Testimonials

Engage – Empower – Inspire – Energise

Viktoria took me through a process for rethinking my ideal client which lead to re-envisioning and relaunching my business, creating a new logo and developing a framework for a new website. She has been very inspirational, helped me to use AI tools to develop content for my business and has been a positive energetic influence on me creating a new direction for me. I’m very appreciative of the generous support she has given and I highly recommend Viktoria has a mentor. She is always positive and supportive, generous with her time and an outside-the-box thinker. She has helped me to imagine my business differently and has given me practical tools for implementing positive change. Thanks Viktoria.

Phil Voysey, Cultural Connexions/Possibility of Us

What a power packed informative session.You have outdone yourself as always.Thankyou once again .

Shefali Pall, President, Campbelltown Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Month Workshop 2023

Viktoria provided me invaluable guidance and support throughout the entire process. Her enthusiasm and excitement towards my ideas and how my business could approach it socially responsible to support gambling, was a booster to me. She helped me in preparing the value proposition canvas mapping and provided input on the look and feel of the brand, as well as the preparation of the logo brief document and press release, which were new to me. Additionally, we collaborated on defining the brand’s personality, archetypes, and other important elements to make it stand out. From developing my initial social media content draft to mapping out my marketing strategy, Viktoria was there every step of the way. She was able to offer an outside perspective and provided me with industry knowledge that will help me to avoid common mistakes that first-time business owners often make. Additionally, her willingness to provide hands-on support sets her apart from others. I feel more confident and supported throughout the process, knowing that I have someone experienced to turn to whenever I needed help.
SundarRajan Sundarakatti, Better Bettors

Viktoria, Thank you so much for your patience with me and yes it was great meeting you in person with all your amazing approach and support . It was great to get the energy in person of your positivity and genuine care with you clients. So reassuring to have a mentor that gets me and values what I do…You must be my angel as after we met I had a voice call from a prospective client with whom I had a Discovery Call a week ago. He wants to buy my 4 creative mentoring sessions package and deliver payment in cash!
Cheryle Lin Yo, Creative Traveller

Hi Viktoria,today was brilliant, you are an excellent coach.  I’m so grateful that this program exists; it is incredible.Thank you for holding my hand.

Angelique Mastoroudes, Owner, Social Enterprise,
The Good Gifting Co

I was new to Australia and without work. I was not receiving replies for job applications and sought a way of making impact, particularly through my CV. I approached Viktoria who helped me enormously in restructuring my value proposition and aiding me in producing a CV, which transferred that value. She has assisted in launching me in a new direction. Viktoria, took me through a process of assessing what I had and how I could re-package my work history so that it spoke to its value and how that could be translated to a new market. Among many other projects underway in this new direction, I have now started a contract with the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, where I will be creating a resilience program for radio stations.

Martin Z. Davies, Broadcaster and Media Consultant

Viktoria has been fantastic, especially as she has a tourism industry and ‘experiences’ background. With her guidance and advice I have developed branding, a content calendar for marketing and launched my business website. The business is slowly growing as customers are now able to find it onilne. Each time we meet we discuss achievements, challenges and plan for the next quarter. I always look forward to our catch ups as it’s nice to share success with someone. I most value having someone to ‘check in with’ and be accountable to. Viktoria truly cares.

Fran Crane, Ladybird Design Creative

Viktoria’s personalised approach means that I have now narrowed-down my niche and feel empowered to provide for my community. The advice provided has built my capacity through helping devise a strategic plan, providing useful resources and a practical action plan. The business is now in the process of rebranding the website, building clientele through social media marketing, personal networking and I am confident that this business is going to give me the opportunity to rebuild my life and provide and support my 3 children.

Wendy Leung, Green Zone E-Learning

The support of Viktoria and the team at Western Business Centre has helped me to maintain my confidence during a particularly difficult time in the travel industry, to build my capacity as a business owner and to continue using all the previous hard work and effort instead of throwing in the towel – truly empowering.

Carole Medcalf, Wandering Women

Viktoria gave us plenty of fresh ideas for the operations of our tours, especially the use of a song that we now use for every introduction theme of our tours. She empowered us to negotiate terms with our business partners for collaborations, and taught us to have a confident mindset when it comes to deal with partnerships and capacity building, generating new income streams. Viktoria advice has been instrumental role in the launch, consolidation and growth of our business. I would highly recommend her services to other tourism-based small businesses.

Caroline Bouloum, Blue Mountains Stargazing

Viktoria opened my mind to different possibilities and is showing me the way to building a new Me. She is definitely helping me organise my future business and make a healthy transition to it. I cannot thank her enough for her patience, love, professionalism, knowledge and empowerment.

Leticia Piccinini

WOW Viktoria, you are amazing at writing!!!!! Thank you so much, your work is fantastic, I cannot believe this is my story, it sounds so poetic, authentic and inspiring. Thank you Viktoria for your amazing support and brain power, I love working with you. 

Annalisa Ashton, Conscious Refill

Oh my goodness, I am on such a high from our meeting this morning! You are such a dynamic and engaging person to talk to and I am so glad I chose you as an advisor! You have lit a fire inside me and under me and I have such excitement in going forward with what we discussed. I am looking forward to homework for the first time in my life! Look forward to dazzling you with my findings, concepts and Rach-nique-ness ideas next time we speak! Rachael Perks, Mixologist

Viktoria took two hours to just listen to my story, interests, many crazy ideas, fears, background and more. I was able to explain the whole thing to her 😊. She then became a real “business angel” by connecting all the dots, showing me the forest from the trees and giving me the best advice ever for a future strategy that will take into account my strengths, passions and lifestyle preferences. Viktoria was instrumental in kick-starting the current business activities after COVID lockdowns and at the same time giving me so much hope with a new project on the horizon that promises to be a game-changer. We have set up a new e-commerce based event management company that will launch its website and App soon. I couldn’t be more satisfied with Viktoria’s advice, availability (any time) and professionalism. Boris Wilhelmus, The German Hut & UVENTO

Viktoria brought us tools and information to help better understand the pro and cons of a partnership. She pushed us to create a proper business plan, helping us to carefully think the product, better envision our target market with a customer avatar, and help us focus our communication thanks to the value proposition canvas. Viktoria went out of her way to connect us with a business owner in the alcohol industry, organising a visit of his production facility. This was immensely valuable in terms of feedback shared on equipment, costs involved, marketing tips – and also in terms of mid-term goals and vision. The advice received was and still is highly valuable. We wouldn’t be where we are now if it wasn’t for Viktoria, the knowledge she shared with us and her enthusiasm and positivity. Nathalie and Marie, Violet and Gold Native Botanical Syrups

Far and away the most informative and best presented session for me was Viktoria Darabi’s “Storytelling that Sizzles.” Behind the simple title was a wealth of canny business and marketing experience well suited to my tourism niche, powerfully and clearly delivered in a no-nonsense well organised webinar. Thanks to that session, and the fantastic opportunity for subsequent one-on-one mentoring from Viktoria, my business will be stronger and smarter when it relaunches March 2021. Andrew Stacey, Queens Head Hotel, Wilcannia

Thanks for this updated version.  I appreciate your rapid turnaround.  Your document is comprehensive, concise and clear, thank you. It helps explain some of the great “mysteries” of tourism marketing and will be very helpful in our discussions with the web designer. Greg Lissaman, Gourmet Coast Trail

Viktoria, I truly enjoyed your presentation and the way you presented the topic. In fact I enjoyed it so mych that I will be contacting WSBC to organise a one-on-one with you. So look forward to the recording coming through and a one-on-one zoom meeting.
Peter Maddison, Tarlart Thai

It was a fantastic experience chatting with you. You are indeed an experience idea queen, I love the concept of your ideas. I am going to start on the work right away. I am truly grateful.

Dativah Nitsios, Daventure Tours

Thank you so much for your time today, we really appreciate that you were able to be in front of our Firestarters presenting to them today. We have an excited and enthusiastic bunch whom are very much looking forward to working with you as they navigate full steam ahead to start implementing the much needed change in the area! Thank you! We all love your enthusiasm and passion, you make us all believe that anything is possible, and cheers to making things happen!
Erin Haddad, Business Engagement Officer, Campbelltown City Council

It was a very productive afternoon Viktoria. Your energy is infectious.
Shefali Pall, Owner, Alcalizer Cafe, Campbelltown

I have been describing my business and some scientific concepts that it involves (Pricing Optimisation is, after all, based on statistical modelling and data analytics) to many people in the past 5 + years.

Viktoria Darabi is by far the most sharp and spot-on person to quickly grasp the essence of it, realise the potential of what it can offer to solopreneurs, small businesses, and medium enterprises.

Viktoria’s keen and experienced eye quickly spotted the points that need improvement in my message, definition and approach to marketing, and masterfully offered an orderly and well-explained plan to address these issues.

On my first session I realised just how much more I can improve my business’ performance by working with someone like Viktoria.
Zen Ore, Pricing IS a Thing

I would highly recommend Viktoria to any tourism/hospitality/events business – and more! She thinks outside the box and genuinely takes an interest in your business and wants to see you succeed. The mentoring she has provided on every level (including disassociating from non-likeminded business groups) has been invaluable. Watch this space! Thanks to Viktoria’s suggestions I will be hosting a corporate family in November and should have some quality footage to share from the event. Tina Edney, Macarthur Tourism, Travel & Events College / Discover South West

You truly motivated me in our discussions…. Viktoria, you have got me motivated. Now it is up to me to start taking these steps with some strong effective guidance…Thanks again for your input I love to get some added perception and to be pushed for better ways. Brett Monaghan, Eclipse Organics  

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For all of this. In one meeting you have made me feel supported and hopeful at a time where I am feeling paralysed and overwhelmed.
Emma Bailie, That Chocolate


You have really gone above and beyond with me.  Thank you so much for your patience, support and commitment with me, my project and all those needing your support.  I appreciate it very much. I will use these and incorporate them into my materials moving forward.  Thank you again Viktoria . Maria Nguyen, Co Mai

“Viktoria Darabi has been wonderful in listening to all our issues – big, small, common and in particular – and we have been amazed with her understanding and practical solutions to each of those. We started with a handful of issues and with her help we were able to expand to a longer list yet, and have been able to identify a few really crucial ones. We enjoy each and every conversation with Viktoria because not only she is really positive, encouraging and motivating, she also puts her heart and soul into our issues and give us a realistic timeline to achieve each goals set. We will be tapping more into Viktoria’s skill set.”
Lawrence Chen, Co-owner, Tealive Liverpool & Bankstown

Since meeting with Viktoria in May, I have rebranded and am now known as ‘Saimai’ by Thai I M. I have changed the decor, given the menu a fresh look and upped our plating game to stand out from the crowd. I invested in a new neon sign to make our restaurant more instagrammable and as a result of these changes have had around 60 bloggers from all around Sydney come and visit our venue and review it. It made quite a difference having bloggers. Saimai has received a lot of compliments from the social media with some bloggers even saying we are the most instagrammable Thai restaurant in Sydney!” Arafat Farague, Owner Sai Mai by Thai I M

“We are doing a new campaign each month called Around the World with Vasco Da Gama. We introduce food from a different country each month. eg. South east Asia, and next month will be Jamaican, This was the advice from Viktoria. Also, the types of food the tradies would like. Needs to be – Fast, Filling, and fits in the hand. We have just started a Tradie Breakfast and Lunch deal that Viktoria advised us to do.” Angela Vassallo,  Vascos Charcoal Chicken

“Viktoria had the ideas, information and links that I had been looking for, as I had no idea where to start. She has given me confidence, saved me time, money and stress, particularly through her advice regarding not spending money in food service magazines, but rather to represent the product myself as the best person to show the passion and dedication to the product. Once I have secured trustworthy and reliable distributors for NSW, this will free me up to expand into other states. I am now both confident and excited about this new direction for my business.”
Run Ng, Owner, Oriental Tuckerbox/LaksaMate

Thank you so much for all of your advice and pointers at our Wednesday meeting and for all of the material you’ve sent through since. It’s brilliant. Everyone left the meeting with a real buzz and are already asking questions and thinking about they change things and shake it up a little. We’d love to take you up on your offer of a zoom session to look at what our value proposition might be. How would that best work? What numbers and how long for? I’d also very much like to see if we could have you attend our next Leadership offsite when we will have Team Leaders and Coordinators in the room.
Andrew Smith, Manager Community Services, Mosman Council

“The amazing Viktoria has given me a new and unique way of thinking and has transformed my mindset!” 
Pierre Sande, Owner, 317 Restaurant, Parramatta.

“Viktoria has advised me on fit-out, menu design, buyer personas, social media and put me in touch with reliable a Franchise advisor. She is one of the best in the field and has been particularly helpful with marketing strategy development and implementation advice.”  
Sam Tech, Owner, Ya Malyasia, Parramatta, Rhodes & Chatswood

““Viktoria conducted a workshop with the Stryder team and helped us refine ideas regarding brand presence, media content creation, management and implementation scheduling; and framework to be more systematically organized. We greatly appreciate her insights and enthusiasm”.
Virginia Coy, Manager, Stryder Community Transport

“Viktoria has provided me with several insightful ideas relevant to my food and drink offer from the current global food trends. We are looking to see how we can incorporate them into our new food and drinks menu development. I have found her tip sheets (marketing and inspiration hacks for busy chef/owners and restaurateurs) an invaluable source of information and inspiration for our digital social and media marketing.”
Gamal Halim, Volcanos, Parramatta/Bankstown

“One of the greatest challenges in hospitality is getting bums on seats. Digital marketing has long been a critical success factor for cafes and restaurants. Your Trip advisor ranking or Google reviews can make or break your business. We have had some incredible insights from Viktoria  and now proactively monitor and manage our online reviews on Google, Facebook, Trip Advisor and others.”

“She has empowered us with knowledge that our digital marking agency would never reveal.  We have improved our Instagram bio, increased our frequency of posts, developed a list of 30 hashtags targeted to our market niche, including and tweaking all 30 on every post.”

“Viktoria made an immediate impact on our social media results, both from her great ideas and also from her passion and ability to motivate our team to make improvements.  As a result of this we have signed up to ‘Hey You,’ a drinks and food pre-order point-of-sale software/smart phone app so we can capitalise on sales from Parramatta Light Rail and Powerhouse Museum construction crews now and into the future.”

“Since our inception in the Meriton Dining Precinct we have been a morning and lunch trade café, open from 6:30am to 2:00pm. We have been inspired to explore new market opportunities and have decided to launch our wine bar concept on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. I am personally very grateful for the help and support we have had from Viktoria.” Gary Day, Owner, River Cafe, Parramatta

Not only is Viktoria passionate about food and the role it plays in our lives, but also in her approach to helping others. She has been unstintingly generous with her advice in assisting me with the marketing for my new cooking school. She has led me to connections, directories and information that has greatly enhanced my approach to building my business and its presence in the marketplace. I can’t thank her enough for her assistance.
Jennie Thompson,  The Cooks Workshop

Viktoria has a rare combination of enthusiasm, passion and drive – with vision, resilience and EQ to match.
Sam Hayek, CEO, The Groundskeeper Cafe Group

Viktoria has been a great supporter of Taste Tours, and our work as a charity and food tour business. She initially provided assistance as an advisor and mentor, eventually joining the Board at the 2017 AGM. Viktoria is sharp and intelligent, diligent and hard working. She provides a high level framework for understanding the why and how of what we do, and will put in the hard yards to make things happen. She is bold and enthusiastic and not shy of either sharing her views, or of putting in the hours it takes to do things properly. She makes things happen, and she does that very well.
Lesley Unsworth, CEO, Taste Food Tours

Viktoria’s greatest strengths are her intelligence, passion and desire to be a lifelong learner. Viktoria has worked in the role of Social Media & Content Marketing Co-ordinator for Barrington and we are currently working together on the development and delivery of the Diploma of Event Management for the Club industry. She is a quick learner who is continuously exploring trends and challenging the status quo as she strives for continuous improvement. She adds her special touch by often baking tasty treats for the team meetings or putting together gourmet hampers 🙂
Reyna Mendes, Learning/Development Manager, Barrington Group

Sharing her knowledge and experience to enable people to make a positive change is what makes Viktoria special. She would be a great asset to any team.​“Viktoria commenced with Barringtons some 18 months ago in our Marketing Division where her role saw her oversee the entire marketing strategies of Barringtons products and services.  Her role included the design and construction of our social media platform which has provided a substantial increase in sales in a short period of time. I recommend Viktoria to any business that requires design and implementation of social media strategies.”
Blayne Webb, Director, Barrington Group

Hi Viktoria, Firstly, thank you so much for your visit and talk to the Committee on Wednesday. We all benefited each in different ways, we were all engaged, and your message was very well received. Various people took notes at different times, and we have started getting some things happening by thinking about the workshop in new ways. The Transformational Experiences slant was particularly relevant.  You’ve got us thinking.
Josephine Blue, President Hawkesbury Community Arts Workshop (HCAW)

Wow!!! You’ve been busy, very impressive!!! By the way, I love your updates on LinkedIn, you always have really great articles, please keep it going :)! Hope you have some time to breathe in between everything!
Leonie Wu, Assistant Brand & Product Features Manager – Citibank (Diners Club)

“I have found Viktoria’s work ethic and skills to be a fabulous mix here at the office. She is tireless and relentless in getting the message out there to all and sundry. If you need someone to “yell it from the mountain”, then you wont do better than Viktoria.
Peter King, Creative/Technical Director, Barrington Group

“Viktoria is a true professional in every sense of the word. Terrific communicator, extremely thorough, intelligent, very reliable and puts 100% effort in everything she does.”
Steve Packer, Executive Manager Corporate, Barrington Group

“I have worked with and have taken advice from Viktoria over the past 9 years. Viktoria is a person that will truly motivate you to bigger and better achievements. She is a small business marketing guru and very well experienced in social media and content marketing. As the owner of Renaissance Rocking Horses her promotional strategies once implemented saw the business grow to a stage where it was booked out 10 months in advance. I am happy to recommend Viktoria.”
Alan Eagle, Secretary, Farmgate Trail (formerly Hawkesbury Harvest)

“Viktoria is a vibrant and inspiring asset to any group or company. Always thinking ‘outside the square’ to get the job done, with a seemingly unlimited source of enthusiasm and energy to achieve her goals.”
Mellissa Read-Devine, Member, Hawkesbury Artists & Artisans Trail

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

“Viktoria is simply extraordinary. Her energy, passion and results focussed approach to marketing projects is exceptional. As a business mentor to emerging and growing businesses she is not only creative and engaging, she matches it with practical experience which will get the results you want.”
Vanessa Van Wyk, Partner, Binarix Marketing + Web + Training 

“Viktoria has assisted me in the marketing and promotion of our existing business, including advising how to achieve maximum local newspaper publicity at no cost. The approach was so successful that we achieved several half page editorials at zero cost, which translated into immediate sales at the cash register….Viktoria is very professional, enthusiastic and has great attention to detail. She has a positive and nurturing personality and we have no hesitation in recommending her to any business owner looking to increase the profitability of their business.”
Lucille & Darren Pead, Owners, Guy Stuff Gifts and Collectables

“Viktoria is a very enthusiastic, creative woman who is passionate about writing and marketing. She can find an interesting angle on just about any story. I found her to be great fun and an inspiration to work with. She is very much a ‘can do’ woman!”
Joni Leimgruber, Freelance Writer

Hi Viktoria,
Your talk at SIA was very inspiring and one of the reasons we did participate this year in the Biggest Morning Tea. I have also started to be involved (in many different ways) at various school fetes (all coming up in Spring) around the area as I am trying to put into practice the idea of people seeing us out and about and in print to start remembering us. I really got a lot of inspiration from your talk and I thank you for that.I have really revved up my staff with all the ideas I brought back from SIA. I’m looking forward to being involved in your Open Weekend.
Kylie Gatto,  Owner , Memories in the Making

Hi Viktoria,
Thanks so much for your time today. It has certainly given us a lot of food for thought and we have a fantastic basis now for working through many of the ideas we have had over the last few months, with more clarity and direction than we had previously.Your enthusiasm and excitement is inspiring and whilst some ideas have turned things on their heads a bit, it’s all good stuff for us to think about! We really appreciate it and look forward to continuing to work with you in the future.Thanks
Natalie Cavalli, Owner, Simply Original Fine Foods

“Having Viktoria as a mentor on this inaugural industry event has given me the personal confidence needed to negotiate with big business. Her work ethics and encouragement have been a tremendous example and she has increased my desire to work on my weaknesses, improve on the abilities I have. She has awakened me to greater and challenging possibilities and improved both my business and interpersonal communications. On a more personal level,  Viktoria created a belief in me that anything is possible.”
Sally Wilson, Owner, Delish Designs & Scrapbooking Industry Association President

Hi Viktoria,
You are so inspirational!  Anne rang me this morning and said she was on
such a “high” when she got home yesterday.  Thanks a million once again.
Sally Vecchio, Owner, Lehanes Fine Stationery

Hello Viktoria,
It was lovely (as always) to see you last night.You are a very powerful and motivating speaker, and I feel very lucky and privileged to be given the opportunity to learn from your wisdom. In addition, I thoroughly enjoy your company! Thank you. I am thinking of booking my Business Development Manager into your Media workshop in late May. Your input is so valuable, I am always so inspired when I am with you. And I enjoy our rapport-  a real bonus! Thanks again Viktoria. What an honour and a treat to have met you! Thank you for being my mentor, thank you for your time, thank you for your generosity of spirit, thank you for your enthusiasm, thank you for becoming my friend. You have introduced something special into my life, you remain in my heart. Words are simply inadequate.  With love and deepest gratitude.
Debbie Edinburg, Practice Manager – Eden Institute for Cosmetic & Plastic Surgery

Dear Viktoria,
Just a quick note to thank you for your time given so freely today at the  DSRD seminar.  I really enjoyed your presentation and can say that it stimulated my thinking and uplifted me for the day.I will catch up and let you know how things are going with the many avenues of activity/ideas I am involved with in the near future. In the meantime, I congratulate you on a really great presentation this morning.  Looking forward to your next one. Thank you. Cate Richmond, Ausflare

Hi Viktoria,
I know you are busy but I just had to tell you this is your best work yet. That said, I’m not sure if I appreciate you putting me out of work – so little editing needed. Your writing has really come on over recent articles but this one is (excuse the pun) the icing on the cake. You really get a feel for the artist and her work. WELL DONE YOU! Talk soon. Donna, Editor, Australian Country Collections

Leave a Reply