Adelina Popa, founder of Parenting Ads, Social Moms and TPH Agency, talks about entrepreneurship, motherhood, authentic leadership and the lessons that have shaped her personal and professional journey.
Adelina Popa (formerly Dondorici) is the founder and owner of Parenting Ads, Social Moms, and TPH Agency, three businesses developed around the parenting niche and communities dedicated to parents. Over the years, she has built projects that bring together brands, experts, and parents in a space for dialogue, information, and support.
She is currently studying Psychology, as part of a personal and professional exploration that is opening new meaningful directions for the future. Although she does not yet clearly define her next professional chapter, she says she is at a moment in which she allows herself to enjoy the process of learning and rediscovery.
She deeply believes in people and in the idea that each of us carries “gold” within. One of the values that guides her journey is the choice to always look toward the potential and the inner brilliance of others.
C&B: If we were to look at the narrative thread of your career, what were the key moments that defined you?
Adelina Popa: Looking back, I think the narrative thread of my journey—both professional and personal—has, above all, to do with people. Just the other day, a quote from Tara Westover’s book Educated came back to my mind. It’s a passage that I believe everyone should hear or read at least once in their lifetime. I’ll share it below. Like Tara, I have been fortunate that, throughout my life, certain people saw in me—at different moments—more than I was able to see in myself. As Tara said, they saw the gold in me. And that helped me, each time, to spread my wings toward something greater.
“You’re not fool’s gold that shines only in the light. Whoever you become, whatever you transform into, you have always been that person. It was always inside you. Not at Cambridge. In you. You are gold. And if you return to BYU or even to the mountain you came from, you won’t be someone else. Others may look at you differently, perhaps even you will look at yourself differently—even gold can appear dull if the light isn’t right—but that is the illusion. And it has always been that way.”
Today I realize that these people and these encounters were the real key moments in my journey. It’s very clear to me now that when someone shows you who you could become, you slowly begin to find the courage to become that person.
C&B: What has been the most difficult moment in your journey so far, and how did you overcome it?
Adelina Popa: The most difficult moment in my journey—and paradoxically also the most beautiful—was the moment I became a mother. Motherhood transformed me not only personally but also professionally. Even though I already had two solid businesses in the parenting space—the digital marketing agency Parenting Ads and the Social Moms events for parents—this experience gave both directions a new depth.
I moved from the intention of doing business simply to do business to doing business for people. And that shift comes with a lot of responsibility: to bring real value, to remain consistent in what you build, and to stay connected to the real needs of the people you create for. Motherhood taught me, perhaps more than any other experience, that the truly important things are built with meaning, patience, and care for people.
C&B: Was there a dream or ambition that always guided you, regardless of obstacles?
Adelina Popa: For most of my life so far, I felt like I was on a carousel that kept spinning so I could keep moving forward, so I could survive. There was a part of me that strongly believed that if I stepped off that carousel, I would fail, I would die. And you can give that verb—to die—any meaning you want.
I come from a very small provincial town and from a more-than-modest family, and from a very early age I knew that if I wanted to leave that place, I had to succeed somehow: to study, to work, to make constant effort. Those experiences made me extremely adaptable and resilient. From then on, I decided that I would manage on my own and become an independent and autonomous woman. I cannot say I was guided by a very clear dream. I was guided more by a natural survival instinct, a lot of ambition, and an inner kindness that helped me always see the people and opportunities around me.
Today, at 43, I feel that I’ve reached a point where I’m finally allowing myself to look toward the dream of my life. I no longer believe that success, independence, and autonomy are the things that should define us the most as people or be the measure of “making it in life.” I believe, rather, that what truly matters is being in relationships, remaining open to life, and passing forward what we have learned.
C&B: What were you like at the beginning of your journey, and how do you feel you have transformed over time?
Adelina Popa: At the beginning of my journey, I was an extremely ambitious and hardworking young woman, willing to put in sustained effort, very curious and serious. A bit of a workaholic, determined to succeed in life and to prove to others that I deserved just as much as those who had a better starting point.
I was a young woman convinced that the mind could be stronger than the environment you come from.
Today I look back at that young woman with a lot of love and admiration. At the same time, I understand much better that the environment is, indeed, very important, and I am amazed by her almost infinite resources to keep going and to reach where she is today.
Today I’m no longer driven by the need to prove anything. Although I still feel the energy of that youth within me, I try to grow from a different place, from the energy of being, not from the energy of having to.
C&B: If we met your collaborators, what do you think they would say about you?
Adelina Popa: I think they would say that I am a serious and determined person they can rely on. They would probably also say that they feel safe entrusting their projects to me because they know I treat them with responsibility and involvement.
I believe they would also say that I am original and creative, that I see opportunities and always find solutions.
At the same time, I hope they would say that I am an honest partner who cares about people, because for me collaborations are not only about results but also about trust and relationships built over time.
C&B: What was the most important decision you made that changed your trajectory?
Adelina Popa: The most important professional decision I made was starting my own business.
Even though I had already had very large responsibilities as an employee—at only 26 I was Senior Sales Manager at one of the most important quality newspapers in Romania at the time, Adevărul, managing a budget of around €1.5 million more than 15 years ago—I didn’t truly know what it meant to build and sustain a business of your own.
I hadn’t studied it and I didn’t have a clear manual. I learned along the way. I built things more intuitively and organically than by following very precise rules. I made mistakes, I learned, I made mistakes again, and I learned again. But I never thought about giving up.
I think this is one of the most valuable qualities people can have: the ability not to give up when things don’t look the way we imagined at the beginning.
That is also the lesson I would share with those who are at the beginning of their journey—and this beginning is not necessarily related to age: don’t give up when it gets hard. Stay a little longer in that “hard,” because often, by going through it, we discover that it becomes easier. And above all, remember that life and growth are never linear.
C&B: How did you build your leadership style or the way you make decisions? Was it natural or learned?
Adelina Popa: At first, it was 100% natural. I didn’t have the financial resources for leadership courses, and I didn’t think much about theoretical concepts of what a leader should look like. Later on, I did take leadership courses, but looking back, I realize that those courses don’t actually teach you how to be a leader. They can offer tools or perspectives, but the essence of leadership comes from within. In a way, you either are or you aren’t a leader.
For me, being a leader doesn’t necessarily mean learning how to manage people, but rather inspiring them. Sharing who you are and creating a space where others can discover their own potential.
I never thought too much about whether I am a good leader or exactly what my leadership style is. I simply try to remain authentic, natural, and rather relaxed than rigid in the way I work with people. And I think that, in the end, this is the form of leadership that suits me best and that I intend to keep.
C&B: What does a typical day look like for you now, and which moments bring you the most satisfaction?
Adelina Popa: My day, at this stage of my life, looks very different from how it did a year, three years, or five years ago. At the moment, on the path toward my dream, I’m studying Psychology—I go to university almost every day and dedicate a lot of time to this process of learning and discovery.
At the same time, I spend a lot of time with my daughter, as I have since she was born, and those moments remain among the most important for me.
I go to the office mainly for management meetings, and the rest of the time I try to use for things that reconnect me with myself: I sing in a choir, I read, I take walks, I give myself time to reflect and to rediscover myself.
Perhaps the greatest luxury of this period is that, from time to time, I allow myself not to have a full schedule. To leave room for silence, for thoughts, and for that kind of growth that doesn’t appear when we are constantly running, but when we pause for a moment.
C&B: What values or principles guide you in what you do, and how do you apply them day by day?
Adelina Popa: The main principle that guides me today is offering others what I would like to receive myself. I am a deeply humanistic person, and I believe that all people are born with “gold” within them. Life is what polishes that gold over time—sometimes making it shine, sometimes covering it so it seems less visible.
I choose, as much as I can, to look at the good in people and to participate in polishing that gold, as much as I can.
When I feel judgment appearing in my mind, I try to take a step back and look with more understanding at the stories, reactions, and experiences of those around me. I believe every person has their own context and their own path. Interestingly, this simple choice—to look at people with trust and openness—has attracted better and better relationships and projects into my life. I believe the way we see others shapes the way they choose to relate to us.
C&B: If you were to send a message to people who follow your example, what would it be?
Adelina Popa: My message would be to have the willingness to truly look at yourselves and accept yourselves in both your light and your darkness. The earlier in life we manage to do this, the better. Don’t skip stages, don’t rush, and don’t rush those around you. Every person has their own rhythm of growth and understanding of themselves and of life.
And above all, love. Love yourselves, love those around you, and put as much love as possible into everything you do, including your businesses. Because, in the end, the way we love, people, life, and the things we build, is the essence that gives meaning to our journey.
Adelina Popa’s story is about courage, growth and the power of staying connected to people and to the deeper meaning behind what we build. From the ambition to succeed on her own to the desire to contribute to the growth of others, her journey shows that success is not only about professional performance, but also about the ability to create relationships, communities and spaces where people can discover their true potential. In this period of rediscovery and learning, Adelina continues to look toward the future with openness, convinced that each of us carries a “gold” within that deserves to be seen and refined.
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