Too many leaders feel technically competent, yet disconnected.
When connection is missing, leaders feel drained, growth stalls, and teams lose their spark.
… And the harder you push, the more isolated you feel.
Success without connection isn’t enough.
I know this, because I’ve been there.
I chased success across my two prior careers in HR + commercial property entrepreneurship – always moving forward, always achieving – yet underneath, I felt unfulfilled.
Competence without connection left me restless, questioning, and longing for more. That’s why I created Wide Open Spaces: to help leaders like you move beyond the armour of “having it all together,” and reconnect with what truly matters.
That’s why I created
Wide Open Spaces…
To help leaders like you move beyond competence and into authentic connection – with yourself, your people, and even the natural world.
Every journey helps leaders break through barriers and return dialed in, grounded, and ready to lead with heart and skill.
Because when you feel truly seen, when you’re challenged in the right ways, and when you’re dialed back into what truly matters – that’s when leadership transforms.
I’m Julia Bonadei,
the founder of
Wide Open Spaces.
I’m a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation and trained as an Ontological, Integral® and Systemic Team Coach. For the past 17 years, I’ve worked with executives, teams, and organisations (both internationally and nationally) across industries to create deep, sustainable change.
My clients say I balance compassion with challenge – seeing straight through the mask, and helping leaders find what’s authentically underneath.
While I lead
Wide Open Spaces, I don’t work alone.
We partner with a collective of trained Ontological and Integral Coaches®, delivering coaching and leadership development across South Africa and internationally. Together, we bring a whole-human approach that’s both brave and practical.
Trusted by leaders across industries.
From WWF to Coca-Cola, PWC Global, to Standard Bank and ABSA, I’ve been privileged to work with leaders and teams across sectors.
Each has discovered the same truth:
leadership shifts when you move beyond skills into connection.
What makes us different?
Feel Seen
For perhaps the first time, you’ll feel truly seen and deeply understood
Challenged
Because growth only happens outside your comfort zone
Dialed In
You’ll reconnect with your spark, your people, and your purpose
Their breakthroughs. In their words
“Julia has an amazing ability to listen and reflect to me what she is hearing, not only the content of what I say but also the language I use and what may be inferred from that.
She is not scared to address prickly issues nor to hold me to account when I have committed to doing something. She has a strong understanding of the issues that businesses and in particular, business leaders deal with daily.
We have covered a wide range of topics in this time, ranging from my mental health, physical health, my leadership style, dealing with difficult colleagues, dealing with conflict and managing teams during times of rapid change.”
Managing Director
– Deltamune (Pty) Ltd
“Julia, thank you for your dedication to our home team and support, always found you to come 100% present and ready to listen, yet also understanding of the time, client, life constraints we were all juggling. You made our time effective and inspirational.”
– PwC Partner (USA)
“Julia, your insight and way of being of coach, and facilitating the workshop was really profound.
I have been to a lot of coaching programmes, but this one was next level coaching”
– Certified Financial Planner
Ready to find what truly moves you?
Leadership isn’t about being perfect. It’s about being real. If you’re ready to move beyond competence and lead with clarity, courage, and connection — let’s start the conversation