A gentler, truer path to sucess for women in business
Three women, one mission: to create a world where female entrepreneurs can scale their companies with courage, clarity, and joy—without sacrificing who they are.
How BRAVVA Female Founders began
We started as three damsels coming from different worlds—corporate leadership, entrepreneurship, marketing, education—but we kept arriving at the same truth:
Women thrive when they're fully seen, supported, and challenged to dream bigger.
We'd each experienced the disconnect. The pressure to lead like men. The exhaustion of trying to fit into systems that weren't built for us. The loneliness of building something meaningful while wondering if we were doing it "right."
We knew there had to be a different way.
So we created it.
Bravva Female Founders was born from a simple belief: business growth and personal evolution aren't separate journeys. They're intertwined. And when you honor both, everything changes.
We built a platform where proven frameworks meet collective wisdom. Where strategy aligns with soul. Where women can grow their companies without losing themselves in the process.
This is our life's work. And we're just getting started.
OUR CORE BELIEFS
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Real confidence doesn't come from affirmations or quick wins. It comes from doing the deeper work—understanding your patterns, connecting with your lineage, building on a foundation that can't be shaken.
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You can't think your way out of the challenges you're facing alone. The breakthrough happens in dialogue, in being witnessed, in the collective intelligence of women who understand the journey because they're on it too.
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All the frameworks in the world won't help if they're not connected to who you truly are. When your business strategy reflects your values, your energy, your vision—that's when sustainable growth becomes possible.
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We reject the narrative that success requires sacrifice. You can scale with joy. You can lead with presence. You can build something extraordinary while staying whole.
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Not the superficial kind. The kind that shifts how you see yourself, how you lead, how you show up. The kind that lasts because it's rooted in truth, not trends.
We bring together what's often kept separate: strategy and soul, data and intuition, plans and presence.
Our programs integrate:
Proven methodologies like systemic work, group coaching, mastermind sessions, and strategic planning—frameworks that create lasting change, not temporary motivation.
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Embodied learning because transformation doesn't happen in your head alone. We work with the whole person—mind, body, intuition, emotion.
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Collective intelligence through cohort-based learning where the group becomes your greatest resource. You're not just learning from facilitators—you're learning from each other.
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Real application to your actual business challenges. No generic case studies. Your company, your obstacles, your breakthrough.
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We're not here to give you more information. We're here to facilitate transformation that shows up in how you lead, decide, and grow.
OUR VISION
THE FUTURE WE’RE BUILDING
We envision an entrepreneurial ecosystem that's more diverse, creative, and sustainable—where female founders don't just fit in, they change the game.
A world where:
Women scale businesses that reflect who they truly are
Success is measured not just in revenue but in impact, balance, and joy
The next generation of female entrepreneurs has models that look like them
Community and collaboration replace isolation and competition
Business growth strengthens rather than depletes the founder
By 2040, we want to see thousands of women having gone through our programs—creating companies that are profitable AND meaningful, building wealth that's distributed more equitably, leading with courage AND compassion.
We're not just teaching business. We're shaping a new narrative for women who lead.
MEET THE
BRAVVA FEMALE FOUNDERS FOUNDERS
ILINCA PĂUN
Explorer, Investor, Catalyst
An explorer by nature, Ilinca builds experiences that create real impact—economic and human. After two decades as a corporate leader and CEO, she left the boardroom to build meaning instead of hierarchy.
As founder of Bravva Angels, she's been a strong voice for gender diversity in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Her vision for BFF is clear: a society where thousands of women scale their companies in authentic, sustainable, and joyful ways—creating an ecosystem that's more diverse, balanced, and deeply connected.
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“I describe myself as an explorer, with a drive to create services and experiences with a direct impact in people's lives—economic and wellbeing. My core business foundation is the services business. My experience is in consultancy, management, venture capital, education, training & coaching.
I worked as a corporate manager and CEO for many years and in my 40s I started looking for authenticity, seeing the large disconnect between who I was fully as a person and the expectations I created for the external world. Business should be joyful, creative, and aligned with our personal vision. Then it offers a huge upside systemically.
At 44 I left the corporate world, looking for meaning, freedom, and building projects I love with people alike. I started as an entrepreneur in education, as co-founder of an entrepreneurship BA program. Since then, I became a partner or investor in various companies, working with numerous startups and mentoring founders.
I discovered the untapped potential of women entrepreneurs to achieve economic growth and professional satisfaction. I noticed how different it is for us women in business to align our priorities—personal and professional, how we react to the potential of failure. Being an entrepreneur takes a toll on everything, as the stakes are so high.
I made it my priority to create a business growth program for female founders, where we anchor our confidence in deeper roots, we become resourceful in mindset, we plan our business growth in an integrative way and in a community setup.”
MONICA ALIMAN
Eternal Learner, Coach, Bridge Builder
Monica's lifelong passion is learning—and helping others grow along the way. With 30 years of experience in Sales, Marketing, and Advertising across multiple industries, and now as an entrepreneur, coach, and team facilitator, she brings a grounded yet playful energy to everything she builds.
At BFF, Monica contributes her mix of strategic clarity, humor, and empathy to create spaces where women can build businesses that reflect who they are—courageous, kind, and unapologetically real.
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"I've always wanted to learn more. As an adult. To learn a new skill, about a new topic or industry, invest myself in something new, develop a hobby. Later on, I realized that learning is the red thread running through my life. I'm also fond of sharing with others, explaining, observing, listening and generating new realities.
So, it makes sense that after almost 30 years of Sales, Marketing, Advertising in more than 5 different industries, after becoming an entrepreneur in other industries, being coach and team coach, I am starting this new adventure - Bravva Female Founders.
I've joined this initiative because I want to contribute with my knowledge and experience to the creation of a community of wonderful women that are searching for ways to be more themselves—no matter their role—to work and live with easiness and flow and use their feminine strengths to overcome their fears and limiting beliefs.
I've learned about how to do business stuff from men, how to emulate power, determination, and success. Until one day when I realized that I can do business stuff in a more authentic way, showing vulnerabilities, being kind, winning without sacrificing, being aware of the costs, co-creating and co-leading, discussing failures and setting personal vs professional priorities more easily.
The impact of thousands of female founders that are connected to their roots and are willing to grow their businesses with courage and flow, will transform for the better the entrepreneurial ecosystems they are part of. And this is a dream I want to be part of."
CRISTINA PATEȘAN
Strategist, Creator, Integrator
Cristina is both strategist and creator—someone who's equally at home designing business models or crafting meaningful experiences. After 20 years in corporate leadership and over 8 as an entrepreneur, she brings a rare balance of structure and intuition.
She believes in doing "unfinished" work—the kind that keeps you learning and evolving every day. Through BFF, Cristina helps women reconnect with their full selves—leaders, creators, dreamers—and grow businesses that feel true, alive, and whole.
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"I like to think of myself as not done. As still learning, as still growing. Every day, closer to what I am passionate about—doing meaningful work with and for people I value. I love to discover new perspectives and I love to bring new and impactful experiences into the world.
I grew up and formed myself as a professional in the corporate world, with experience and expertise in product management, marketing and digital. I worked for 20 years for the same company (Orange) and I am grateful for the strong foundation it provided me and all the amazing people I worked with there.
At 40, I switched industries, moving from telecom to wellbeing/health and taking on the challenge of leading Good Routine, Secom's own brand business unit. As many others do, I started my entrepreneurial journey as a side job and it took me several years to fully switch from the employee status to the entrepreneur one. I've been an entrepreneur for 8 years now, crafting experiences for important events in people's lives, at Flying Fox Secret Garden, the business I own and lead alongside my husband.
Recently, a new door opened for me and I had the opportunity to coach a team of students at the Entrepreneurship Academy, where I discovered how rewarding and impactful coaching can be. It was also there where I met Ilinca and Monica, as fellow coaches, and yet another door opened—one that led into the Bravva ecosystem and the opportunity to co-create a platform where women can bring their whole selves and grow their business together, with clarity, joy and courage.
I am grateful to be able to put all I have learned and all I have lived into Bravva Female Founders. This is my contribution to a world where women in business can be themselves—brave, joyful, successful and whole."
THE BRAVVA ECOSYSTEM
BEYOND EDUCATION
Bravva Female Founders is one part of a larger ecosystem designed to support women entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey.
Bravva Angels
An investment community where angel investors and VCs offer financing solutions to female founders ready to grow with smart money and strategic support.
Bravva Female Founders
Education, transformation, and community for women entrepreneurs who want to scale with authenticity and strategy.
Investment Readiness Program
At the intersection of both communities, we prepare companies for scalable growth and potential funding—bridging the gap between education and investment.
Together, we're creating a complete support system for women building the future.
We believe leadership begins on the inside.
The same courage and clarity that help founders grow are what help women thrive within corporate spaces — when they lead with trust in themselves and connection to others.
That’s why we design personalized coaching, mentoring, consultancy, and training programs for women leaders and their teams — experiences built to nurture that kind of growth — authentic, sustainable, and deeply human.