I’m Jan.

I’ve been working with people for more than 30 years: in the hotel trade, in sales and, since 2014, as a coach for women, men and couples. I’m the founder of Human Circle Coaching and the author of Hormones, Hell & Happily Ever After. What I know comes from countless conversations, from many courses and trainings, and from my own life.

Where I come from

I grew up in Frankfurt. My childhood was turbulent, with everything that goes with it: a lot of arguing between my parents, the divorce, the battle afterwards. When I was ten, my father moved to Paris. Our relationship was difficult from early on, and it stayed that way to the end.

As a teenager, I ended up in circles that weren’t good for me. People I called my best friends at the time hurt me, physically and emotionally. There was no father and no other adult standing by my side.

When I was 19, my father died. Back then I cut myself off emotionally and simply tried to get through. Above all, those years taught me one thing: to keep functioning.

Growing up among women

After my father left, I was surrounded almost entirely by women. My mother, my sister and my grandmother were with me every day. I spent a lot of time with my mother and her friends, and as a teenager I had many close female friends.

My mother raised me well. Time and again I heard: ‘Why do you understand women so well?’ I was never really aware of it myself. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why, for a long time, I worked mainly with women.

Good at sales, but not happy

In sales, functioning paid off. I was good, and I earned well. But I wasn’t happy. I’d known since 2003 that I wanted to be a coach. Everyone said: ‘You’re not a psychologist, you can’t do that.’ So I stayed.

I never had a mentor. Life was my teacher, along with a few wonderful people I still value greatly. One of them was the sales director I worked under at the time.

Then my wife, Mona, said to me: ‘At every event, people come to you. You just talk to them, and you reach them. It’s time you did exactly that.’ It came from her. That’s why it meant the world to me. I’ve worked as a coach since 2014.

What I learnt along the way

Over the years I’ve done what feels like hundreds of courses and trainings: family and systemic constellations, Reiki, colour theory, a great deal of sales training and coaching, and more besides. Out of all of it, over time, my own way of working with people took shape.

How the Human Circle came about

The way I work today is, in truth, the way I’ve always worked. For a long time it simply had no name.

Then came a week that felt like a sign. In that one week, almost ten clients who were nearing the end of their coaching asked me the same thing: where did you learn this? They wanted to learn to read and understand people that easily, too. Soon came the next question: had I ever thought about training people myself? And, of course: what would it cost?

I said: ‘Before we talk about any figure, let me think about it first.’ I wanted to work out whether I trusted myself to do it, what it could look like and in what setting.

Then I wrote down everything I’d ever learnt, from family constellations and Reiki to sales training and colour theory. By the end, I’d filled an entire A4 notebook. It was exhausting. And it was worth it, because it made me take an honest look inside myself.

After that, I shut myself away and wrote the first manual. A few weeks later it was finished. That became the Human Circle.

Twelve areas that are connected

The Human Circle starts with the family we’re born into, with everything that comes with it, right down to what we inherit genetically. Then the place where we grow up: a country, a village, a big city. Then our childhood, which shapes much of how we handle relationships and friendships today. And so it goes on, through body and career, to what really matters to us.

Twelve areas, and none of them stands alone. If you want to understand why a pattern is there today, the answer is often where it began.

The training

I’ve been training people in the Human Circle since around 2020, and I’ve kept developing the training ever since. What pleases me most is that the people I’ve trained so far loved the sessions and calls. A great deal was resolved for them along the way, and a great deal became clear. What inspired them most was the practical part.

Today

I’ve been married to Mona since 2010, and in 2020 our son was born. For years before that, I’d been afraid of becoming the father of a boy, because my relationship with my father was difficult, and so was his with his own father.

I work with people in German and English, online, wherever they live. I don’t judge. You talk, I listen and ask questions. Then I tell you openly what I see, and whether and how I can support you.

If you’d like, let’s get to know each other.