Cristina Horia is an executive director of the Sensiblu Foundation. She is among those women nominated for their contribution against domestic violence and, together with her team, she supports domestic violence female victims on their difficult path to a safer life. She speaks passionately about what she is doing and she always wants to be the best version of herself in order to make a change in Romania.

Trainart: What is the first feature of yourself that comes up to your mind right now? How did this quality help you, both personally and professionally?

C.H.: The altruism. It has helped me find my place. It helped me surround myself with beautiful people, feel good with myself and it has given me the feeling that I am doing well what I do. From the professional point of view, I think the carefulness you show to the others, the empathy, the concern, they keep you in certain rigors, make you to be ethical, with a vertical backbone, make you try to understand the others, put yourself in some else shoes.

Trainart: If you could write a book about your profession, what title would you give to it/how would you name it?

C.H.: There is no “I can`t”, there is “I don`t want to”. I am not sure if I would give this title, but this always empowered me to move forward.

Trainart: What is the most important accomplishment for you?

C.H.: My child. He is the reason I wake up in the morning. Any project pales to this kind of project. He is the award one would have received from life. Professionally, there are plenty achievements. The fact that after 13 years, the program against family violence is still running and the foundation is working, I think this is amazing and that I have always found support for my projects and that I always have company beside me, I find it to be an extraordinary thing.

Trainart: What keeps you motivated? Do you follow certain mantras, routines?

C.H.: The fear of getting bored. This is one of the most powerful motivators. If I feel that I am bored, I feel the need to get out of routine and do new things that challenge me.

Trainart: Tells us shortly about one situation of your life when you felt empowered/ resourceful/ spectacular.

C.H.: Every time I was in the position of doing training courses, I felt exactly this way.. Those are the moments when I feel this way: when sharing what I know to others. And when I make someone understand a certain idea, to have that illumination, it is priceless.

Trainart: If you could choose a professional achievement to keep it in a time capsule, what would that be?

C.H.: The moment when I launched the domestic violence project in 2002 because back then it was something absolutely new and necessary and I really believe that it changed and saved lives. I have the feeling that I have changed something in this country.

Trainart: What is the most difficult situation you have overcome in the last 6 months?

C.H.: Extremely delicate situations with women chased and solutions that we had to find for one of the cases when a woman was harassed by her husband. We supported her to leave the house and I called the police.

Trainart: If you would have the possibility to return in time, what advice would you give to yourself?

C.H.: Not to stress out so hard. I am a person who puts passion, who dies with her projects over the neck. Because nor the Everest collapses or the project dies, if the things are calmly approached. It might be better both for me and for project too. Probably I would start a little bit sooner to learn about social responsibility and everything about this concept. I would harness more and I would explore.

Trainart: What temper you never refuse to yourself?

C.H.: To do trips in Bali, Thailand, those I refused to myself. And to buy a lot of clothes that I want, and to do a MBA, to go to a course at Oxford in the field of CSR. Otherwise I don`t refuse anything to myself.

Trainart: If you would have to choose one from all female personalities from Romania to appear on a Romanian banknote, which would you chose?

C.H.: Queen Mary. She seems to me a strong character, a charity spirit and a woman who arisen from the crowd and she knew how to use these things.

Cristina Horia embodies the portrait of a fighting woman. For over 12 years, she dedicated her career to victims of domestic violence in Romania, and her passion and patience helped her to form and sleek a successful project. The words of Queen Mary, “I refuse to let myself defeated or to feel defeated until the last drop of hope was snatched” outlines very well the Cristina’s portrait.