Mercedes Noam Kostucki

Freedom, Creation and Transformation


As far as I can remember, I've had the feeling to have been born on a foreign planet. I spent my life conducting experiments on myself and studying how people function.

This led to me study about all sorts of topics related directly or indirectly to how humans operate at different levels. Once I've learned enough about a topic to help others create their own successes, I move to new areas of research.

You will find here a retrospective timeline of my explorations.  

MERCEDES comes from Latin and means “Lady of Mercy”

Mercy is compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm

To me, this is a beautiful integration of opposites, like HiR (Him & Her)

Mercy comes from the Latin MERCED, which means “Reward”

I chose this name because it connects me with my grandfather who inspired me to be free, Costa Rica that became my home and where I was reborn, and the deeper meaning of the name as an expression of who I am.

NOAM comes the Hebrew NAIM which means gentle and tender

This is my birth name. When I started my transition, my biological mother said “what did I do for you to end up like this?”

I told her “you chose the name Noam… if you wanted a macho alpha guy you should have chosen Brutus or Rex”

I keep this name because it is still meaningful to me and represents haoriginatinf essence of who I am.

KOSTUCKI comes the Polish General Tadeuz Kościuszko

When Jews were asked to chose a last name, my family chose to honor this Polish General who invited Jews to live safely and prosper in Poland.

This is a name that represents for me the integration of opposite because like Mercy, it is about combining strength and gentleness.

How to say my name?

For English speaker, you can use Mercedes or Mercy

For Spanish speaker, you can use Mercedes, Merce or Mece

For people who have a hard time letting go of the past, you can use Noam

For people who like dramatic entrance, you can use Lady Kostucki of Mercyshire

EMBODIMENT (2023)

  • Creating new professional and personal dreams

  • Maintaining excellence at HiR Fine Dining

  • Embodying myself in all aspects of my professional and personal lives

Highlights

HEALTH & WELLBEING (2022)

  • Growing back HiR Fine Dining and Business Mentoring after COVID

  • Healing my body and and giving it time for change

  • Working through emotions

Highlights

  • Best year for HiR Fine Dining

  • Maintained #1 spot on TripAdvisor for Tamarindo for the 6th year consecutively

  • Got a new passport and ID that reflects my new self expression

  • Recovery from surgery

CELEBRATING FEMININITY (2021)

  • Focus on my personal transition

  • Transforming my house into a home

  • Working in fashion and activism

Highlights

  • Passed the million likes on TikTok

  • Finished building my home

  • Getting breast implants, laser treatment and hormones

  • Launching my 1st line of fashion

  • Featured on ZoominTV for their Local Heroes series

EMBRASSING THE UNKNOWN (2020)

  • Supporting my community through the COVID pandemic

  • Adapting the business to fit the COVID pandemic

  • Living the feminine expression of my being

Highlights

  • Opening HiR Fine Dining in the capital city and reachnig #30 best restaurant

  • Creating a fashion show with men in women’s clothes that caught national interest

  • Becoming Tiktok famous in Costa Rica for activism around gender fluidity

  • Publishing my 10th book titled TRANSGRESSION

  • Featured Interview in FineDiningLovers

  • Featured in various Costa Rican national papers and TV shows

MASTERY & REBIRTH (2019)

  • Perfecting the HiR Fine Dining experience

  • Finishing the physical space to be sustainable, beautiful and functional

  • Exploration of gender identity, sexuality and gender expression

Highlights

  • Reaching #1 fine dining restaurant in Guanacaste on TripAdvisor

  • Reaching #1 restaurant out of 877 all categories combined in Guanacaste on TripAdvisor

  • USA Cooking Tour in 8 cities

  • Documentary on Costa Rica National TV about HiR Fine Dining

  • 5 weeks exploration (Costa Rica, USA, Philippines) of the integration of masculine and feminine in gender identity, gender expression and sexuality

  • 4 Photo shoots to explore the integration of the masculine and feminine in fashion

  • Attending the Costa Rica Fashion Week and getting a Jewelry maker as the first brand I represent (then later, I got 3 more)

  • First video shoot representing the Tequila company Cabo Unico

  • I did my first two Ayahuasca ceremonies and a San Pedro ceremony

  • I started taking dance classes to prepare for 2020

BUILDING ROOTS (2018)

  • Creation of the physical space for my home and HiR Fine Dining

  • Nurturing a community of neighbors and friends

  • Mastery and service

Highlights

  • Reaching #1 Fine Dining restaurant in Guanacaste on TripAdvisor

  • Reaching #1 Best Rated restaurant in Costa Rica on OpenTable

  • Cooking HiR Fine Dining experiences in Los Angeles and New York

  • Publishing the book “Accessible Fine Dining

EVERYTHING IS FOOD (2017)

  • Creation of Jungle Culinary Adventure

  • Unfolding vs creating

  • Planting roots

Highlights

  • "1 of 25 dishes to travel around the world for" out of 40,000 restaurants by Open Table - https://willflyforfood.opentable.com/

  • In 6 months HiR Fine Dining reached #4 best fine dining in Guanacaste on TripAdvisor

  • Creation of a physical space in Costa Rica (in progress)

  • Business and spiritual coaching

HOW TO LIVE WITH MORE MAGIC (2016)

  • I've gone deep into creating new meditations

  • I've explored how we experience life as creators vs observers, how we decide and whether we decide

  • I've explored create remote businesses and having a global impact while living outside of big cities

  • I've explored laziness and productivity

  • I've explored polyamory, love, intimacy, sex and pleasure

Highlights

  • Helping people create more magical lives through self directed learning

  • Helping health & wellness entrepreneurs create abundance in happiness, impact and wealth (radio show) - Abundance Cubed

  • Creating a physical space in Costa Rica to incubate magic and masterpieces

  • Exploring who we are and how we decide (creative and artistic adventure) - Snake Bite

  • Helping world eat better - my food porn has helped over 1,000,000 people make their mind about where to eat

HOW TO CREATE MASTERPIECES (2014 - 2015)

  • I've gone deep into what makes a masterpiece, what makes the difference between ordinary and extraordinary, what creates significance

  • I've explored what it takes to create masterpieces and how one can practice the art of creating masterpieces

  • I've explored how to communicate a masterpiece in a way that resonates with investors and clients

  • I've explored how to create a masterpiece of oneself

Highlights

  • Having helped Esther Perel deliver the 30th most viewed TED talk, she asked me for help with her 2nd TED talk at the main event in Vancouver which is already 55th most viewed with over 6,000,000 views

  • Helping Patryk Wezowski raised $500,000 in 8 weeks

  • Being invited to speaking at Harvard about Entrepreneurship at one of their international conference

  • My first book being made required reading at the Fashion Institute of Technology (NYC, USA) and being asked to deliver bi-annual lectures

  • My photography was exhibited at two art fairs in Brussels, at the European Union's Innovation Conference and the few unsold pieces are in gallery.

  • I attended two 10 days silent meditation retreats, I went on a 3 months retreat alone in Morocco and two 3 months retreats alone in Costa Rica.

HOW TO MAKE MONEY FROM DOING GOOD AND GROW COMPANIES (2009 - 2013)

  • I've gone deep into the idea that making money doesn't have to be a bad thing and that companies can be amazing places to work at

  • I've explored how companies, charities, and social enterprises make money from doing good

  • I've explored what how to build tech companies from nothing to success

  • I've explored what limits businesses and how to make them grow

Highlights

  • Receiving the UK Business Speaker of the year runner up Award for a talk about making money from doing good

  • Being invited to speak twice at TED - when selfishness is the best reason to cooperate - and - making money from doing good

  • Writing my first book on personal branding, my second book on business beliefs and my third book on how to find mentors (featured in the Standford Technology Ventures Program)

  • Receiving a Honorary Degree from Hofstra University (NY, USA) - Bachelor in Business Administration

  • At the peak, I delivered over 80 days of training a year and spoke at over 30 conferences a year.

  • Receiving the Best Impromptu Speaker Award by Toastmasters in Poland

HOW TO BE A LEADER, AND COMMUNICATE WITH INFLUENCE (2007 - 2008)

  • I've gone deep into what makes people want to follow someone, and what makes people get their ideas heard

  • I've explored the lives of successful leaders and the teachings of great influencers

  • I've explored how the mind works, how it responds to different stimuli and how we interact with other people

  • I've explored how organizations work at a broad level and how people operate within them

Highlights

  • Getting my first executive coaching client at age 20 - the Australia Managing Director of a real estate company that was building suburbs around Warsaw

  • Doing my first two corporate workshops for multinationals - Tata Consultancy Services and HP

  • Chairing my first 4 days conference with over 250 people

  • Starting my company without a degree, while living in Poland where I didn't speak the language and didn't know anyone else but the girl I was dating

HOW TO BUILD TEAMS, AND MANAGER PROJECTS (2004 - 2006)

  • I've gone deep into what makes team work and how teams make project happen

  • I've explored what it takes to attract great talent, select and recruit the best, build successful teams, help people grow and move on with their career

  • I've explored all the components of a success projects - financial sustainability and growth, marketing and promotion, planning and monitoring, etc

  • I've explored different ways of planning and structuring ideas so that they are understandable by others and actionable

  • I've explored how to manage my life like a successful project

Highlights

  • I led a team of over 25 people and helped recruits over 200 people in 4 countries

  • I started university in the UK dropped out of university

  • I delivered training at my first international conference with over 250 people

  • I was invited to do 6 weeks of coaching and training for a student organization at Yale University

  • I started my first company in Singapore through a venture management program run by former BCG & McKinsey consultants

  • I did my first two pieces of consulting and starting a charity as a result