About Us

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Jeohanna Martinez is the Founder and CEO of Living Your Ikigai. She brings more than 20 years of professional and personal experiences that have culminated in the creation of LYI. 

Jeohanna's professional background is a rich combination of varied roles in human services, social services, special education, state government, and federal government. More recently, she has worked in corporate learning and organization development with a focus on coaching, consulting, and people strategy. 

She is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management's Master of Science program in Positive Organization Development and Change. She also completed her Bachelor's degree studies at George Mason University.  

As an Organization Development practitioner and International Coaching Federation Professional Certified Coach (PCC on MCC path), Jeohanna combines a compassionate, curious, and strategic approach to partnering with her clients to discover the possibilities, develop resonant and customized solutions, and unleash potential to help her clients thrive. 

She is a member of the Organization Development Network, International Coaching Federation, and La Red Iberoamericana de Practicantes y Academicos del Paradigma Apreciativo (RIPAPA). 

In her free time, Jeohanna lives her ikigai by continuously learning, enjoying experiences and making memories with her son and daughter, and traveling as well as dancing. 

In 2016 a life changing event impacted the way Jeohanna viewed life and the legacy she wanted to leave as well as the life she wanted to create. Her father suffered a massive stroke that left him unable to speak for a few weeks. Suddenly, Jeohanna was taken back to 2001 when all she could dream about was becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist. Fast forward many years later and  career changes, who knew how valuable that grad school stint was as she was able to help her father who had become a stroke survivor, relearn language. Day by day her father made significant improvements  in the months that followed his stroke. Subsequently, Jeohanna was facing new realities of life. She began to question her purpose as she reflected on that time in her life in 2001 when she initially pursued her graduate studies and was full of positivity, passion, and purpose. 

Shortly after her father's stroke, Jeohanna became interested in building and creating a well-lived life. This is how she discovered ikigai. The Japanese word for reason for being. Such a simple definition with such a profound meaning. While ikigai has been utilized heavily in the Western world for businesses and finding your passion, ikigai is much more than finding a or multiple passions. As Jeohanna began to learn more about ikigai and how it has profoundly impacted the lives of many centenarians in Japan and other countries, ikigai teachings began to shape what became her purpose. 

The question that came to mind was what kind of life could someone create and live that was truly purposeful and filled with joy and passion. After overcoming more personal challenges, Jeohanna soon realized that her purpose in life was to empower individuals with the knowledge, resources, and vision to create and live their lives according to their reason or reasons for being. The joy Jeohanna experienced when she started to create and live a curated life was a source of joy and pride for her father after his stroke. Unfortunately, her father passed in September 2022. Nonetheless, his legacy and parting words were "it is time to shine" and to live everyday in an unapologetic and purposeful way.