Who Is Johanna Karlström
Johanna Karlström is a leadership coach, behavioral scientist, and entrepreneur dedicated to helping leaders grow with clarity, confidence, and purpose. As the Founder of The Island Coach, she works with executives, teams, and women leaders to strengthen self-leadership, collaboration, and sustainable performance. Her work bridges psychology, business strategy, and real-world leadership, with a strong focus on human potential, joy, and long-term impact.
In the Åland Islands, where the rhythm of the Baltic Sea shapes both pace and perspective, Johanna Karlström has developed a leadership philosophy grounded in self-leadership, behavioral science, and human connection. Her journey moves fluidly between demanding, high-risk industries and deeply human coaching environments, united by a single conviction: people thrive when clarity, empathy, and purpose align.
Today, Johanna is the Founder and Owner of The Island Coach, where she works with leaders, teams, and organizations seeking not only performance, but sustainable growth anchored in joy, flow, and responsibility. Her work reflects a career built at the intersection of psychology, entrepreneurship, and real-world leadership.
Where Curiosity Meets Responsibility
Johanna’s professional foundation combines academic rigor with lived experience. She holds a Master of Science in Psychology from Mid Sweden University and is currently completing a Master’s degree in Digital Business Strategy at Linnaeus University. Alongside her academic path, an entrepreneurial instinct emerged early, one that consistently questioned conventional structures and expectations.
Before coaching became her primary focus, Johanna ran her own equine-based event and wellbeing business, working closely with youth, groups, and individuals in environments designed to build confidence, emotional awareness, and mental health. These formative years shaped her people-centered approach to leadership, one that values presence as much as performance.
Leadership in Complex Environments
Johanna’s career took a defining turn when she entered the maritime insurance sector, joining Alandia Försäkring as a Loss Prevention Executive. Recruited for her expertise in human factors and behavioral science, she brought a perspective that was uncommon in the industry and ultimately transformative.
Between 2019 and 2024, Johanna played a key role in building Alandia’s Loss Prevention function from the ground up. She led and contributed to several industry-first initiatives, including global mental health awareness programs, trauma-informed training concepts, international webinars, and leadership communication platforms.
Her work emphasized culture over compliance and people over process, an approach that earned trust across customers, partners, and senior leadership. As one senior maritime executive noted, “Johanna has the courage to challenge the status quo, always constructively, and creates an atmosphere where people feel both supported and inspired to grow.”
From Industry Transformation to Individual Growth
While Johanna’s impact within maritime insurance was substantial, her broader calling continued to draw her toward entrepreneurship and coaching. In 2023, she founded The Island Coach and transitioned fully into work that integrates behavioral science with executive coaching, team performance, and leadership development.
Through her coaching practice, Johanna supports executives navigating growth and complexity, teams seeking stronger engagement and collaboration, and women leaders developing confidence, clarity, and self-trust. Her work is practical, reflective, and deeply human.
Clients often highlight her ability to translate complex psychological insights into clear, actionable strategies delivered with warmth, structure, and accountability. One client shared, “Johanna was born to be a coach. She sees patterns quickly, explains them clearly, and helps you move forward with confidence.”
Johanna is also an active member of international coaching and leadership communities, contributing to discussions on trauma-informed leadership, emotional intelligence, and sustainable performance across industries.
Leadership Philosophy: Self-Leadership First
At the core of Johanna’s work is a belief that leadership begins internally. She consistently explores themes of self-image, cognitive flexibility, emotional regulation, and responsibility, both in her coaching and in her thought leadership.
Drawing on behavioral science, she encourages leaders to understand how stress, energy, and mental resources influence decision-making. Her perspective is grounded and compassionate. Growth does not require perfection, but awareness, recovery, and intention.
This approach resonates particularly with women leaders who balance high expectations while building businesses, careers, and families. Johanna creates space for ambition without burnout, and for success without self-betrayal.
Vision for the Future: Leadership with Life Quality
Based in the Åland archipelago, Johanna continues to expand The Island Coach locally and internationally. She offers executive coaching, team workshops, online programs, and retreats designed to reconnect leaders with clarity and purpose. Her vision is clear: leadership should support life, not consume it.
Looking ahead, Johanna remains committed to building environments where individuals and organizations grow through trust, responsibility, and human understanding. Her journey reflects a rare balance of analytical depth and emotional intelligence, one that continues to shape leaders across sectors.
Editorial Note
Johanna Karlström’s story is not defined by a single role, but by her ability to bridge worlds between industry and humanity, strategy and psychology, ambition and presence. Her work reminds us that the most effective leaders are those who cultivate self-leadership first and who understand that sustainable success is built on clarity, courage, and care.
