'We Built Huge Success.
It Nearly Cost Us Everything.'
- Pernille & Eman (Our Founders)
Baya was created by ambitious women who found the right formula to success after they explored a multitude of not-so-successful ways.
The Creation of Baya.
What happened before Baya
Between our Founders, Pernille and Eman, they built and scaled large operations, led large teams, sat in boardrooms, expanded brands, opened centres and managed complex growth. They wore all the hats any founder could wear.
They were the absorbers, the fixers, the ones who could 'handle it'. They were praised for their capacity and absorbed more than any human should have. Until their bodies and nervous systems forced them to pay attention. One of them ended up in hospital, the other emotionally shut down.
They had business advisors, strategy and a truckload of ambition but didn’t have a space where they could be both powerful and human at the same time. They had no one walking beside them as equals.
That absence mattered. It forced them to rethink how success is meant to be built.
That's why they created what they wished they had available to them.
A space where ambitious women can grow without sacrificing themselves.
What changed
Pernille and Eman began doing the deeper work. Identity work, belief upgrades, boundary setting, recalibrating their nervous system and learning to lead with self confidence.
They asked themselves, 'who do I need to become?' and 'how do I build from alignment?'. That shift changed everything.
They became better humans, better leaders, made better life decisions, built businesses that can actually hold their ambition, grew knowing how important THEY are in the whole equation.
Meet Eman & Pernille
Eman Serhan
Eman is a founder, strategist, and educator who builds businesses that matter.
From growing Early Learning Centres across nine locations to creating an education platform supporting children in Australia and internationally, she knows what it takes to scale with impact.
At Baya, Eman brings energy, clarity, and confidence, helping women founders grow their presence, lead authentically, and step fully into their self-trust.
Pernille Sejer
Pernille is a founder, coach and a former fashion executive with over two decades of industry experience.
After facing burnout, she studied the science of stress, the nervous system, and human behaviour, gaining a deeper understanding of the pressures that sit behind high achievement.
At Baya, Pernille brings insight, perspective, and practical tools that help female founders maintain their ambition and build businesses that allow them to grow sustainably.
What We Discovered
We discovered that sustainable success must be built on self-alignment and requires deeper work. The kind of work that most founders are never taught.
It took courage to evolve beyond the version of ourselves that built the first level of success.
Higher standards, grounded decision making and self-respecting boundaries, is the work that allows ambition to authentically expand. It is the work we now build everything around.
Where the name Baya
originates from
Baya is a word that appears across different cultures and languages, often connected to speech, expression, and voice.
We were drawn to its resonance.
Across traditions, it carries associations with speaking, revealing, and being heard, themes that reflect what Baya stands for.
For us, the name reflects something simple and essential:
- A space where women speak honestly
- Think clearly
- Are heard fully and
- Expand without being moderated
Baya represents voice. Full Presence, Full Power.
Baya was created
by Founders for Founders
Where ambitious women grow together.
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We acknowledge the traditional custodians of Australia, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, our First Nations People and pay our respect to elders past, present and emerging.
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