. And it's very uncomfortable because it is uncomfortable to be standing on your own in a room full of, you know, people that are talking to each other and know each other. But it always works. It really always works. I always meet the people I meet. It's never networking in the traditional sense of the word. I always meet people that would resonate. we would resonate with each other and would turn into like a meaningful relationship down the line. So you're one of them.

Yeah. Wow. That is so refreshing to hear that because when it comes to networking and all those official tactics, I've never done that. And I feel like I'm so bad. to come and to be a very sales or push. And yes, you come with an intention, but I'm like, you can resonate a lot. You kind of attract the people and perhaps also that matches your current chapter, your current work, your current mission, reflection. So that was really, really cool. And we got straight into quite a nice conversation about you reshaping your identity and how actually you managed to change from the life that everyone from the side maybe would be dreaming about or