About
Own Your Story

It works with thinking, identity, and narrative as core building blocks for how people decide, act, and position themselves over time.

OYS is built on a clear philosophical root (O.W.N.) and translates that philosophy into a structured method, diagnostics, and programs. Today, the primary domain of application is authority — how experts, founders, and leaders develop authority that is congruent, durable, and independent of constant visibility.

Across careers, leadership, and entrepreneurship, authority has been reduced to visibility, positioning tactics, and short-term optimisation.

People are encouraged to:

• perform instead of decide,

• signal instead of integrate,

• optimise for reach instead of coherence.
  
  

On social media, this shows up as a constant stream of commentary. People are trained to react, comment, and take positions quickly — but far less to develop distinctive opinions that actually move conversations forward.

At the same time, inside organisations and professional contexts, the opposite dynamic often appears. People learn to hold back their own perspective, soften their judgment, or stay silent altogether — out of fear of standing out, being wrong, or carrying responsibility for an opinion.

The result is fragile authority: dependent on platforms, external validation, and continuous output — and disconnected from who someone actually is.

Own Your Story exists because this model does not hold over time.

At the root of OYS sits O.W.N. — a philosophical framework that describes what humans need to develop in order to live and work consciously across changing contexts.

• Ownership — taking responsibility for direction, choices, and consequences.

• Wisdom — integrating experience into judgment, not just accumulating knowledge.

• Narrative — making meaning explicit so it can guide decisions and be carried forward.
  
  

O.W.N. is registered intellectual property and forms the philosophical backbone of Own Your Story. It is not a program or a tactic, but a worldview that informs all applications of the method — including authority today and other domains over time.

“Own Your Story” is the practical expression of O.W.N. It is also the central mantra that gives the company its name.

Own Your Story exists as a company because this principle is meant to be lived, practiced, and applied — not just stated. The organisation carries the name to keep the mantra active and embodied in how the work is done.

It describes what happens when people:

• stop outsourcing meaning to systems, roles, or algorithms,

• take ownership of their thinking and direction,

• articulate a narrative that aligns who they are with how they act.
  
  

Within OYS, this practice is applied through structured diagnosis, formation, and expression — rather than through motivation or surface-level storytelling.

One of the key frameworks used in this process is the Congruence Wheel® — also registered intellectual property — which helps make alignment between identity, decisions, narrative, and expression explicit and workable.

Authority is one of the OYS domains where this practice becomes visible and consequential.

OYS works through a clear internal logic:

• Thinking — a defined point of view on authority, identity, and narrative.

• Method — a codified approach that translates philosophy into frameworks and structure.

• Diagnostics — assessments that establish clarity before action.

• Programs — bounded environments where the method is applied.

This sequence is intentional. OYS diagnoses before it develops, and develops before it scales.

Own Your Story is founded by ianka fleerackers

The philosophy, language, and method behind OYS originate from her work and thinking. She remains the source and custodian of the underlying philosophy (O.W.N.) and the method derived from it.

ianka currently executes a significant part of the programs and intellectual work within OYS. At the same time, the company is intentionally designed so that execution can expand beyond the founder over time, without diluting coherence or standards.

Delivery, facilitation, and operational support are organised through structure rather than personal dependency.

OYS is for people who:

• are willing to take responsibility for how they think and decide,

• want authority that is congruent rather than performative,

• understand that clarity precedes visibility and scale.

OYS is not for people who:

• are looking for tactics without ownership,

• want visibility without integration,

• expect motivation instead of structure.

Today, OYS applies its philosophy and method primarily to the domain of authority.

Other domains — such as career development, transitions, and long-term work identity — are understood as natural extensions of the same underlying philosophy and practice.

The company is designed to grow across these domains without fragmenting its thinking.