Julia Karmo - Systemic coach, mediator, journalist

Julia Karmo

Hi, I am Julia Karmo - coach, facilitator and journalist. I help people think clearly when their professional lives go offscript.

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I work with people navigating complexity, disruption, and transition in their professional lives. People who find themselves in situations where previous strategies no longer work, complexity feels overwhelming, disruption is systemic and a more fundamental reorientation is needed.

A systemic coaching approach is transparent, results-oriented, and analytically rigorous. I help you to externalise situations so they can be examined relationally: patterns become visible, misalignments surface, and fresh perspectives emerge, while self-trust, agency, and aliveness strengthen.

I help you see your situation more clearly — and from there, find your own way forward.

Many of my clients have tried coaching before and found it didn't reach the level where they could actually felt authorship around their lives that they were seeking. A question I often bring to clients is: what does this situation - this relational system - ask of me, right now? It's a small shift in orientation, but a significant one. We build this into a habit, a worldview, an ecosystem. When we act from a place of attunement it creates reverberations - in us, the people around us, and in the wider systems we're part of.

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It takes two to know one.

Gregory Bateson, Systems thinker, anthropologist and philosopher

1-1 client testimonials

I started coaching with Julia because I was stuck in a professional situation that felt really blocked. The sessions helped me unlock new perspectives, and I came out of them with concrete action ideas and a much more positive outlook. Julia's approach is both empathetic and insightful, allowing me to explore my thoughts freely.

Gabrielle, Consultant

I was very happy to choose Julia to guide me through a quite strenuous transition period. From the beginning, I felt a great driving energy and softness that made me feel safe. A mix of structure, tools, and exercises, paired with deep curiosity and reflection, made each session feel useful. Although we discussed my work experience and plans extensively, the underlying focus was on supporting my internal journey. This created space for me to process, explore, and reframe exactly that which needed to be heard and challenged. I was able to see myself through an objective but more powerful lens. I would definitely work with Julia again.

Aleksandra, Leadership Coach and Change Advisor

Before coaching, I was feeling really stuck in my career, and it felt nearly impossible to view things from a different perspective. I expected coaching to focus only on professional goals - I was surprised at how much it connected to my wider personal life. I now feel a new sense of direction and confidence in myself and my abilities. I spent many years trying to figure it all out on my own, and I believe that sometimes you just need a little help and guidance. That's where coaching comes in, and I wish I had realised this sooner!

Liam, Senior Program Manager in Tech

Julia is a highly empathetic person with an exceptional ability to understand how others think. She quickly grasps the logic behind the way you operate and, from there, helps you see your potential in a realistic and authentic way. In addition, she uses very thoughtful and relevant techniques and exercises that support a deeper understanding of our inner world and how it influences the way we see ourselves professionally.

Eva, Climate change researcher

Julia was very effective at creating an open space for me to explore a major career change. She’s smart, sympathetic, and knows how to motivate her clients in their personal and professional explorations, without judgement or projecting her own viewpoint. As a result, I was able in a very short time to go from uncertainty about my next career move to developing a business plan.

Matteo, Communications Strategist

My approach is intuitive and analytical in equal measure. I aim to be a genuine ally to my clients rather than an expert dispensing solutions. I believe that coaching, at its best, is a bespoke thought partnership. I bring the full range of my experience to this work: fifteen years as a journalist, editor and documentary director with AP, Sky News and RTL, reporting across twenty countries; strategic communications consultancy for institutions including the European Parliament and the London School of Economics; and co-founding an award-winning non-profit newsroom in Berlin working at the intersection of migration, media and public education. I'm also trained as a mediator and mindfulness teacher, which means I bring a conflict-resolution lens to relational dynamics, and a wider field of attention to what's possible. This breadth of contexts, cultures, and kinds of complexity is what I bring into the room to support and challenge you.

I facilitate group workshops and longer strategic processes — helping teams make sense of complexity together.

Facilitation client testimonials

It was very important for our team to see and talk through our difficulties. We argued, sometimes things got really hot, but thanks to Julia we managed to find consensus every time. We also were able to put together an action plan for our organisation and assign roles in it. This was hugely valuable for our team in this moment.

Strategy Facilitation Client, Social impact non-profit organisation

Book an intro call

If this sounds interesting, please book a free 20-minute info call with me to discuss your interest and to see if we are a good fit to work together.

Book now

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The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.

David Graeber, Anthropologist, writer, activist and organiser

My work draws on systems thinking, relational field theory, and post-growth ideas about what a well-lived professional life actually looks like - which means I work better with people who sense that the standard script was always a bit too narrow.

I like Margaret Wheatley's idea of Islands of Sanity: doing what we can, where we are, to create conditions in which our basic human qualities - generosity, contribution, community, care - can be expressed. Creating those islands signals to others that it's possible. Connecting them creates more possibility. This feels to me like the defining work of our moment.

Associate Coach

The German Federal Association of Coaching e.V. (DBVC) is the leading association in German-speaking countries that focuses on business coaching and leadership. The DBVC is home to over 700 experts from the areas of coaching practice.
Qualified Mediator

MI is a non-profit initiative driving transparency and standards in mediation, worldwide.There are currently over 550 IMI Certified Mediators in 45 countries.

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By refreshing our sense of belonging in the world, we widen the web of relationships that nourishes us and protects us from burnout.

Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone, Active Hope