The Power of Not Following the Plan: My Interview with Maja Horvat

For a long time, Maja Horvat thought she was doing life wrong.

Not because she wasn't successful.

Not because she lacked ambition.

But because she couldn't seem to stay in one lane.

She changed directions. Followed new interests. Started over more than once. Built careers, relationships, projects, and ideas that didn't always fit neatly together. While other people appeared to be climbing a ladder, Maja felt like she was exploring an entire jungle gym.

And for years, she wondered if that meant something was wrong with her.

"I always felt like I wasn't living up to my potential," she told me. "I'm a multipassionate person and I've pivoted my career and my life so many times I couldn't count them."

It's a feeling many women know well.

We're told successful people specialize. Pick a thing. Become known for it. Build expertise. Stay focused.

But what happens when your curiosity refuses to cooperate?

What happens when life itself keeps handing you new chapters?

Today, Maja is an EU funding expert, project manager, author, coach, and advocate for women founders. She recently published a book helping female entrepreneurs unlock peak performance without burning themselves out in the process. She describes herself as being at the peak of her career, yet the path that led here looked nothing like a straight line.

In fact, one of the most defining moments of her life began with what many people would have considered a mistake.

Years ago, she quit her job, packed her belongings into boxes, and prepared to move abroad for a man she believed she would build a future with. Before she left, she discovered he wasn't who he claimed to be.

The relationship collapsed.

The future she imagined disappeared.

She was left with a broken heart and very little certainty about what came next.

Most people would have unpacked the boxes.

Maja didn't.

She moved abroad anyway. Apparently, life wanted her to follow her own steps not leaning on a man.

With no job waiting for her. No financial cushion. No guarantee things would work out.

"I still went abroad and built my life brick by brick," she said. "But this time on my terms."

There's a certain kind of confidence that comes from surviving your own worst-case scenario.

Not confidence in the sense that you suddenly stop feeling fear. Quite the opposite. You realize fear comes along for the ride.

You just stop treating it like the decision maker.

That experience became one of many that reshaped how Maja views success.

She believes we've inherited a lot of bad definitions.

That success means a prestigious title.

That power belongs to a select few.

That a high-paying job automatically equals fulfillment.

That specializing in one thing is the only legitimate path forward.

"All those things can really mess with your self-worth," she said. "You have to take off those glasses and define success for yourself."

As a middle-aged woman building ideas, businesses, and communities alongside founders decades younger than her, she's living proof that the timeline society hands us is mostly fiction.

It's never too late to start something.

It's never too late to change directions.

And it's definitely never too late to become the person you were always meant  to be.

Ironically, the thing she once viewed as a liability has become one of her greatest strengths.

Today, Maja credits much of her confidence to the fact that she's simply lived.

She's experienced failure. Reinvention. Uncertainty. Success. Different careers. Different countries. Different versions of herself.

Instead of seeing those experiences as evidence that she lacked focus, she now sees them as evidence that she was paying attention to her life.

"When I realized being multipassionate wasn't a liability but an asset, everything changed," she said.

That realization shapes much of the work she's doing today.

Through her coaching and community-building efforts, she's focused on helping women founders avoid a trap she sees every day: burnout disguised as ambition.

Working with startup founders through EU funded programmes has given her a front-row seat to the exhaustion, overwhelm, and loneliness many entrepreneurs experience. They're building businesses, leading teams, raising money, solving problems, and trying to maintain some version of a personal life at the same time.

Somewhere along the way, they forget themselves.

Maja wants to change that.

She's building a community focused on helping women access flow states, sustain their energy, and create businesses that don't require self-destruction as an entry fee.

It's activism, just wearing different clothes.

She spent years working in environmental causes and community empowerment. Today she's channeling that same energy into entrepreneurship.

The mission hasn't changed.

She still wants people, especially women, to recognize their own power.

When I asked what keeps her going, her answer was surprisingly simple.

Solitude.

Silence.

Space to think and observe.

And the belief that she still has ideas to contribute to the world.

That answer feels refreshing in a culture obsessed with productivity hacks and hustle.

Not every breakthrough comes from doing more.

Sometimes it comes from getting quiet enough to hear yourself again.

Before we wrapped up our conversation, I asked what advice she would give another woman standing at the edge of a decision she can't quite bring herself to make.

Her response felt fitting for someone who has rebuilt her life more than once.

"Jump and see what happens," she said. "It's okay if you're scared. Do it anyway. Just to see what's on the other side."

Then she offered one final piece of advice.

Find your people.

The ones who understand what it's like to be building something. The ones who know reinvention isn't a one-time event. The ones who remind you that you're not crazy for wanting more than one thing from your life.

They're out there.

And chances are, they're looking for you too.

If you’re interested in working with Maja, connect with her here: www.horvatmaja.com