My name is Simon, I am a coach & facilitator, and the founder of Joyful Impact. I support changemakers to bring more joy into their life while leaving a positive impact on the world.

My Story

Growing up in the Austrian countryside, I spent a lot of time at my grandparents place. They were my early role models in terms of being compassionate towards others with their warm, caring attitude. My father opened me up to the rich world of music, while my mother introduced me to various games and creative leisures. Little did I know back then that those two ‘C’s, Compassion and Creativity, would be cornerstones for my later development.

It was not only musical notes that I felt attuned to, but also caring for the well-being of others. I felt a pull to contribute to a better world. At the same time, I also felt a conflicting push: the practical need for a secure career. How could I make a meaningful impact without sacrificing stability?

Aligning my early education with both this push for security and the pull to do good led me into engineering school, earning a Master’s degree in Physics, and orienting my career towards developing technology to mitigate climate change. I thought I had found the perfect solution—using technology to solve critical problems.

The Turn Inward: From Technology to People

Working in applied research, I quickly discovered a surprising truth: the biggest challenges weren’t technical. The most brilliant solutions were often stalled by human factors—team dynamics, communication breakdowns, and societal hurdles. This realization sparked my first big shift.

It led me to co-found the sustainability software startup inoqo, where I worked on the intersection of product, people, and purpose. While leading teams, helping raise over €2 million in funds, and accompanying the organization to beyond 20 people. I learned that to change a system (sometimes as big as society itself), you do not only need technical innovations but must first and foremost understand humans and the cultures they create.

Giving my curiosity for human systems and adult development more space, I started mentoring other purpose-driven leaders while helping to grow the startup. In that support work, I felt a spark, a sense of flow and alignment I’d never experienced before. I realized my true passion was found in supporting people in developing themselves rather than developing products. Doing good was no longer an obligation, it became a ‘joyce’.

Leaving the certainty of my leadership role was daunting, but it felt like the most honest step I could take. So I made another ‘joyce’: fully committing to my new path by seeking formal coaching training and deepening my knowledge with studies in Economic Psychology, Cognitive Science, and Systems Thinking.

I wanted to build a bridge between the strategic, analytical world I came from and the intuitive, human-centered world I was drawn to. After guiding over 10 leaders on their own journeys, I knew it was time to create a home for this work. Joyful Impact was born.

Making ‘Joyces’ For a Better World

Working with changemakers of various backgrounds and in different settings, I observed similar patterns to mine. One that stood out was the wish for more personal fulfilment while working on big societal challenges and wanting to achieve more positive impact.

Some felt limited with their current leadership style or struggled to establish a balanced culture where collective achievement and individual well-being can co-exist. Others felt trapped at their current job or position, disillusioned by the heavy weight of the world’s problems (“Weltschmerz” in German), and seeking clarity on how to build a healthy relationship with themselves, others, and the sorrow in our world.

It’s only when they found a more joyful way of approaching the inner transformation necessary to enact the outer change they were seeking.

Change is a natural part of life, yet our response to it can be a choice. From a place of joy, is what I call a ‘joyce’. An essential element in living more in alignment with our values and experiencing more harmony in our acting and being. 

Our education and societal norms often teach us to conform and perform, not to attune and thrive. My work is about unlearning those patterns. It’s about guiding you back to a place where your head and heart are in dialogue, allowing you to lead yourself and others with more clarity and joyful impact.