I’m Lana Pujara-Terigi
ICF-Accredited Academic and Life Coach | 7+ Years Experience
I started my career as a teacher and learning support professional at one of Singapore’s top international schools. I loved the work but the longer I spent inside the classroom, the more I noticed something that troubled me.
The students who needed learning support weren’t just struggling academically. They were struggling with confidence, with how they saw themselves, with the belief that they were capable at all. And at the other end of the spectrum, the highest-achieving students were quietly carrying pressures that nobody around them could see anxiety, perfectionism, an exhausting fear of falling short.
I initiated a pilot coaching programme within the school that brought both groups together. The results were striking. Regardless of ability or academic profile, every student benefited not because they were broken or behind, but because they were young people navigating an incredibly demanding world without the tools to manage it.
That programme was the moment everything shifted for me.
I realised that what these students truly needed, I couldn’t fully give them as their teacher. The coaching relationship requires a particular kind of trust one that’s hard to build when you’re also the person assessing them and reporting on them. I made the decision to step away from teaching entirely, train professionally as a coach, and build a practice where I could show up for students and families in a completely different way.
That was more than seven years ago. Since then I’ve had the privilege of working with nearly 100 students and families across Singapore, the UAE, the UK, Australia, and beyond and that work continues to be the most meaningful thing I’ve ever done professionally.
What I bring to every coaching relationship is this: I genuinely care. I listen carefully, I don’t judge, and I take the time to understand what’s actually going on beneath the surface for the student and for the family around them. My clients often tell me that their children opened up in ways they hadn’t expected. I think that’s because young people can sense when someone is truly on their side, without an agenda.
I work with students from age 12 upwards across the IB Diploma, British GCSEs and A-Levels, and rigorous Asian curricula. I also work closely with parents because in my experience, the most lasting change happens when everyone is moving in the same direction.
If you’re wondering whether coaching might be the right step for your child or your family, I’d genuinely love to have that conversation. There’s no pressure and no obligation just an honest discussion about where you are and whether I can help.