Gülay Savaş has done what is right since her childhood and has succeeded in becoming an expert engineer in her field. While working as an academician, she also provided important services in the private sector. But when she started to look at the world from her perspective, she decided to apply her truths.
She started to do individual and corporate coaching by blending the personal development training she received with years of engineering experience. With Arya Academy, which she founded in 2008, she became one of the rare female entrepreneurs who pursued her dreams and achieved success. We talked to Mrs. Gülay about this extraordinary success story.
Interview: Ece Baban
You have a very interesting career story. Could you tell us briefly?
After receiving my bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at I.T.U., I completed my master’s and doctorate degrees at the same university in the Department of Mathematical Engineering, and Systems Analyst at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. After graduating from university, I first worked as a lecturer in the Department of Systems Analyst at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at I.T.U. and then at the Department of Computer Engineering at I.T.U. Subsequently, I worked as a manager in various local and international companies in the private sector for seven years. Subsequently, I worked as a lecturer in the private sector for seven years as a manager in various domestic and international companies. This engineering and technical business life caused me to look at my life and events from a single perspective, to live by rules and my mind was formatted. After this realization, I embarked on a journey of “Knowing Yourself” by taking the following NLP Master, Life School, Creative Drama and Acting, Professional Acting, Meditation and Yoga, Optimum Balance Model, and Captaining training. By adding my life experiences to this information, I created my holistic approach. In light of all these, I established Arya Academy in 2008 and I have been providing individual and corporate coaching here.
How did the idea of Arya Academy come about?
We all come into this world to express ourselves. And when we realize that everything in life is worth trying, we can use our light at any time for any satisfaction we like. Until I started my own business, I could not find the peace, happiness, motivation, and flow I was looking for in my life. Something was wrong, not right, or forced. But what was it? In our time, we were told, “Either you become an engineer or a doctor and you will be a man.” “What do you like, or how are you happy?” was never asked! I had chosen to become an engineer to make my parents happy, in short, to become a man. Of course, afterward, I had always lived in the technical world, behind computers, far away from emotion. But now I realized that I was happy to be with people, to blend with emotion, and to create freely within the limits of my creativity.
Shakespeare said: “When you realize that you are the author of the play you play, that’s when you start writing your real play.” I decided to write my play the way I wanted to write it from the beginning and decided to establish the “Meaningful Spiritual Life” (ARYA) Arya Academy.
Can you tell us a little about the service you provide?
Human has a 5-dimensional body. Physical Body, Etheric Body, Mental Body, Intuitive Body, Astral Body… We need to know, understand, and nourish these 5 dimensions. Only then, the work done will provide permanent transformations. Therefore, I apply holistic work that can be done in 5 dimensions and parallel, and I give prescriptions to the hands of people. For example, while cleaning our minds from negative thought patterns, it is necessary to explain the basic techniques of proper nutrition (such as alkaline nutrition) and proper breathing to remove toxic substances in our bodies. Because a healthy body is found in a healthy mind. In other words, I take the human being as a whole and inseparable part with every dimension and work in this direction. In addition, we read books, we try what we have learned in life, I give the basics of many studies such as hypnotherapy, EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer), subconscious studies, breathing techniques, NLP (Natural Language Processing), and the rules of why and for what they should be used.
What distinguishes you from other organizations providing services in this field?
Firstly, we are an organization that incorporates both engineering and human psychology components. We explain the ways of combining the analytical left brain with the creative right brain. By combining technology and technological infrastructure with management science within companies, we nourish their creativity by enabling them to extract the treasures inside people more easily. Thus, we pave the way for innovation. Thirdly, looking at the person or the organization holistically is another important difference.
What do you think about women entrepreneurs in Turkey?
In Turkey, women’s labor force participation rate is increasing in urban areas, but sometimes decreasing in rural areas. But despite everything, compared to 10 years ago, these numbers have increased. In our country, there are now many organizations both to increase women’s employment and to support women entrepreneurs. Although the sociological conditions of our country show some difficulties, women who take responsibility for their livelihood have managed to take a hand in many issues.
What are the difficulties of being a woman entrepreneur?
In a male-dominated society in business life with a patriarchal structure, women have been silent in the background many times. I also think that there are very few societies where belief patterns have been engraved in their heads with expressions such as “Her hair is long, her mind is short”, and ” You don’t interfere in a man’s business with the dough of your hand.”, “Missing skirt”. In a society where these patterns are engraved in their subconscious minds, it is not easy to come forward as a woman, to be an entrepreneur, or to make your opinion heard in a male-dominated structure.
When we look at successful women, we see that they all have warrior characters. In other words, they have come to a place by being like men and fighting alongside men. Therefore, I think that the difficulties are mostly in the psychological dimension. Otherwise, our women are extremely competent and strong in every dimension.
What advice would you give to women entrepreneurs who are at the beginning of their journey?
First, let them be brave. And let them set off. But of course, this journey should not be unplanned. Let them recognize themselves first. They should know their competencies. They should think about what they want, how they will be happy, and what they want to give to people. Then comes the network of relationships we have. It is important to be able to create this network of relationships and reference lists in Turkey. They should tell these people about their plans and projects. Of course, before preparing these plans, they should attend both KOSGEB’s “Entrepreneurship” training and KAGIDER’s (Women Entrepreneurs Association) “Establishing My Business” training.
