What It Takes to Be Yourself
"This book is a map of one woman’s lived experience of becoming. It has been a privilege to witness her journey. I applaud you as you embark on your own."
—Robert Cusick, Director of Compassion Education, Stanford University
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What if success is not about achievements or titles, but about becoming who we truly are?
In this intimate and luminous memoir, a senior European civil servant shares her personal and professional journey: the leap from Italy to Belgium, the pressure at work, the pursuit of results—and the growing longing for something more.
What emerges is compassion: a transformative force capable of cultivating presence and meaning in a life framed by performance. Written with honesty, wit, and tenderness, this book traces the lived experience of a woman learning, step by step, to move from seeking recognition to acting from a place of alignment.
Inside this book, you will find:
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Simple Tools: Practical ways to pause and reconnect with what matters most.
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Powerful Questions: Prompts designed to help you explore your own path toward authenticity and purpose.
What It Takes to Be Yourself is an invitation to breathe, reflect, and explore how to live with more clarity, courage, and compassion.
Pinuccia Contino
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Pinuccia Contino lives with her family in Brussels, Belgium. She has spent more than thirty years serving the European project in fields ranging from education and languages to communication and product safety. Her work has earned her international recognition.
She champions a human-centered approach to leadership shaped by her Applied Compassion Training at Stanford University. A polyglot Italian who volunteers to support women in their professional growth, she is a passionate dancer and has a soft spot for not-so-dark chocolate.
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Her work bridges personal transformation, leadership and lived experience.
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About the author
Published by Arkadinia Editions
What It Takes to Be Yourself inaugurates the editorial catalogue of Arkadinia Editions.​
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Conceived as an extension of Arkadinia’s work in cinema, research and public dialogue, the publishing house is dedicated to essays and narratives that explore human experience at a time of profound technological, social and ethical transformation.
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Arkadinia Editions privileges singular voices, long-form reflection and lived experience, fostering works that invite readers to slow down, question assumptions and reconnect with what truly matters.
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Explore and connect
This book is part of a broader editorial and artistic exploration developed by Arkadinia Editions.
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For readers, institutions or partners interested in the book, the author’s work or future publications, feel free to get in touch.
Published by Arkadinia Editions, the book is distributed internationally through selected online and retail book channels.