How coaching and community shape projects: reflections on starting a purpose-driven publication, and the power of volunteers and people around us

My name is Rostyslava Martyniuk. I'm a journalist, storyteller, and founder of a small but heartfelt media initiative that will grow into something meaningful and lasting. I was born and lived in Ukraine until the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. Back home, I worked as a freelance journalist and also in a charitable foundation, helping vulnerable groups by providing clothing, working with orphans, and organising outreach.

Today, I’m working on a bilingual magazine called Маяк (which means Lighthouse in Ukrainian). The English version carries the same meaning, but I also like to read it as two words: Light and House. I believe these are the two things many Ukrainians worldwide are missing - a sense of home and a source of hope. We're trying to provide both through stories of people, culture, music, architecture and lived experience.

This journey hasn’t been linear. The magazine is still not what I want it to be, but it’s moving. It’s evolving. And so am I.

One of the most transformational parts of this process has been working with my coach, Catherine from Result CIC. With calm but firm support, she helped me reconsider one of my most deeply held assumptions: that volunteerism is unreliable. As someone who had previously led volunteers in a charity, I have seen it first-hand; volunteers who were passionate one day and disappeared the next. That kind of unpredictability left me burned out and, if I’m honest, disillusioned. I left the position in Ukraine with a heavy heart.

When I started working on my magazine in the UK, I carried that mistrust with me.  In my mind, volunteers were not dependable - and indeed not people you could count on for complex, high-functioning work like editing, marketing, or communications.  As Catherine gently challenged those assumptions, I saw a different picture.

She explained that people volunteer for many reasons. Some are aligned with your mission and want to contribute to something they believe in. Others are restarting after illness, parenthood, or a career break. Some simply want to learn or add to their portfolio. Her insight helped me understand that volunteerism isn’t just about free labour - it’s about meaningful engagement.

Around the same time, the workload on my project started to grow beyond what I could handle alone. I was scheduling interviews at 7 am, finishing emails at 10 pm, and barely having time to reflect or plan. Something had to give. And so, despite my old fears, I decided to try.

My first attempts weren’t perfect - I didn’t know how to manage volunteers properly or communicate expectations well but I kept going because now I believed it was possible.

And it worked.

Bit by bit, I found volunteers who not only wanted to help, but who genuinely believed in the message of Маяк. They wanted to highlight culture and resilience, tell human-centred migration stories, and give people a sense of dignity and belonging through storytelling. They gave their time, effort, and heart and in return, I’ve found myself re-learning how beautiful collaboration can be.

But it wasn’t just the volunteers who helped me move forward. Life was throwing a lot at me: family illnesses, grief, loss, long goodbyes. In those moments, Catherine was like the trunk of a strong tree - solid and grounded - something to hold onto during a storm. Her presence allowed me to keep going; even when I doubted myself, she didn’t.

She also helped me realise something deeper: the people around you matter profoundly.

When starting something new, especially something socially or emotionally charged, you're not just building a business. Rather, you’re building yourself, and who you surround yourself with in that process will shape your confidence, your ideas,you’re your energy.

The people around you, inside and outside your project, are either your roots or roadblocks. Do you have peers you can talk to about business challenges? Do your family members support your work, or add extra stress? Do your friends help you unwind, or pull you further into burnout? Are the people in your project - your collaborators, volunteers, future employees - energising or draining?

Catherine helped me understand that this isn’t just emotional advice, it’s strategic. When you’re not yet strong in the business world - when your project still needs scaffolding - the human relationships around it are everything. They shape your clarity. They hold you steady. They are your mirror and your momentum.

Now, as I continue to build Маяк, I am more mindful. I know I’m not doing this alone - and I never was.

I am grateful to the volunteers who show up with passion, the friends who remind me to laugh, the coach who asks hard questions gently, and the readers who write to say that a story made them cry, remember, or hope.

They are the light. They are the house.

And thanks to them, I keep going.