Hi! I'm Nora
I am a playful, heart-lead human, loving everything related to events that have impact and social gatherings that bring people together.
Here is my personal story so far.
If you want a more professional outline,
please check my LinkedIn here.
Please read so you get a sense of who I am and see if we are a fit.
It's a long one, go and get a cup of coffee or a cocktail, even better.
I was born with joie de vivre, which never leaves me even in my darkest hours. I don't need a reason to celebrate, I just need people.
I grew up in a Communism with catholic values, in the middle of two cultural identities: Romanian and Hungarian, which I am deeply grateful for despite all its contradictions and messiness. I had one set of grandparents who fought against the system and got in prison; the others were part of it and made it work for them. I have both sides living inside me, sometimes at war with each other and sometimes making love. Yep, I am full of contradictions but aren't we all.
We didn't have much, but we had enough. We had many celebrations and gatherings in our family and community. That is when my joie de vivre was nourished and turned into love for authentic celebrations.
I learned that having a social gathering did not depend on financial means. My family was good like that. Nothing stopped them from having fun. And all generations would participate in the fun. I am eternally grateful for my family and those times.
I wouldn't be here without them, and I know they support me in all my crazy adventures.
I have many wonderful memories with my grandfather's Trabant. It represents all the good things from those times.
Simple, did the job and authentic.
Then I witnessed raw capitalism after 1989 and saw how ill-prepared we were as a nation for it and how quickly we threw out all that was good in the previous system and fell for the promise that only if we could have more money would we be happier. What a big fat lie that is.
I don't get impressed by diplomas, certificates and titles. However, I am profoundly impressed and curious about ordinary/authentic humans who embody true knowledge from their own experiences.
Maybe this is a good place to mention that I had my fair share of trauma, as you do. Nothing too dramatic, but enough to leave a mark on my soul and have a quite a few characters in my head such as the people pleaser, perfectionist, control freak, and the deeply sensitive and the victim, to name a few.
After years of therapies, awareness, and healing practices, I am not fighting or be ashamed of them anymore; I instead embrace my inner demons, and on a good day, I employ their gifts too. That doesn't mean I don't loose my shit, I do, ask my husband.
In the photo is my grandma, from my mother's side. She was the rock and glue of the family. Deeply flawed, witty, ahead of her time, funny, pain in the butt and in another life, she could have led an army if she wanted to.
She is very much alive inside me, the good and the bad too.
I have a strong work ethic, organisational skills and the joy to celebrate without much reason from her. No matter what I do: scrubbing toilets, being a school governor, managing a restaurant, volunteering, parenting, or event planning, I put all my heart, knowledge and body into it. She always told me to do my best no matter what I do.
In my twenties I left to London, where I discovered freedom to do what I wanted and no one cared where I am from. I worked in an Italian restaurant, learned Italian, and how to deal with all sorts of humans, and after two years, I was the first woman to manage one of their restaurants in central London.
La Porchetta was my home from home and has a special place in my heart.
In the heydays of La Porchetta, I met my husband Dr Carsten Sorensen, an LSE academic, stubborn Dane and the love of my life. We grew up together and we still are.
Our daughter, Anna, changed our lives. In between I finished my degree in Social Sciences at Open University.
Raising a child taught me to love unconditionally, take risks, face my fears, dig deep into myself, that ordinary things are precious and every moment is a once-in-a-lifetime moment, nothing stays the same, all is impermanent, and to trust my playful soul more than anything.
The community around Greenwich Steiner School (GSS), where our daughter went to for seven years, had the biggest impact on all our lives.
I got to immerse myself into a way of life that followed the seasons and the natural development of a child, where play, art, music and rituals are just as important as any math equation. I loved it all. In this diverse community, I learned about: the Steiner philosophy, Bach Flower Essences, meditation, Osho, Family Constellations, Homeopathy, Art Therapy, Bothmer teachers, just to name a few.
In the seven years of volunteering, I organised fundraising events, fairs, PTA workshops and events that brought the community together.
I am eternally grateful for GSS, as this was when I discovered that I love organising heart-led events and working with artists and facilitators.
From 2019, I organised social gatherings and workshops in Greenwich, London, until the lockdown took me somewhere else.
I started a blog where I introduced local people to my community. I dived into the world of embodiment and tried new things. Still do.
In 2021, I hosted a series of online and face-to-face events at The Monday Club with different facilitators that opened our minds and hearts.
I co-created short courses and workshops with a few of the facilitators.
Please check the Collaborators page, to see some of my collaborators.
In past years in London, I have organised charity events, private parties, fairs and workshops and I am always on the lookout for new and exciting ways we can bring meaning into events.
I am also open to collaborations with organisations/speakers/facilitators in the Danish event industry as we curently settled in Copenhagen.
From my heart, Nora
