Testimonials

Ricky Robinson, CEO LRMG Performance Agency 
Cape Town, South Africa 2016

"The LRMG Performance Agency, comprising 180 people, has for some years been building a culture of Performance enabled by engaged and inspired people who embrace a journey of ‘voice-finding,’ learning and growth. The Smiling One and Karina Andersen have been integral to this process by providing individual and group support, alignment and connection between individual and company aspirations and values. Her work has inspired and supported over 70 people. Particularly impressive also has been her ability to both absorb and then articulate some quite complex strategic business thinking."

 Ricky Robinson shares April 2017 on LinkedIn:

 "Better people make better All Blacks' was the philosophy at the heart of the extraordinary 12 year world record of winning rugby games by the All Blacks and was behind our own thinking in employing Karina Andersen as a life coach to many of our people this last 5 years. For many of them, Karina has been able to guide in a unique way and help them self-lead and access strength and meaning they never knew they had. More than that, she has been able to do so by aligning with LRMG cultural artefacts, core beliefs and values, and has been an agent of change in doing so. For any organisation looking for something soulful, different, yet aligned to business, I would recommend Karina unreservedly. She is an exceptional human being, with a purpose to make the world a better place.”
Paul van Niekerk, Performance Enabling Technology
Johannesburg, South Africa 2015-16

 "Karina allows a wonderful synthesis to take place between the framework of the journey and the ingredients that the travellers bring to the table. Her understanding of our business helps make the process very practical and real.
TRI2 was an unbelievable exploration into the soul journey (as we define it in LRMG), and it opened up a number of new perspectives and practices, culminating in the intent that underlies the two Hedgehog models (Barrett & Collins). It resulted in a lot of things to process and  practices to start practicing. I believe that going forward, regular check-in of my subjective response to TRI2, with an external perspective (TRI3) will help solidify the 20-mile march and marginal gain practices going forward. With TRI3, I believe that the value that Karina’s perspective had in discovering and connecting dots in the soul journey, will continue into a spirit journey, of which the intent is more business impact."

 Paul van Niekerk shares Feb 2017 on LinkedIn:

 "Karina is a remarkable coach that has made a significant positive difference in my life. She meets you where you are and facilitates a growth journey in group or individual context. While much of the journey focuses on self-leadership, part of Karina's unique approach is that she takes time to understand the organizational context. The result is that the journey not only leads to better self-knowledge and leadership, but also greater attunement to the organization and alignment with its values and objectives. From my own experience, I can absolutely recommend Karina's services."

Taryn Haynes-Smart, Executive Consultant
Cape Town, South Africa 2015-16

"Thank you for so faithfully cooking with my ingredients in each session. When I first started on the TRI journey, I didn’t understand the reasons for it. I honestly didn’t get the why. But as I embraced the opportunity more and more, you were there to meet me each step of the way, gently probing and listening, questioning for clarity and responding with clarity when necessary. It was not about finding the right answers and eliminating the wrong ones – it was about finding my answers! I realised as I listened to you share some of your own journey during the Learning Landscape Conference that it was not only me who had changed – you too had changed and grown and that enabled me to change and grow even more. Thank you for helping me find my voice, make sense of my thoughts and words and to find the answers already within me. Thank you for journeying with me when I was emotional, when I was somewhat irrational/illogical and when in my excitement I danced all over the place flitting from one point to the next. Thank you for helping me to land safely each session.

 Taryn Haynes-Smart shares Feb 2017 on LinkedIn:

 "It has been an amazing privilege to undertake the TRI journey with Karina. It was not an easy journey to start but once I did and started embracing it more and more, the more value the process returned to me. Karina faithfully ‘cooks with my ingredients’ in each session, meeting me where I am at each step of the way, gently probing and listening, questioning for clarity and responding with clarity when necessary. Through the journey so far I have discovered it is not about finding the right answers and eliminating the wrong ones but about finding my answers! Karina has helped me find my voice and make sense of my thoughts and words and to find the answers already within me. Through this journey I have been able to build my confidence, increase my contributions at work and am also experiencing a greater level of fulfillment."


Craig Abrahams, Technology Services Manager 
Cape Town, South Africa 2015-16

"I have just been blown away by Karina, the connection and facilitation style is just out of this world. Karina’s calmness, assistance in going on this special unpacking and soul searching sessions are just phenomenal and even more then I have expected before embarking the TRI. I always find myself looking forward to these special sessions as I am excited to new discoveries and the special sharing sessions we have. I always at the end of every session sat in amazement how we start off and end up with three or more charts completely filled with unpacked details."




Lauren Cloete
Consultant, Managing Consultant Division
Johannesburg, South Africa 2015-16
  • Karina is an amazing facilitator. 
  • She is someone I trust and respect. 
  • A big factor for me on the journey was the ability to connect, and share openly. I embraced the opportunity to share everything and more that was in my heart, as well as to openly share my emotions, and I feel so much wiser, and more knowing for having done so with Karina. She really added so much value to my journey, and for allowing me to make necessary realisations throughout the journey. 
  • I enjoyed the fact that I could relate to Karina, and learn from her learnings and shares. 
  • I enjoyed the communication, note-taking, probing and questioning approach. 
  • When I commenced with the TRI journey, I really wanted Karina to give me “the answers” and insights that I was looking for inside myself but Karina guided me to find myself more and more with each session. The journey of self-actualisation was eye-opening and truly rewarding.
  • The TRI approach is incredible; it’s connected, engaging, and a true journey into awakening to oneself. 
  • Amazing life lessons, as well as tools, were learnt and have assisted me in my daily life. 
  • Thank you Karina for the amazing journey, and for being such a great facilitator. I am humbled and in gratitude to you.
Graham Gould, Junior Partner 
Johannesburg, South Africa 2015

"Karina is simply brilliant. Her insights, wisdom and courage truly inspire me!  I also find Karina hugely authentic and warm. She sees straight through “me dodging a point/truth”. She is completely zoned into me and is distracted by nothing. It is truly wonderful engaging with her."



Teresa Brooks, Office Manager
Cape Town, South Africa 2015-16

"Karina, you are the most inspiring person, the soul searching and how you have helped me to tackle what was and is deep inside me. The overall facilitation style, I felt so secure, so protected in these sessions and the approach was always one which was in my best interest and how I could overcome a lot of my issues which I placed in my basement."




Tayiba Mohamad, Financial Accountant
Cape Town, South Africa 2015-16

"Oh my word. Mind-blowing! Karina you have the ability to enable people to look within, poking/ awakening my demons in order to allow the light to shine through. You are so graceful, powerful and create meaning. You have allowed and enabled me to go to the monster pack and tackle it little at a time. I am grateful for the experience and not afraid to try and be bold. You have given me courage and showed me my readiness. Thank you, Baie Dankie."


Jenny Senneck
Junior Partner & Customer Success Manager 
Johannesburg, South Africa 2014-16

"Karina thank you for being the most amazing coach. for enabling me to see so much deeper than I have ever been able to see before. you really have helped me to believe in myself and see past my concrete walls. You have a truly remarkable passion for guiding people."
Gaby Mbaya, Account Manager at SITA
Johannesburg, South Africa 2015

I recommend Karina for her uniqueness. As a TRI facilitator, Karina has something special. Karina's vocation was born through her own life's journey. She does not facilitate TRI as academic knowledge or as a skill. It is her life. It is a lived experience and that is what makes the difference. When it is your life, then you share something that is part of you.

Karina does not give answers; she digs so deep in you life to help you find you! I have enjoyed every single session of TRI. With much gratitude to the SmilingOne.


Val LIttlewood, New Business Consultant
Johannesburg, South Africa 2014-16

Dear Karina. Thank you for listening perfectly with your heart as well as your ears. "Chuang Tzu: "The hearing that is only in the ears is one thing. The hearing of the understanding is another.  But the hearing of the spirit is not limited to any one faculty to the ear or to the mind. Hence  it demands the emptiness of all the faculties. And when the faculties are empty then the whole being listens. There is then a direct grasp of what is right there before you that can never be heard with the ear or understood with the mind."   Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu



Debbie Farquharson, Operations Manager
Johannesburg, South Africa 2014-16

I've been very fortunate to have attended Karina's Responsible Individual Program over the last 2 years. It has been an amazing journey for me which has helped me tremendously both on a professional and personal level. She is both and amazing person as well as coach and is an amazing facilitator for growth. I look forward to continuing my journey with her.




Ricky Robinson, CEO LRMG Performance Agency
Johannesburg, South Africa 2013-16

"You continue to impact our people and our business in very meaningful ways Karina. Thanks for buzzing with us :-) and everything else you do for us, not least creating those all-important development links to Personal Hedgehogs. 

Thank you for giving so much of yourself to making a big difference in a bunch of individual lives, thereby significantly impacting the team and company"


Anthony Lelei, Content Development Manager
Kenya, East Africa 2014-16

Karina I appreciate the coaching sessions we are currently having. Thank you for listening to our stories and for helping me have a different lens on how I view the important people in my life. Thank you for being so good at listening and helping us become better people. Many many thanks.



Ilse van Niekerk 
Cape Town, South Africa 2014-16

"Once I realised how much the course meant to me and how much it changed my core being, I realised that it would benefit each and every individual...

I observed Karina working in Worcester and Malmesbury prison and the story unfolded. I had firsthand experience of people changing – myself and also the people behind bars. I realised that we are all so similar and little puzzle pieces in Life’s big puzzle. We learn from each other and shape each other during the storms and also the sunny periods of life. I could relate to the methodology used by SmilingOne, which is completely non-directional, non-judgmental and merely facilitates growth.

I am currently training as a coach with SmilingOne.  But it is of no use to share what I’ve learnt at SmilingOne if I don’t walk my talk in my own life. Since I have incorporated what I have learnt at SmilingOne, I am better able to:
  • take responsibility for my life, my decisions, my actions and my feelings;
  • embrace my own feelings, release my pain, understand my emotions and progress through them;
  • understand my reactions and to choose whether it serves me in my life;
  • find opportunity and purpose in challenge;
  • not point a finger when people push my buttons - it is more about myself than about the person pushing my buttons - I now realise that it is my duty to go back to my wounds and heal them. I am still trying. This is a difficult one. It is just so much easier to shoot the messenger than to take responsibility;
  • find and mold my own mission, values and roles in life – and then live fully;
  • take appropriate risks and try out new experiences;
  • question old beliefs and patterns."

Nadia Mahmood
Junior Partner &  Group Financial Manager 
Cape Town, South Africa 2014-16

"The whole process has had such an impact on the way I view the world and myself - a profound impact both at work and personally. I have had great feedback from people around me. They do see the change and the positive energy shift. I feel like I’ve become so much more assertive, focused and clear on my goals both at work and personally. It’s so much easier for me to have authentic conversations than it was before. I’m more conscious of not telling people things they want to hear as opposed to constructive feedback."



Pamela Lamba, Operations Manager
Kenya, East Africa 2014-16

"I have inner peace, I have learnt to be gentler with myself. Close relationships are really important to me and usually play a key role in most of the decisions that I make, I am mindful of what my colleagues are going through, I am sensitive to where they are in their journey. The TRI sessions have bonded us in a way that I never imagined possible (seeing as I am a really reserved and private person) having shared out stories, we have grown closer and more connected.

With the TRI sessions I see that I have found my voice, I say what I am thinking /feeling but I find myself being very aware of saying things in a way that is not hurtful, demeaning or destructive to those around me. Above all else I listen more – to hear and understand the other party’s position. I am more patient with people, the perfectionist in me still exists – it is who I am but I do not impose my standards on others; I let them be.

TRI has shown me what I somehow always knew – that in my pursuit of excellence an perfection, I can be too hard on myself and those around me and sometimes, it is ok to relax and enjoy the little things in life – that is doesn’t always have to be perfect. I am more aware of life around me –I take time to stop and be fully in the moment to enjoy it, my family sees this change too."



Francis Karingi
Junior Partner & General Manager
Kenya, East Africa 2013-16

"First of let me start by thanking you for the 10 coaching sessions that you took me through. I learnt things about me that I never thought were part of me. I also want to thank my boss for his generosity in keeping me this opportunity work on becoming the responsible individual.

I did gain a lot and I can see changes already and how these changes are manifesting in my environment, my communication and also performance. 

These sessions gave me a platform to understand more of who I am and what I am influenced by. I am now able to better understand why I am the person that I am today and why behave the way I do.

I have learnt my way of knowing is the only one side of understanding things. I have learnt that there many angles to look at things and that my way is one of the way and not the only way. The sessions also helped echo what my strengths and values are. I was able to be aware of the clash between my strengths and values.

I have also learnt that I need to let people handle their own struggles this is only way they can learn. I am exercising this with my team. I have now left them to do things on their own. They need to learn from their failings. I have become a better manager to them."




Rashid Toefy, former CEO CTICC

"Karina Andersen and her organisation SmilingOne has made an invaluable contribution to my success both as an individual and the businesses I have led. The Personal Balanced Profiling approach to coaching and mentoring is a unique offering in South Africa, and is something that is unprecedented. This is true for both the corporate world where I have benefitted from her services directly, but also in the communities and institutions, such as the South African prisons, where she has changed the lives of the people she has touched.

Apart from the direct benefits of her work, the skills transfer that takes place through the people she has trained and empowered as coaches is what South Africa desperately needs at this stage in its development as a nation.

I would confidently recommend her programmes to any organisation.





Clive Harvey Fox
Visionary, Author, Humanitarian

Karina undoubtedly stand out as one of the most significant humanitarians I have ever witnessed. She is passionate about developing human potential, even in the confines of prisons. A Selfless and tireless worker who achieves extraordinary results.

Karina deserves all the support she can get, because her is a woman who achieves outstanding results of a very limited budget.


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"Starting the responsibility course has improved the way I operate in all spheres of my life, personally and professionally. The course has and continues to add tremendous value to me." - Amkelwa Kapanen -

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"After our sessions I felt I had gained more perspective on the emotional challenges I faced over the last 18 months, and feel more self assured. What is the most wonderful blessing is that at all times my coach was gentle, caring, loving and non-judgmental. Her gift is to love, share, care and guide and also, she becomes a friend. Never was there a time she turned me away and I feel that having her alongside me (and now my mother!), I can rely on her to be both professional and responsible at all times. She embraces you and your emotions whilst staying private, and remains in that space with you - after all, she is on such a journey herself." - Glenis du Toit -

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"It is with sincere appreciation that we the Group of Hope: Administration wishes to thank and recommend SmilingOne and Founder Ms. Karina Andersen for the manner in which she has served as a TRI Facilitator (coach) in the presentation of a programme to the Group of Hope members at the Brandvlei Maximum Correctional Centre, Western Cape." - Group of Hope -

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2008

"I met Karina at a time when she needed assistance in getting her responsibility manual to the inmates at Brandvlei Prison. This manual would further strengthen 'The Group of Hope' prisoners in their healing process. I saw this as a great opportunity to give back to a community of people who needed desperate measures to aid their rehabilitation back into society as healed and whole people. These people would come to realize through Karina's work that their challenges can benefit not only themselves, but also family, friends and others in the community whom they may interact with. I felt this was an amazing concept and did not hesitate to print and donate these manuals to Karina. 

Subsequently I have been afforded the opportunity to be coached by Karina to help me understand my journies, trails and tribulations. I think Karina is a true and gifted woman and I am honoured to travel my journey with her." - Michael Norwitz ABC Press -

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"I can highly recommend the course for the great benefit and insight that it provided into my understanding of the concept of responsibility. I continue to apply the concepts in both my personal and business development. The potential that the concept of responsibility offers to South African community based programmes, to business as well as to entrepreneurs cannot be underestimated in its value and possibilities. This programme is unique and empowering for all who embrace it." - Christine Hope -

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"As correctional officials we are faced with many challenges, one of these being 'can we trust what the inmate tells us'. We can report that inmates partaking in the course has opened up allot more to the 'SmilingOne Team' than to any of the officials working with them on a daily basis. We strongly recommend that you invite SmilingOne to your facility and see for yourself the great values and impact this course can have on your inmates and even correctional officials." - Head of Centre Brandvlei Maximum Prison -
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