Blog

Maria Smirnova: How To Raise Beautiful Minds, Start a School, and Do What You Love

By Natalia Yurevich

Several years ago, Maria Smirnova was one of the senior financial specialists at General Electric and could hardly imagine that she would become the founder and director of three international Montessori schools near Paris. In the interview for Madame Success, Maria told us about the process of starting a school from idea to launch, shared insights about how to help every child find success in maths, and what it takes to do what you love.

Kristy Arbon on Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and Success

By Natalia Yurevich

Kristy Arbon is the founder and CEO at HeartWorks, an online learning portal of Mindfulness and Self-Compassion. As a certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher, she leads intensives and workshops around the world, coordinates online training programs, and supports new teachers’ education at HeartWorks and the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion in San Diego, California. Kristy attempted her first meditation 25 years ago. She spent the past five years exploring Mindful Self-Compassion practices and helping people to learn to be more empathetic towards themselves. Her guided meditations are downloaded thousands of times, and her self-compassion online classes are followed by people from all over the world.

In our conversation, Kristy Arbon provides some gems on how to nurture our spirituality. She gives an inside look at how she practices and how she teaches her followers to embrace mindfulness and self-compassion in their lives.

Assia Benziane: Life with no regrets

By Elena Lysak

Assia Benziane is Deputy Mayor for women’s rights and equality of the Eastern Parisian suburb Fontenay-sous-Bois. At the age of 17, she became the founder of several schools for women in Algeria. Today, this radiantly positive 26-year-old woman is actively involved in local politics. She is the elected member of the Municipal Council; she also runs her own association in France. Assia talks to us about her mission to promote equal rights and opportunities for all women and girls and she sheds light on how to live life with no regrets.

Marie de la Ville Baugé: Create and Be Free

By Elena LYSAK

M

arie de La Ville Baugé is a contemporary French photographer and artist living in Moscow for the last 10 years. She grew up in an artistic family in France, worked on humanitarian missions in Cambodia, Sudan and Russia. This mother of four is working on art and cultural projects. She often travels across Russia and other countries. Her life is a story of freedom of mind told by an exceptional woman.

Svetlana Kulakova: Female boxing champ in the sport for men

By Elena LYSAK

Svetlana Kulakova (from the Russian Kulak meaning “fist”) won the Women’s World Super Lightweight Boxing Championship (WIBO) title on 3 December 2016 by defeating Prisca Vicot. She is a multiple time European and World Champion in Kickboxing.

No less important than being a professional fighter, she is a loving mother and wife. In this interview, Svetlana introduces us to the world of female boxing, talks about the role of men in it, explains how she gets ready for difficult fights, recommends cool exercises that champions do, tells how she organizes her day, how to bring up kids that make world records, why being happy is so important for success, and much more.