Five questions to Doris Gottlieb, founder of Doris Gottlieb

What does the Forward·Inc Community need to know about you?

I’m dedicated to helping assist people in tapping into their potential and finding their own paths. Although the majority of the work that I do with Forward·Inc right now is with the internal team, I believe that helping the team become stronger translates into their work with the community. I also feel very connected to the work of Forward·Inc because many years ago, I was married to someone who was a refugee, and I was very lucky to spend time with many of his friends and see the journey people make when they come to a new country and make a life for themselves. I always felt that everyone had so much to give, and there weren’t good structures to help them figure out how to be able to give it in this country. So it really moves my heart what Forward·Inc does to support entrepreneurial people, refugees and newcomers who are in a position where they’re trying to find their way. I admire Forward-Inc for providing a structure to support people in this time of transition.

What is the relationship between Forward·Inc & you?

Laura Di Santolo and I know one another because many years ago, I was the coordinator of a mentor program at Erasmus University’s International Business Administration course. Laura was a mentor, and so we met one another there. At one point after she graduated, we got in touch, and in 2020 she asked me to facilitate a  health and balance scan with Forward·Inc. This health and balance scan helps organisations to reflect upon how to enhance their health and resilience to be able to handle change.  And because I have a very long history of facilitating and training and teaching trainers, I was also invited to help put together a part of the onboarding training for the facilitators who work in the Forward·Inc Incubator Program.

What are you most proud of in your collaboration with Forward·Inc?

I’m just most proud of the fact that we have an ongoing relationship and that at each session that I facilitate and in each moment that I’m involved with Forward·Inc, I feel like we’re all learning,  I’m adding value Forward·Inc and Forward·Inc is adding value to my practice just by the fact that we work together and that we have a long term development relationship. I’m also proud of seeing that each time I come to work with the internal team, steps have been made to develop the organisation in a healthy way. I’m impressed to see how much growth there is, how much thought there is, and how each time there’s a new opportunity.

What do you wish for Forward·Inc and all the new participants joining the programs?

The first thing that comes to my mind is a bit metaphysical. I wish them peace, and I wish them lives that are fulfilled. I also wish for them that they find their path and that they trust their path, whatever that path is and wherever it leads them.

Who would you recommend to be fit to be part of the Forward·Inc community?

I feel that Forward·Inc is a heart-centred organisation. It’s also a holistic kind of organisation. It looks to find promising holistic approaches to support people.  It’s also a connective organisation that brings people of different kinds together to improve something. So you’re working, for example, with newcomers, and as you work with these newcomers, they’re coming in contact with all sorts of other people, but the way they’re coming in contact with them isn’t transactional, it is relational. I think that the coaches and the trainers and the people who you’re working with need to be willing to learn from the people that they work with. People who are willing to learn from others who already can make a big contribution and who carry with them an already “backpack” of skills and abilities, and resourcefulness that they bring with them and are looking for how to bring the best of themselves to contribute to where they are now.