Meet Victoria Cantemir

About 16 years ago, I left my home country of Moldova and moved to Amsterdam.

I was fresh out of high school, and like many people, looking to build a brighter financial future.

That’s also when I realized something important: there’s a money game, and we’re all playing it, whether we like it or not.

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In the beginning, I thought the rules were simple: study hard, land a good-paying job, don’t spend too much, and save as much as you can.

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I went on to earn a degree in Economics and Finance, got a solid job and spent the next 12 years climbing the corporate ladder. I saved half or more of everything I earned. With each promotion, each salary increase I’d pause and ask myself: “Have I made it yet?”

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Guess what? It never felt like I had.

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No matter how hard I worked, how much I sacrificed, or how much I saved… I constantly felt like I was stuck on a never-ending treadmill.

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Then I “discovered” the next level of the money game: investing. I say “discovered” because, despite my Finance degree, no one ever taught me about personal finance or how to build wealth.

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I convinced myself that this was the missing piece. If I could just become a great investor, and reach financial independence, then surely, I will have made it. But after a few years, more promotions, and a growing investment portfolio… it felt not enough.

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At this point, you might be thinking: “What is wrong with this woman?” I wondered the same thing. So I turned inward.

I started asking harder questions: "What was going on with my relationship to money? Why did it feel like such a source of stress and anxiety, even though I had followed all the rules?"

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And that’s when it hit me: it’s not about the numbers. It’s not about how much you save or how much wealth you accumulate. That’s just a tool.

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It’s about what you build with that tool.

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And the life I was building? It wasn’t very fulfilling.

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I was winning the money game on paper… but I was losing at designing a life that actually felt rich.

Not rich in status or spreadsheets, but rich in joy, in freedom, in guilt-free spending, in generosity with the people I love,  and in building a future that genuinely felt like mine.

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Around that time, I met Carlos and we quickly bonded over our shared money stories and a strong sense of purpose: to lift others up while progressing on our own financial journey, both as individuals, as business owners and as a couple.

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That is why I became a financial coach. To help other hardworking, driven people untangle their relationship with money, find joy in what they’ve worked so hard to earn, and build a financial life that supports their dreams.