SALT
Skills – Coaching & Training
AI* – Ayurveda + Intelligence
LanguagE – English
Translation – The process

Hello you! I’m Hester.
I stand for grounded strength. My work brings together ancient wisdom, Ayurveda, modern life sciences, and lived experience — for those who
have already decided to move forward.
I don’t persuade ambivalence.
I work with commitment.
From that place, we connect with what matters, communicate with clarity, and co-create change that holds — personally and professionally.
South African roots. Street-smart. Curious.
An activist — with a cause.
A rebel — in service of what’s big, bold and real.
Rhinos, road trips, music, and Marma Point massage keep me grounded and moving forward
SALT began as Skills and Language Training in 2003.
Some of you have been walking Hester Street with me since then.
Today, SALT stands for: Skills. Ayurveda. Language. Translation.
This is where modern professional development meets timeless insight.
The tools are still practical.
The standards are still high.
The work has become more embodied.
My studies in Ayurveda in India didn’t replace SALT — they strengthened it.
Now we translate more than language:
Pressure into presence.
Performance into grounded staying power.
Knowledge into lived skill.
Inspired by “das Salz in der Suppe” — the element that brings depth and balance.
Still SALT, just a small shift in “flavour” with a profound shift in experience.

Skills Coaching and Training
Ayurveda Intelligence*
Language
Translation
Skills coaching and training is personal mastery with a pinch of Ayurveda salt.
It’s about enhancing what you’ve already got — your skills, your choices, your voice, and inter-cultural abilities. You’ll confidently “strut your stuff” while walking, talking and co-creating in other streets.
Personal Mastery = grounded competence
Personal Mastery is about having your feet firmly on the ground when life throws curved balls at you.
It’s about is about being steady. Steady inside yourself, inside complexity, inside change,
and in conversations.
Ayurveda Intelligence* = inner calibration
Why Ayurveda? – Because sometimes the bravest and most powerful act is choosing one aligned way, not forever, just enough to stop the slip-sliding away and walking to your destination realigned and steadily.
I work with non-native English speakers — professionals, individuals, and expats — looking to communicate with clarity and presence – in international and intercultural spaces. I also do translations (DE to EN) and proofreading.

Connect
Communicate
Co-create
+
Ayurveda
Ayurveda isn’t an altar on a shelf — it’s a map based on 5000 years of research.
A way of sensing the current beneath the noise. Of noticing who’s rushing, who’s burning, who’s holding steady.
Connection finds its ground. Communication lowers its voice. Co-Creation stays in the room.
When the Doshas – Vata, Pitta, Kapha – align, everything else moves forward with ease.
The 3 C’s stop being something to achieve — and start being something you live.
Linger a while. Step inside.
Connection isn’t a handshake or a hashtag.
It’s what happens when the nervous system loosens its grip.
Ayurveda Intelligence reads the street before words land — so that connection moves safely within and between us.
Human beings haven’t changed much.
We still need to feel seen, heard, and understood. Connecting through gentle realignment of systems – brings us back to our human-ness – and the conversation can start.
Communication doesn’t start with words.
It starts underneath — with regulation, or the lack of it.
Ayurveda Intelligence shows what’s really doing the talking: speed, pressure, irritation, shutdown and those “I’m fine” silences.
Clear communication – the re-learning of voice and words is Personal Mastery. When regulated clarity is in the room, connection and collaboration join the conversation. Clarity is the bonding agent that holds people together.
Collaboration isn’t agreement.
It’s co-creation without anyone shouting directions from the back seat.
AI* also embraces differences. Cultures, skills, temperaments and experiences are welcome. No power games. No shutdowns. No burnout.
When collaboration works, accountability replaces over-functioning and friction.
The car stays on the road – no swerving – only serving — and we can enjoy the journey much more than travelling it alone.

Welcome to Hester Street!
A street filled with laughter and chatter, wafts of cooking and insence, music and Ohms, sparkles and street dogs, stories, wisdom and lots of refelection.
Why Hester Street and One Way?
Hester Street is about choosing your direction in the midst of life’s noise — and committing to it with grounded, intuitive strength.
Too many different directions fragment and overwhelm us.
Hester Street is a quiet rebellion against that.
Tucked away, in between the rythmic hustle of life’s day-to-day bustle, are quiet little corners. Spaces where you can pause, breathe, and step out of the noise and give yourself a treat.
Here, you can connect with yourself, communicate with the those around you, and co-create healthy experiences.
That’s exactly the feeling I want for you and me: a space that’s enthusiastically alive with possibility, but also a place to linger, explore, and discover your own sense of calm and clarity.
This is where my work happens – at the intersection of where you are now, and where you want to go.
Step in and browse when you’re ready.
Listening suggestion: Head full of doubt, road full of promise – The Avett Brothers
PS – I found my street in China Town – NYC
Hester Street Wisdoms are an intergral fun and relateable part of developing your personal mastery.
Rooted in personal experiences my stories have a found a “moral to the story” which I have translated into street-kid, street-wise wisdoms.
I have woven in the ancient principles of Ayurveda and modern life-science methodologies, trusting that you will discover new (and hopefully) inspiring ways of living life. I’ve also included some listening suggestions to connect with your audio senses.
Digging In
A childhood story with a lesson learnt
from the Kalahari incl. some tips on how
to handle the heat when life gets hot.
From Adaptive to Grounded Performer
How early adaptation turns into high performance – and how to avoid the consequences.
Somewhere In-Between
Street-kid poetry on learning the skill of pausing and thriving in the spaces in-between.
Click on the arrow for the music link.
From Adaptive Child to Grounded Adult – finally! Finally Old Enough
Back to Life – Life in real time, it’s in your hands!
Change – How bad, how good does it need to get?
Everybody Hurts – Hang on. You’re not alone.
It doesn’t have to be like this.
Reasons for Waiting – So here’s hoping you’ve faith in impossible schemes.
Human – because we’re all only human – perfectly imperfect.
9 – 5 – A reminder!
Father and Son – the contradiction of taking your time and then, not, getting started and knowing it is time to make a change.
Solid Ground – How does it feel when it’s quiet and calm?
How will it feel when it’s time to move on?
Anxiety – Someone I used to know …
Born to be Alive– It’s so good to be alive and thrive!
Insomnia– Find your calm. Find your peace, here!
Too Blessed to be Stressed – I just want to be free to be me.
Because it works at the level where change actually happens.
This isn’t mindset coaching, performance optimisation, or problem-solving from the neck up. It’s system-level work — nervous system, voice, choice-making — trained in real time. You don’t just understand more; you respond differently. And that difference holds under pressure.
This is skills coaching and training, not treatment.
The focus isn’t on diagnosis, healing the past, or symptom management, but on building present-moment capacity — regulation, communication, and choice. Personal material may arise, but it’s always worked with in service of skill, agency, and how you show up in real life.
Ayurveda is a practical system for understanding how different bodies, nervous systems, and minds function under pressure.
Rather than over-diagnosing behaviour, it looks at patterns of movement, energy, and stability — and how these show up in your life and health. On Hester Street, Ayurveda is an applied intelligence that helps you work with your wiring instead of against it.
Because your voice is where your inner wiring meets the world.
It carries regulation, confidence, and clarity long before words land. Voice training develops range, resonance, and responsiveness — so you can speak without strain, hold your ground without force, and stay connected even when the stakes are high. This isn’t about sounding better; it’s about being heard without losing yourself
Because meaning doesn’t travel on words alone.
Intercultural skills train your ability to read context, navigate difference, and communicate across unspoken norms — without over-adapting or misunderstanding intent. In international and diverse environments, staying grounded in yourself while staying reachable to others is a skill, not a personality trait.
This work is for people who want to grow.
It’s for you, willing to slow down enough to notice your patterns, practise new responses, and take responsibility for how you show up with yourself and others.
This is not for people looking for quick fixes, motivation boosts, or someone to tell them what to do.
If you want shortcuts, surface solutions, or change without engagement, Hester Street isn’t for you.
Skills that hold under pressure aren’t learned once — they’re trained over time.
Commitment creates continuity, and continuity is what allows your system to stabilise, integrate, and respond differently when it actually matters. Without commitment, insight stays interesting. With it, change becomes embodied. No commitment, no desired outcomes. Commitment to your Personal Mastery requires you to regularly show up, and actively integrate your new skills into your daily life.
Investment reflects depth, continuity, and level of engagement.
1:1 work sits at the higher end, with group and team formats offering different entry points. Pricing is transparent and discussed upfront — because this is a partnership, not a purchase. If that feels uncomfortable, that’s usually information worth listening to.
Clients report more clarity, steadier regulation, and stronger communication under stress.
Decisions become cleaner. Conversations hold. Sustained energy. Over time, this translates into better leadership, healthier relationships, and a felt sense of agency — not because life gets quieter, but because you can stay present when it doesn’t.
The work happens 1:1, in groups, with teams, and through retreats.
Each format is designed to meet different needs, but the principle stays the same: experiential, relational, and grounded in practice. Sessions are structured yet responsive, always working with what’s present — in the room, in the body, and in the moment.
Coaching sessions and small group training can be conducted online (ensuring accessibility, convenience and regularity).