Have you ever wondered how many times in life we have to choose between stability and our own dream? Yuliia Demchenko’s story is precisely about that moment when a familiar path is left behind, and a new road opens up ahead—full of the unknown, searching, and inner discoveries.
Specially for Business Woman magazine, as part of the Portuguese representation’s project “The Power of a Dream,” Yuliia shared her story of transformation—a story about self-trust and the courage to start life from a new page.
Just a few years ago, her life was connected with education. In Ukraine, Yuliia worked as an English teacher, dedicating 18 years to this profession. It was stability, a clear future, and a familiar comfort zone.
However, moving to Portugal became the beginning of a major internal change.
“Life put me before a choice: to stay where everything is familiar, or to follow the call of my heart. I chose the second,” Yuliia says.
The new path did not appear instantly. It consisted of small steps, searches, and constant learning. Her first passion was aromatherapy—a direction she felt intuitively and deeply. Later, massage practices came into Yuliia’s life.
It all started with working with the face. It was this experience that became her doorway into a new world.
However, like many women, alongside inspiration there were also doubts.
Was it the right choice? Would there be enough knowledge? Was this truly her calling?
The answers came through people.
“Yulia, you have magical hands,” she began to hear from her clients.
And later, a moment occurred that Yuliia herself calls significant. One night, she had a dream with a simple yet very powerful message:
“You can heal. Go and study.”
Waking up, she felt absolute confidence in her direction.
After that, Yuliia entered the academy of medical massage, and later continued to deepen her knowledge. She was interested not just in working with the body, but in the opportunity to help people feel relief and changes right during the practice itself.
That is how acupressure and other deep techniques of working with the body appeared in her professional life.
Today, Yuliia Demchenko combines aromatherapy, massage practices, and acupressure, creating her own comprehensive approach to restoring a person’s physical and emotional state.
However, her story is not only about the profession.
On this path, there were trials familiar to many women: fear of change, insecurity, divorce, moments of exhaustion, and the desire to leave everything behind.
It was then that knowledge became her inner support.
“I learned to quickly bring myself back into a resourceful state and not to give up even when it was very difficult,” Yuliia says.
She is convinced that people who support us in moments of doubt play a huge role in life. It was this kind of support that helped her not to turn away from her path.
Today, Yuliia knows that changes do not begin when fear disappears. They begin when a person takes the first step despite it.
“You don’t need to see the whole path. It’s enough to take one step. And then another,” she shares.
Yuliia Demchenko’s story became one of the stories of “The Power of a Dream” project, which united women who dared to choose themselves and their calling even when life demanded starting over.
This project is about the courage to change. About faith in oneself. About women who are not afraid to go beyond the familiar and find new opportunities where others see only difficulties.
Because sometimes you need to walk many roads to finally find your own.
And it is truly worth it.
Read also: State and Business Join Forces to Develop Ukraine’s Economy
Photo: from the heroine’s archive