About
Carole Stromboni
Friendship coach, author, and founder of The Friendship Practice. I work with adults online, wherever they are in the world.
Why friendship
I believe friendship is one of the things that makes life feel fully alive.
I'm Carole Stromboni. Friendship is one of the most important parts of my life, not as an abstract value, but as something I've thought about seriously, practiced deliberately, and gotten genuinely good at.
I believe that at the end of a life, what stays with us is not the money we made, the clothes we bought, or the furniture we owned. What stays are the people: who we traveled with, who we had great meals with and watched funny TV shows next to, who we called, who showed up, and who made ordinary days feel special.
That belief is what The Friendship Practice is built on.
Friendship is not something that falls into your lap. It's something you practice.
What I do
Friendship doesn't happen on its own. It's something you tend to.
My work is about one thing: helping adults close the gap between wanting more from their friendships and actually doing something about it. When we were younger, we simply had more time to spend together. When we grow up, we have more responsibilities and less time to play with each other.
The Friendship Practice helps you make time, make a plan, and commit to getting back to basics: connecting with humans in meaningful ways, so you have people by your side through the ups and downs of life, and so you can be there for them.
My experience
Living between continents taught me that friendship does not happen by accident.
Splitting my time between Hawaii and Paris means I've had to make new friends in new places more times than most people. I've also had to keep friendships alive across time zones, long gaps, and real distance, which forced me to learn, much earlier than I might have otherwise, that maintaining connection requires actual practice.
Reconnecting with old friends after years of silence, following up when something feels warm, building closeness across distance: these are not personality traits. They are skills I developed because I needed them.
I've also made many of the mistakes I now help other people avoid: waiting too long to reach out, letting good connections drift, and assuming that if a friendship were real, it would continue on its own.
Who I work with
Most of the adults I work with are not struggling with social skills.
They are navigating a specific situation: a move to a new city, remote work that removed the social structure they relied on, a life phase where existing friendships have started to fade, new parenthood, or rebuilding after an important friendship ended.
Making friends as a kid was easy and fun, but as an adult? It's a whole different story. It can feel awkward and hopeless. But you know what? So many adults feel this way. You are not alone, and you are not hopeless. There are so many awesome people out there who would love to be your friend.
What the people I work with share is that they know what they want: more real connection. What they need is a clearer structure to act on it. The obstacle is rarely insight. It is follow-through.
I work with clients online, one-on-one, wherever they are. Sessions are in English.
My approach
Practical, not inspirational.
My work has always been about helping people turn good intentions into concrete action. Knowing what to do is rarely the obstacle. Doing it, showing up, following through, making the plan real, is where most people get stuck.
The Friendship Practice is built on that same principle. Every session ends with specific, real-life actions: who to reach out to, what to say, when to do it. Not scripts. Not hacks. Just clarity about what you want, and a structure to help you act on it.
This is coaching, not therapy. I do not treat mental health conditions, provide diagnoses, or offer crisis support. The work is practical, forward-looking, and grounded in what is actually happening in your friendship life right now.
Background
Other work
I am the author of Innover en pratique (Innovation in Practice), published by Eyrolles, a leading French professional publisher. I also hosted a 77-episode podcast on innovation, change, and how people move forward.
I founded Bonjour Pickleball, where I write about pickleball trips in France, places to play, and the communities that form around a court. It is another way I think about friendship: through shared experiences, new places, and the connections that happen when people show up to the same thing twice.
The Friendship Practice brings these threads together: relationships, action, follow-through, and the belief that a full life is built on the people we choose to keep close.
Work with me
Practice friendship on better foundations.
The best place to start is the free 7-day Friendship Challenge. It helps you look clearly at your friendship life before trying to fix it. After the challenge, I'll send a short follow-up series about The Friendship Practice and how to join the early list for the next coaching spot.