Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Iryna Wood. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Iryna thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
My personal approach to relationship counseling and self-discovery is designed to help individuals truly understand and accept themselves. In today’s society, people often navigate life under the influence of social media, parental expectations, or advice from friends, living someone else’s version of life. I did that too. This path is both dangerous and ultimately disappointing.
After more than a decade of counseling, I have realized that whether people’s questions are about careers or relationships, the answer always leads back to self-love. I believe self-love is impossible without self-acceptance, and self-acceptance can only be achieved through self-understanding. Self-understanding, in turn, comes from self-knowledge. Be curious about yourself, just as you may be curious about the lives of others.
Through my counseling, seminars, books, podcast appearances, and the GEMINI NEAR ME – SELF-LOVE & Relationship Intelligence app, I emphasize the importance of self-love as the foundation for healthy relationships with yourself and others.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Successful businesses are often built on either your biggest passion or your greatest pain. In my case, it’s both.
I was born on the culturally rich Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine. At the age of 13, I began traveling across Europe and the United Kingdom for language studies. These experiences ignited my passion for education and instilled in me a strong desire to carve my own path.
From a young age, I was driven by two key questions: “What is my true calling?” and “When will I meet my soulmate?” These questions set me on a journey of self-discovery, global retreats, and extensive education.
At 23, I experienced a brief and disappointing abusive marriage, which led me to long-term therapy. During this time, I realized the transformative power of healing and relationships. Later, I earned a Master’s degree in Psychology. As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” This inspired me to help others, as I truly believe in the enduring strength of a healthy relationship. I combined my mathematical mindset, cultivated through my first Master’s degree in International Diplomatic Relations, with a touch of spirituality.
My self-discovery journey began with astrology at 23. Initially skeptical, I eventually became a passionate advocate after recognizing astrology’s mathematical structure and its ability to provide deep insights. I then explored numerology, which complements astrology by revealing hidden personal potential. I often questioned the Universe about my purpose in life. Then, a family crisis struck when my father was on the edge of life and death.
At 27, I devoted myself to spiritual growth and alternative medicine education to help him. I studied Reiki, Theta Healing, coaching techniques, and astro-psychology under the mentorship of Glenn Perry. Between 27 and 35, my life became a blend of spiritual travels, empowering seminars, and continuous learning.
Despite eight years fighting for father’s life, full of fears, I eventually lost him, and I came to realize that we cannot save anyone. For me separation with parent was a huge trial. However, I still kept prayers in my heart. At every sacred place I visited, I asked for guidance to manifest my calling and true love if it was meant to be. I believed your mission can help you find the meaning of life in the darkest times.
I have authored five books and numerous articles on these themes. In 2015, I relocated to Cannes, France, and founded a well-being company focused on spiritual growth in Monaco. In 2022, my lifelong dream of finding true love came true—I met my future husband and moved to the USA to be with him.
Today, I integrate my professional experience and spiritual knowledge into the SELF-LOVE & Relationship Intelligence app, GEMINI NEAR ME, which my husband and I launched together.
Whether through one-on-one coaching sessions or through the GEMINI NEAR ME app, I offer a wide range of self-discovery tools like astrology, numerology, dream interpretation, affirmations, meditations, self-love and relationship cards, motivational quotes, relationship intelligence classes, manifesting journaling with daily coaching prompts, self-awareness diary and even IRYNA AI avatar coming soon – your in-home ther-AI-py. These tools are designed to guide you toward a better understanding of yourself, building self-love, and manifesting the reality you desire. I am proud about this app is so different from others, presenting 10 different features together and they all make you be curious about yourself and your potential but not observing lives of other people. It is actually antidote from all other apps.
How’d you meet your business partner?
This is the most interesting story of my life. I spent more than a year in California, USA, then I lost my father, and war broke out in Ukraine. Missing my mother deeply, I decided to leave the USA. I made a heartfelt decision: if I were meant to return to the USA, I would, but at that moment, I needed to be surrounded by my family and reconnect with them.
I’ve always loved spiritual retreats, so I decided to embark on a 40-day walking pilgrimage from France to Spain along the Camino de Santiago. At the same time, a friend of mine arrived in the south of France intending to attend the Cannes Film Festival and the Monaco Formula 1. Having lived in France for eight years, I didn’t care about celebrating life, especially after my father’s loss and while my homeland was struggling.
Unfortunately, my friend called me from the hospital, having suffered a heart attack upon his arrival at the Nice airport. Meanwhile, I fainted the day before, hitting my head badly. A doctor forbade me from moving or undertaking the spiritual hike. My friend, recovering from his heart attack, came to my mother’s house to use my computer for his business Zoom calls, which I had organized for him in my “second motherland,” France.
Unexpectedly, he showed up with someone I had never met—his friend, who had picked him up from the hospital and brought him to my house. That friend turned out to be Ken Wood, my future husband and later on business partner. He met me during the most broken-hearted period of my life, with my head still healing from my accident and my emotions shattered by everything happening in my family life.
We started as friends, then began dating. Ken, who lived in Florida, USA, invited me to return to the USA with him. Destiny brought me back to the United States. Observing my passion for counseling and expertise in relationships, Ken, a successful businessman, decided to invest in an app that I was deeply passionate about. This app became our shared “baby” and a family business—something we both poured our hearts into.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I’ve been involved in counseling for a long time, but before launching the app, I had never focused on promoting my personality, services, or even a technological product. Over the past few months, my videos have started gaining hundreds of thousands and sometimes even millions of views. Through experimenting with different formats, I’ve learned a lot, and here’s what I can summarize:
Instagram favors short, straight-to-the-point videos with high-resolution visuals and quality sound. The ideal length is under 30 seconds. Now the biggest format in favor is reels. They even adopted their profile page for rectangular format to motivate influencers to post more videos. You need to be clear about what you’re offering: Are you a digital creator, expert, or service provider? Be consistent, find your specific niche, and develop a signature style or appearance. It’s best to be authentic, but not everyone gets lucky with just being themselves—so don’t hesitate to experiment with visuals and styles.
In general, people enjoy beauty, knowledgeable tips or advice about market trends, or funny content. While it’s true that sex appeal always sells, don’t overdo it if it’s not aligned with what you’re offering. For instance, I know a podcaster who is a sexologist, and she can constantly post sexy videos because it aligns with her expertise.
As a relationship expert, I take a different approach. I mix family humor, feminine beauty, street interviews, and promotional scenes about the app. The last two formats involve other people, and Instagram followers usually appreciate dialogue because it shows you as emotional and real.
Collaborate, do partnerships with other brands and people. Prepare exclusive scenarios. I do screenwriting for every single post/reel on my own. Social media quality presence demands a lot of work. And don’t forget to follow me @irynawood and my app @gemininearme!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gemininearme.com
- Instagram: @irynawood
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/15dQopCYfm/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iryna-wood-b3b417215?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Twitter: https://x.com/iryna_wood?s=21&t=qxmUg8EJafW36YUZSLsRUQ
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@irynawood?si=ctv80bw2z9EX1PIw
- Other: I have a separate Instaram for the app @gemininearme that daily provides a lot of useful information
This is direct link to the GEMINI NEAR ME for Apple and Android users apphttps://onelink.to/cghxrm
Image Credits
images belong to me