Women in Tech Leadership · Earned My Seat · A Framework by Doina Popa

Earned My Seat. Not given. Not inherited. Built.

For women navigating the path from technical expert to technology executive — coaching from someone who has walked the exact path, not observed it from the outside.

Built by a former CTO and CIO who has held every seat she coaches others toward, and who founded InnoTrue because the gap between capability and recognition affects women in technology disproportionately.

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ICF Certified
PCC · ACTC
+ EMCC Senior Practitioner
Executive Track Record
Former CTO · CIO
250+ teams led globally
Credential
Certified Technical Architect
28 Salesforce certifications
Doina Popa — leadership coaching for women in tech
The patterns

Three patterns derail more women in tech leadership than any external bias does. They are quiet, they compound, and most coaching never names them.

Technically excellent.
Consistently underestimated.

The safe-executor trap
You have made yourself irreplaceable in your current role. You know it is a strength — and you quietly suspect it is also a ceiling. The work that got you here is now an argument against moving you up.
Mentors instead of sponsors
You collect advice generously. You are uncomfortable asking someone to put their reputation behind yours. Mentors advise; sponsors advance. The path up needs the second more than the first — and it is the one you have not built.
Expertise without constituency
You have built deep expertise. You have not built a public surface, a named audience, or a reputation that travels ahead of you. The work speaks for itself — except in the rooms where decisions about your career are actually made.
Free workbook

The Executive Ready Self-Assessment

A four-page self-assessment that names the patterns above and builds toward a candid twelve-month roadmap. Free download — straight to your inbox.

Get the workbook →
Why this is different

Built by someone who
earned her seat.

The phrase "Earned My Seat" is Doina's own — first used in a WomenTech Network interview in February 2026. It captures the core of what she coaches: closing the gap between what you are capable of and how you are seen — when nobody hands you anything.

01
Lived C-suite experience
CTO at Capgemini. CIO at Barclays. 250+ person global team. Not a theoretical framework — operating knowledge from real executive rooms, translated into coaching you can apply immediately.
02
Technical credibility
Salesforce CTA. 28 certifications. Active Review Board Judge. The coaching is grounded in a domain your coach understands at the deepest level — not from the outside looking in.
03
Professional coaching rigour
ICF PCC (Professional Certified Coach). ICF ACTC (Team Coaching). EMCC Senior Practitioner. Hogan Assessor. This is not mentoring dressed up as coaching — it is evidence-based development with the structure and accountability of professional practice.
04
An arc earned, not inherited
Rebuilt a career from scratch in a new country. Auto-rejected by Salesforce, then joined and became top EMEA. Many of the ceilings her clients face, she has navigated firsthand.
The path

Three phases.
Earned, not aspirational.

A nine-month arc that builds on itself. The capabilities are universal — narrative, visibility, presence, influence — but the lens is calibrated for the patterns women specifically navigate in technology leadership. Each phase names patterns most coaching never names, then works through them.

MONTHS 0—3
Position
Build a distinct, defensible position the work doesn't speak for on its own. Patterns named: the credibility burden, expertise without constituency, the visibility paradox.
MONTHS 3—6
Influence
Shift from being heard to being followed. Patterns named: mentors vs sponsors, the ask penalty, relational influence and stakeholder architecture.
MONTHS 6—9
Lead
Step into the seat. Patterns named: authority that's presumed not provisional, executive presence calibrated for women in tech, the boardroom narrative.
Who this is for

For women who are serious.

Technical leaders navigating the executive transition
Moving from principal architect to CTO, VP, or director — and hitting the invisible wall where technical excellence is no longer enough on its own.
Women in tech who want a coach who gets it
Who has navigated enterprise politics, imposter syndrome, career rebuilds, and the specific dynamics that women face in male-dominated technology organisations — from lived experience, not a textbook.
Format & investment

A small cohort.
By application.

Earned My Seat runs as a small cohort by application — limited slots by design, because the peer dynamics depend on it. The next cohort window is discussed during your Clarity Session, alongside fit and investment.

COHORT
6—8 women, nine months
A small group navigating similar transitions. Group sessions across the three phases, plus 1:1 coaching support throughout. Peer dynamics that compound — the kind that only happen when nobody has to explain why being the only woman in the room mattered.
INVESTMENT
An investment in your leadership
A flagship program for women serious about the leader they are becoming. Pay in full and receive an upfront discount, or spread your investment across monthly installments — whichever fits how you want to commit. Pricing discussed during your Clarity Session, after fit. Until cohort timing aligns, limited 1:1 availability via Momentum.
FOR ORGANISATIONS
Sponsor a cohort
Organisations can sponsor a women-in-tech cohort as part of D&I or talent budgets. Group sponsorship for 6—8 women at similar career stages — designed with sponsor-ready reporting and KPIs.
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Cohort interest list

Notify me when the
next cohort opens.

Earned My Seat runs by application — a limited group of women, dates set when the cohort fills. Leave your details below and you'll be the first to know when applications open — no obligation, easy to unsubscribe. If you'd rather start with the diagnostic first, the Executive Ready workbook is the parallel path.

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Begin the path

One working session.
Honest clarity.

The Clarity Session is a paid 60-minute working session with Doina — diagnose where you are, name what is in the way, and design the path forward. Fee credits in full to Earned My Seat or any InnoTrue programme.

“Finally a coach who had walked the exact path — not generic career advice, but the real dynamics of women in tech leadership.”

— Coaching client · Architect track
Book a Clarity Session →

€336 net + VAT · 60 min · fee credits in full to Earned My Seat or any programme

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