Do you remember the moment when life changes so drastically that there’s no way back to your previous version of yourself? It is precisely from such points of no return that the story of Olena Aheieva is shaped — a woman who has faced loss more than once, yet each time found herself anew.
Exclusively for Business Woman magazine, within the framework of the Portuguese representation’s project “The Power of Dream,” Olena shared her story — honest, profound, and impossible to ignore.
“Sometimes it feels like my life is a circle of rebirths,” she says.
Her life has held many roles. A naïve girl who believed in the world. A woman who tried to control everything. A person who sincerely thought life could be calculated. But reality proved stronger than any сценарії.
Olena was born with a defect in her right arm and underwent ten surgeries, none of which delivered the expected result. Yet it was this experience that taught her to see depth — not appearance, but essence. To accept herself. To realize her uniqueness.
At 33, she went through a loss that changes everything — the death of her husband. Three small children and the feeling that the world had collapsed. It was not a moment of strength — it was a time when she had to crawl through pain and the question “why me?”
“I didn’t rise immediately. But one day it became a little quieter. The pain did not destroy me. It deepened me,” Olena shares.
Then came new challenges: loss of businesses, starting from scratch, disappointment in people, shattered plans. And each time — an honest question to herself: where did I fail to listen to myself?
Today, Olena speaks about crises differently. For her, they are not an end. They are a transition. An expansion. A cleansing. A new level.
She is a mother of four adult children, a wife, and an entrepreneur running businesses in Ukraine while developing new projects across Europe. She supports women through periods of change, helping them rebuild their inner foundation, unlock their potential, and allow themselves to live fully.
Her big dream is to create a retreat center — a space where a woman can restore herself, recharge, and be “reborn.”
Olena Aheieva’s story has become one of 21 featured in the “Power of Dream” project — a two-month initiative by the Portuguese representation. These are not just stories. They are navigation tools. Roadmaps for those who feel tired, paused, or have lost faith.
This project is about women who do not give up despite challenges. Who fall — and rise again. Who seek — and find. Who build their lives every day, even when everything seems to be falling apart.
Because the power of a dream is not in words.
The power of a dream is in action.
Photo: from Olena Aheieva’s archive