Testimonials

"I had been struggling to find happiness in the ownership of my own architecture firm. What was once a dream had turned into a nightmare. I was overworked, overwhelmed and lost in the sense of not knowing what to do next to “create” a business. I had spent the past 5 years of business ownership being a “yes-man” and taking on any project that came my way. Whatever my clients wanted me to do, I did it. I also believed that I needed to decrease my fees to get work. I was miserable and realized that I placed work above my family and myself.

Coaching with Farhana has been extremely fulfilling. She took the time to get to know me and helped me develop in a way that best suited me. The coaching helped me find balance between my family and my career. It helped me be much happier and less stressed with all that running a firm brings. I now have purpose in being a leader. I understand my self-worth and the value of my experience and firm. I am no longer lost…. I have a direction that I want to take my firm and its associates.

I said to my wife recently that it’s unfortunate I’m halfway through my coaching program with Farhana and that I wanted to continue working with her indefinitely. Her immediate response was "I see what she’s done for you and your quality of life and she deserves 4 times what you pay her. You’ve completely changed and you’re happy. You keep going with her."

Farhana has helped to greatly improve the quality of my life! Thank you, Farhana. It truly is an honor to have been helped by you."

Michael Carney
AIA, NCARB, ALA
Principal and Founder
Studio Carney Architecture Inc.
Palatine, IL, U.S.A.

Photo: MattySF.com

"The Surf Life Immersion is one of the most innovative coaching experiences on the market. After 20 years of being a successful businesswoman and running my own company, I chose to do Surf Life Executive Coaching to challenge my mind and body, and to explore how I could make greater social impact with my business and my life.

The Surf Life Day out on the water was incredibly powerful and helped me reflect on a very popular theme right now - "if you weren't afraid what would you do?" Farhana has a way of creating space that allows you to be out of your comfort zone - for me, my feet dangling below in the ocean where I cannot see what is below is scarier than running a company.

As a result of Surf Life I am reminded of what it feels like to not be in control and be okay with it as you get more comfortable each time you paddle. I am now looking forward to my next day in the ocean with Farhana by my side encouraging me to catch the wave. This experience is a must for every successful businesswoman with a mind for global awareness looking to challenge themselves in service to their own personal and professional transformation."

- Helen Russell
Co-Founder, Equator Coffees and Teas
(B Corp, Bay Area Top 100 Women Owned Businesses, 2016 California Small Business of the Year)
San Rafael, CA, U.S.A.

"Having owned my firm for 20 years, I was resigned to the fact that I would always be burdened with running the business. As an architect, I love what I do, but the day-to-day grind of the firm, along with managing 16 employees was wearing. I was introduced to Farhana and was slightly skeptical when I heard she was a coach, because I had had a bad experience with a “life coach” in the past. I figured that this would be another airy-fairy type of new-age counseling that was going to be a waste of money and time.

I am pleased to say that I have been more than happy with the work and the transformation I feel. Working with Farhana has given me a new perspective on my role as an owner and leader of my company, and has opened up a new way for me to work. The same challenges still exist, but I feel that I have a lot more capacity to deal with the daily issues and stress that are endemic to running a business.

Doing specific exercises where we talk through situations, while throwing in psychological and scientific insights, as well as recognizing my own strengths and defaults, I have become more confident as a leader. I now feel that I have more options to deal with situations that used to feel overwhelming. Recognizing what my clients and employees need has also made me a stronger leader. There is a lot still to do, but I am enjoying the process.

The work with Farhana has given me a new attitude and excitement for my business. I would strongly recommend her services."

- John Lum
Principal Architect, Founder and Owner
John Lum Architecture
San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.

"As a scientist, I have to admit that I came to coaching with a degree of skepticism. It seemed to me like something that wasn’t very scientific, more of a loosey-goosey feel-good kind of thing. However, Farhana blew that skepticism out of the water in our first session. She has a very deep intuition about people, to the point where she can diagnose your emotional state over the phone. At the same time, she’s had a lot of training in the scientific principles behind how our brains work, and what de-rails our “better angels”. It was this remarkable blend of intuition about people coupled with science-based techniques that allowed me to trust very quickly that she knew what she was doing. I loved how she explained things to me, like the brain science behind some of her exercises, and I always felt that what she was doing had a purpose (even if it felt uncomfortable or wasn’t clear at the time).

Through my coaching sessions, I definitely feel like I experienced a qualitative leap in my own leadership abilities. I felt a shift from being reactive / triggered in certain situations, to becoming more observant, curious and self-contained. I learned so much about my strengths, and feel a greater sense of confidence and autonomy. It’s hard to put into words, but I really feel like this has been one of the most transformative experiences of my life. I have a tremendous amount of gratitude and respect for Farhana, and I can’t speak highly enough of her coaching practice!"

- Susan G.
DrPH (Doctor of Public Health);
Project Specialist, Evidence-Based Practice
San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.

"I found Surf Life when looking to integrate my values and lifestyle into my business. As a Landscape Architect, pragmatism and creativity must coexist and complement each other. My first coaching experience was very pragmatic and helped me start my company, but something was missing. It was not holistic. Who I am as an individual and a professional needed to be fully accessed for my confidence to grow as a leader.

Surf Life has been the perfect fit. I have learned techniques to understand my passion, my priorities, and access my creativity. Using multiple approaches, Farhana guides me in finding the clarity needed to make the right choices - choices that make sense and feel good. Every session leaves me with a renewed sense of purpose and enlightenment defining where I want the company to go.

Furthermore, I have had more than one personal crisis during the pandemic. Farhana has been indispensable each time the bridge needed to be crossed from Family Crisis Coordinator to a Managing Professional. In this tumultuous time, our work together has smoothed a lot of rough water. The business has grown. I am serving my clients with confidence and managing exciting outreach projects.

Working with Surf Life Executive Coaching will help you understand who you are and why you do your work. You will learn to access and apply your values to your unique adventure as a professional."

- Meg Gaffney-Cooke
Principal Landscape Architect
Blue Leaf Landscape
Jacksonville, FL, U.S.A.

"After more than 20 years doing store design for major global retailers, I needed a change. I took advantage of a company reorganization to get some time to figure out what was next. After 6 months of soul searching, I was stuck between what my head was telling me to do and what my heart really wanted. I was insecure about my talents, afraid of starting at the bottom and terrified of going back to corporate America. This is when I contacted Farhana.

My work with Farhana helped me to find the clarity and confidence to start my own business. Farhana helped me to recognize my own strengths and to develop a vision for what could be. She was able to help me find the answers to what I want.
She could tell when I was struggling and used techniques to help me search inside myself for the answers. When I was uncomfortable, she didn’t let me rationalize my way into an easier path.

What started out as me trying to find a way to bring in a paycheck without taking a job has now developed into a thriving design studio with projects all over the globe. Before Farhana’s support, I was unable to even dream big. Now, I’m living the dream every day. Farhana is a talented coach and an inspiring individual. I feel so lucky that I made that first phone call and recommend Farhana to anyone looking for support with any career, leadership or life transitions."

- Kathleen Justice
California Licensed Architect
NCIDQ, LEED-AP
Principal, Local Studio Design
Mill Valley, CA, U.S.A.

"Our firm very kindly arranged for 6 months of coaching sessions with Farhana for all the managers at our office. Farhana and I recently had our last session.

After nearly 20 years of success in my industry, I had been suffering from burn-out and a general lack of direction and enthusiasm. I had fallen into bad habits and was uncertain and unexcited about the future. However, Farhana easily and brilliantly found ways of cutting through all the extraneous rubbish in my head. She used her outstanding perceptiveness to separate out the issues and then helped me piece together where I wanted to go and how I was going to get there. Through conversation, role play and some very gentle probing (not to mention a great supply of intelligent reading material) she helped me understand myself better, establish my core values and principles, focus in on what I want and what I do not want for my professional life and then to develop the techniques I will need to advance myself.

It was a fascinating experience on every level. I came into the program perhaps a little cynical, but came out of it rejuvenated, much happier and better armed for the road ahead. My energy and enthusiasm levels are incomparably higher, my focus has increased markedly. Work has become a pleasure again. Challenging myself has become fun again. And it was Farhana who unlocked this in me, at such a crucial time.

I can’t recommend Farhana highly enough to anyone who seeks more wisdom, self-control and joy in their lives or any business that wants to help their staff reach the ’next level'…cheers for what you have done Farhana!

Now, onwards and upwards."

- James Barker
Professional Architect
Former Project Manager, John Lum Architecture
Owner, James Barker Design
San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.

"I met Farhana while in the midst of a major career transition as I prepared to take on a position. My goals were to build confidence and hone my skills in managing relationships across many different personality styles. Farhana helped me to identify my strengths and behaviors as a leader and to gain insight into how my particular style is perceived by people with different personalities. This was perhaps the most helpful part of coaching, identifying my ‘comfort zone’ of managing people, and learning how to come out of this zone to meet the needs of different personalities, particularly the direct, forceful and results-oriented personalities of scientists.

As a result of coaching with Farhana, I feel more confident in my leadership, less reactive and able to communicate more effectively, even in contentious situations. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Farhana and looked forward to our bi-weekly sessions. Thanks to her support and guidance I feel prepared to take on the challenges of my new position. I would highly recommend Farhana to anyone who wants to discover their strengths, and become a confident and effective leader."

- Astrid Ruefli
PhD, Cell Biology, Cancer Immunology
Senior Group Leader, Vice Director, Roche
Basel, Switzerland

"Timing for my work with Farhana could not have been better. I had been working in design for over twenty years, but was feeling personally unfulfilled and not able to leverage my knowledge effectively.

I began working with Farhana with the belief that we would identify my weaknesses and then work to minimize them to make me a stronger leader. However, through use of her extensive tool box of exercises, her strong compassionate intuition and her deep understanding of how our brains and neural networks function, I discovered that I already had many natural strengths as a leader. Through practice I have learned how to express my belief in myself in a powerful, but respectful and considerate way. I have found my voice.

Though our sessions are now complete I use techniques that I have learned during our work together almost daily. I have found more personal and professional satisfaction at my firm, and am able to lead successfully by example. I am creating more joy and beauty for myself and those around me."

Gabrielle Saponara
AIA, LEED AP
Senior Architect, WRNS Studio
San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.

"My experience with Farhana and Surf Life Executive Coaching was extremely positive. Farhana's temperament, strategic mind and use of neuroscience was very helpful in making decisions and creating a vision for myself and organization as a non-profit leader. Her ability to help divine what is important and what is not, and then set goals around those priorities was instrumental in my personal and organizational growth. I would recommend her services to anyone who is seeking to grow as an individual and as a leader. My only regret was not having enough time with her."

- Nik Strong-Cvetich
Executive Director, Save the Waves Coalition
Davenport, CA, U.S.A.

“I knew from our first introductory session that working with Farhana would be exactly what I needed to explore my life purpose, deepen my leadership skills and work toward transitioning to a new career path of starting a social enterprise. Her experience as an innovative social entrepreneur and commitment to social justice initially brought me to her practice.

When I first started with Farhana, I was immobilized by my self-doubt. It undermined my ability to move forward and believe in my own potential to do important change work in the world. Her powerful mix of generative questions, guided visualization, and mind/body knowledge supported transformative breakthroughs for me. I was able to access my own inner knowing and began to eliminate the self-doubt. I learned to trust my intuition and how to envision a new path forward.

Working with Farhana was truly a transformative experience. I have so much gratitude and love for her and the work she is doing in this world. I am now more grounded, confident and truly fearless as I follow my life purpose and launch into a new phase of work in my life.”

- Cristy Chung
Consultant, Pushing Practice and Strategy, Luminare Group
Free Radical: Working to create the future we want to live in
Oakland, CA, U.S.A.

"Before Surf Life Executive Coaching I felt drained, stuck, and helpless. I hadn't made progress on my dissertation after 1.5 years of saying I would. My grad school career was dwindling, as was my mental health. Farhana taught me how to be productive in sustainable ways that don't compromise my self-care. With her help, I finished my dissertation in record time. A few months later, I applied everything I had learned from Farhana to the academic job market. I landed two job offers and accepted one at Princeton University.

Farhana's holistic approach to coaching is creative, client-led, and extremely personalized; she truly believed in me, making our sessions incredibly meaningful. After working together consistently for a few months, I became more productive in all aspects of my life, not just my career. Most importantly, I now have a very clear sense of my life purpose, which she helped me to crystallize. I would highly recommend Surf Life Executive Coaching to anyone, especially to other grad students."

- Tala Khanmalek, PhD
Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.

"As someone who loves the ocean, Farhana made it easy to follow her lead and reflect on the state of the water at certain moments as it related to my personal and professional destination...the waves, the calm waters, the clouds on the horizon. In addition, she asks all the right questions to help you identify your values and apply it to your pursuit of growth, a new direction and/or a complete new journey. As a result of her coaching, I now feel more focused in pursuing my transition to an encore career. It's been a joy to work with her."

- Camilla Nelson
Retired Social Innovation Program Manager, Hewlett Packard
Mountain View, CA, U.S.A.

"Farhana is a highly intuitive and personable coach who skillfully draws out her clients own wisdom meanwhile inviting them to new possibilities. Her insightful, creative approach helped me come to some powerful realizations. The Surf Life experience is truly one of a kind. I couldn't recommend it more!"

- Cara Jones
Emmy Award-Winning Journalist & Founder, Storytellers for Good
San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.

"Amazing experience! I am an executive coach myself and decided to participate in this because I am (now, was!) terrified of water and the thought of surfing. Farhana was absolutely amazing--the perfect blend of support and challenge. She made me feel absolutely comfortable and I did what I thought I could never do. Highly recommend it!"

- Kerrie Halmi
Executive Coach, Halmi Performance Consulting
Oakland, CA, U.S.A.

"When I started working with Surf Life, I was at a professional and personal crossroads. I didn’t know what I wanted to be doing for the next 10 years, whether I was in the right place geographically, or how to get fulfillment out of my relationships. My brain was in 1,000 different places at once!

Farhana’s coaching style is compassionate, humble, and nonjudgmental. She lets the conversation flow naturally and asks the right questions so you can reach your own conclusions. In just 15 minutes talking with Farhana, she was able to sort through the fray and help me focus on the real issue that was plaguing me.

Getting in the water was exhilarating! Sports and exercise are such great ways to reset your brain and focus on a single task which is exactly what I needed to focus on my topic. I really enjoyed this component of Farhana’s coaching program. After our surf lesson, we had ample time to reflect on the themes we discussed on the beach and the water.

Identifying my values was a powerful exercise for me – I realized that I was only honoring only 10% of my values. No wonder I felt unfulfilled! I left with simple action steps that I could immediately start incorporating into my life.

My coaching session with Surf Life came at a critical point in my life where I could have made major decisions without consulting my values first. What a mistake that would have been! This retreat allowed me to examine my values and change course before it was too late. "

- Carly Perera
Loan Officer, Pacific Community Ventures
Oakland, CA, U.S.A.

More Testimonials

"I initially brought Farhana on as a coach for our Principal architect to help us further solidify our mission, goals, and direction. Our principal experienced a significant amount of personal and professional growth during the coaching engagement with Farhana, so he decided to hire her to coach our entire management team.

Professional coaching with Farhana had been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I have learned more about myself as a leader and how to trust my innate talents. Farhana challenged me to go deep and to look at my insecurities and fears. This was one of the most difficult parts of coaching and one of the most important because this is when I began to see real change in myself both personally and professionally. Farhana deployed the right techniques for the moment to gently guide me towards some powerful self-realizations. She also has studied the cognitive science of leadership so she was able to explain some of the exercises we did that helped push me towards more growth. Now I live and work from a place of empowerment and strength.

I have also seen unbelievable growth and progress to the team. Prior to coaching with Farhana we had minimal processes and procedures at our firm. Today, as a result of the coaching, we have landed several dream projects, have strengthened our mission and goals, and are poised to implement innovative new systems and processes as the firm grows. I highly recommend coaching with Farhana for any leader or leadership team looking to take both themselves and their organization to the next level."

- Darlene Dhillon
Operations Manager, John Lum Architecture
San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.

"Farhana is outstanding at what she does and from that I have benefited greatly. She is not an ordinary coach. Her character, integrity, personal and professional experience, tools and approach are all unique. The exercises we go through, whether on the phone, in person, on a walk, hike or in the ocean have all leant to an extremely memorable and effective coaching experience!

She provides a fantastically effective balance in her coaching that is exploratory yet extremely practical. She has an amazing ability to connect with my unique needs, circumstances and coaching goals and really make me trust and feel confident that she is helping me along my own unique path and journey and helping me to hold myself accountable for what I want to accomplish."

- Anjali Nath
Public Health Professional & Kathak Dance Practitioner
Boston, MA, U.S.A.

"Farhana Huq has been an extraordinary coach for me. Not just because we both surf and hold the ocean at the center of our lives....(but) she has helped me to stay focused on my goals as a leader in my community and as a leader in my personal life....to practice combining the two areas of my life in a way that is balanced and sustainable. Being an ambitious person doesn't always make one happy nor help you get the results you want. Having a balanced life and knowing where your boundaries are and where to set them is what creates a life you love.

She has helped to bring new and interesting exercises in ways of thinking that give me the tools to be all I can in my life. She is compassionate when I need to be heard and rigorous with me when I'm just spinning my wheels and feeling sorry for myself. I went from knowing a lot about how to be successful and get results to getting results by taking care of myself through it all. I feel more vitality and health and have way more compassion for myself as a leader...in turn I have that for others.

Anyone that's up to big things knows that having a coach raises the bar on your results. Having one such as Farhana gets you the unexpected results you never even dreamed."

- Dayla Soul
Big Wave Surf Photographer & Filmmaker
Director, It Ain't Pretty
Pacifica, CA, U.S.A.

"Listened to a webinar that Farhana delivered and knew I needed to be working with her - both challenging and engaging, she provides great guidance and insight. Through our collaborative efforts, she helped me navigate several challenging transitions and identify new opportunities. I consider her to be a trusted counselor as well as an important business partner."

- Jeanne Achille
Founder and CEO, The Devon Group
Middeltown, N.J., U.S.A.

“Farhana is amazing. She propelled me into a trajectory of accomplishing personal goals in under three months. When I started working with her, my intention was to focus on my professional transition from one leadership position to the next, but she helped me realize that I actually needed to focus on my personal life. This revelation assisted me in my professional world as well. I can’t say enough about how helpful she has been.”

- Founder and Non-Profit CEO
Palo Alto, CA, U.S.A.

"In a word, I would summarize Farhana as “magical.” She brings a tremendous amount of experience and professional success in a way that is calming, yet motivating. While her demeanor is laid back, she is a strong, motivated and focused woman. She is a natural born-leader, and has a solution focused creative approach to her coaching. As a fellow coach, she serves as not only an inspiration, but also as a coach and mentor to my personal projects and business. She is constantly challenging me, checking in on my progress, and sending links and articles that she think could help me. I have been consistently impressed with her desire to help and her genuine concern with my success. I would highly recommend Farhana as a coach, mentor and leader."

- Brian Rashid
Communications Coach & Speaker, Brian Rashid, Inc.
San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.

"Surf Life Executive Coaching with Farhana Huq has been one of the best coaching experiences I have had developing and expanding my company, Applied Geomatics and Land Surveys.

After three years in business for myself, I needed to reevaluate the direction, marketing, and overall feel of my company. I turned to Farhana in hopes she could council and provide the tools for me to pull a new vision, business plan, and the much needed motivation to enact a new course for my business. The results of our coaching sessions far exceeded my initial expectations!

My work with Farhana has resulted in numerous pages of notes for a greater vision and plan for my company, that I know alone, I could not have imagined. Her motivational skills has also provided the “kick in the pants” I needed to put those notes and vision into action.

As a result of Surf Life Executive Coaching, I am enacting a new course for Applied Geomatics and Land Surveys! A new direction that Farhana helped pull from the deepest parts of my hopes and dreams for a company, I am proud to call my own."

- Victor Rasgado
CEO, Applied Geomatics and Land Surveys
Veteran, United States Army
Keaau, Hawaii, U.S.A.

"Entrepreneurship has never been easy for me-- I was one born with huge visions and ambitions around changing the world, yet also the deepest of emotional sensitivities that can make it tough to navigate through the demands of life and various people and situations.

Farhana helped me go from reacting to people and situations around me, to leading with my core visions and integrity. Throughout the process Farhana was an intelligent, wise, warm, supportive coach who always made me feel comfortable and helped me leap to a new level of empowerment and effectiveness."

- Darlene Damm
Co-Founder, DIYROCKETS
Mountainview, CA, U.S.A.

"Farhana helped me identify my values, and helped me give serious thought to how I can build the life I want to live. If you feel in need of direction, either personally or professionally, Farhana can help. She has a way of asking questions that elicits deep personal reflection, and she really guides her clients toward their own self discovery."

- Interactive Marketing Manager & Aspiring Entrepreneur
Hingam, MA, U.S.A.

"I had the chance to get a decisive coaching session with Farhana during which she helped me come to terms with a longstanding issue I had in my family life. Her coaching was supportive, gentle and determined at the same time. She really pushed my boundaries in a good way. Thank you for being who you are."

- Xavier, Entrepreneur, Technologist & Innovator
Lostorf, Switzerland

"Farhana has a way of gently pushing you in a manner that is neither scary nor intimidating. Though I sometimes resisted the exercises, I trusted the process. The result after was that my challenges seemed less and I discovered ways to get around them and resolve them in time. I always left with more self-confidence, smiles on my face, feeling very inspired, and counting all my blessings.

I am so grateful and blessed to have been one of Farhana's clients. Farhana helped me get clarity on my direction, focused to achieve my business goals, was accommodating to my needs, and was patient with me during this important life transition. She taught me to believe in my dreams and in myself, to be centered, and positive."

- Chef & Food Entrepreneur
San Francisco Bay Area, CA, U.S.A.