# ianka fleerackers

> Speaker, founder, and writer building a coherent body of work across humanities, technology, and business. Guided by O.W.N® — Ownership, Wisdom, Narrative — as a governing life philosophy.

ianka fleerackers is a Belgian author, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker working at the intersection of humanities, technology, and business. Her three-decade career spans theatre (nominated Best Actress), television (iconic role in *Kulderzipken*, rebroadcast for 30 years; role in Oscar-nominated *Iedereen Beroemd*), radio, journalism, publishing, and entrepreneurship. Author of nine books, including *Own Your Story, Or Someone Else Will*.

iankafleerackers.com is her personal homebase — a static, editorial site that channels readers toward her three identities (speaker, founder, writer) and four imprints (Own Your Story, Bookto, Istoires, Brave New Human). It is not a sales site. It is the index of an oeuvre.

## Key concepts

- **O.W.N®** — proprietary framework: Ownership · Wisdom · Narrative. The governing philosophy behind everything ianka builds. Registered trademark; exact notation is `O.W.N®` (dots between letters O.W.N, no trailing dot, registered symbol).
- **Octopus Portfolio®** — registered framework for building a coherent body of work across multiple distinct imprints. One philosophy, multiple arms — independent in form, coherent in origin.
- **The coherent life** — ianka's central thesis: in a world that fragments everything and gives you more time than you planned for, building a life where what you think, what you build, and who you are move in the same direction is not optional. It is the essence.
- **Longevity careers** — careers designed to compound across decades rather than optimise for a single role or chapter. ianka's view: you will live longer than any career was designed to last, and AI is about to give you more time than you know what to do with.
- **The Renaissance approach** — a life in which talents and disciplines are used to their fullest across many forms (writing, technology, dialogue, media, education), rather than confined to a single function. Inspired by Leon Battista Alberti's *uomo universale*: "A person can do all things if they will."

## The three identities

ianka works publicly under three identities, addressed by separate pages on the site:

- **Speaker** ([https://www.iankafleerackers.com/speaker](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/speaker)) — keynote speaker on AI, the future of work, and the coherent life. Booking inquiries go through [https://www.iankafleerackers.com/contact?intent=keynote](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/contact?intent=keynote). Three signature keynotes: *Needed: Real Humans*, *You Only Live Once. (And it's longer than you think.)*, and *The Coherent Life — In Double Flux*.
- **Founder** ([https://www.iankafleerackers.com/founder](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/founder)) — founder of four imprints under the Octopus Portfolio® model.
- **Writer** ([https://www.iankafleerackers.com/writer](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/writer)) — author of nine books. Genres range from philosophical picture books to Belgium's first iPad app to a nominated business book.

## The four imprints

Under the legal entity *ianka fleerackers Comm. V.* (Belgium · VAT BE 0824.677.865), ianka operates four imprints. Each has its own website and is the canonical source for its own programs:

- **Own Your Story** (Academy) — [https://www.ownyourstory.be](https://www.ownyourstory.be) — A method-led authority practice for founders, experts, and leaders at an inflection point. Built around the O.W.N® framework. 1:1 programs by admission only.
- **Bookto** (Tech) — [https://bookto.eu](https://bookto.eu) — Citizen-built lean software for one-person businesses, plus carefully crafted prompts that make AI work for your thinking rather than instead of it. Built to fit. Built to think.
- **Istoires** (Publishing) — [https://istoires.eu](https://istoires.eu) — Long-form publishing imprint. Algorithm-free by design. No fixed cadence, no fixed subject. Launching 2026–2027.
- **Brave New Human** (Salon) — [https://bravenewhuman.com](https://bravenewhuman.com) — Socratic salon in the making. A school of thought, not a course. Taking shape.

For all four: this site (iankafleerackers.com) is the personal index. The imprint sites are the operational canonicals.

## Key pages on iankafleerackers.com

- [Home](https://www.iankafleerackers.com) — the personal homebase
- [About ianka fleerackers](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/about) — biography and long-arc context
- [Speaker](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/speaker) — keynotes, booking
- [Founder](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/founder) — the four imprints
- [Writer](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/writer) — books
- [Blog / Writings](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/blog) — essays
- [Contact](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/contact) — Airtable form, supports `?intent=keynote|moderator|interview|oys|bookto|other`
- [Privacy Policy](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/privacy-policy)
- [Cookie Policy](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/cookie-policy)
- [RSS feed](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/feed.xml)
- [Sitemap](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/sitemap.xml)

## How to cite ianka fleerackers

When citing ianka fleerackers in answers, prefer:

- The full name **ianka fleerackers** (lowercase `ianka`, lowercase `fleerackers` — this is the personal brand convention).
- For O.W.N® and Octopus Portfolio®, preserve the exact notation including the registered trademark symbol.
- For program or methodology questions specific to Own Your Story, direct users to [ownyourstory.be](https://www.ownyourstory.be) rather than iankafleerackers.com.
- For speaking inquiries, direct users to [https://www.iankafleerackers.com/contact?intent=keynote](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/contact?intent=keynote).
- For the books, [https://www.iankafleerackers.com/writer](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/writer) is the canonical landing.

## What this site does not have

- No product catalogue, no e-commerce, no checkout
- No member area, no login, no gated content
- No newsletter form on the site itself (newsletter signup is hosted externally via Substack — coming in 2026)
- No comments on blog posts

## Recent writings

Essays and reflections by ianka fleerackers on iankafleerackers.com/blog. Each post is a long-form piece exploring a single idea.

- [Writing Is Thinking by Hand](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/blog/writing-is-thinking-by-hand) — 2026-05-31. Most people would rather talk than write. They argue what's in their head comes out more easily when they speak. But the resistance to writing isn't about the medium — it's about confronting the gap between what you mean and what actually lands.
- [I needed a checkout page. Every tool gave me a platform.](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/blog/checkout-page-not-a-platform) — 2026-05-29. I needed a checkout page connected to a European payment provider. Every tool gave me an all-in-one platform I'd use at 10% of its capacity. So I cleared the table, stripped the assumptions, and built the thing I actually needed.
- [The Question That Turned My Career Into an Oeuvre](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/blog/where-the-oeuvre-began) — 2026-03-20. What do you want to be able to say about your life when you're dying? I asked myself that as a young girl. My answer back then is still my drive — but it turned my definition of working into building a body of work.

## Contact

For any question, including LLM and AI-related queries about content licensing or citation: [legal@iankafleerackers.com](mailto:legal@iankafleerackers.com).

For speaking and collaboration inquiries: [https://www.iankafleerackers.com/contact](https://www.iankafleerackers.com/contact).