In life, turning points don't always happen dramatically; sometimes they sneak up quietly and inconspicuously: One more task. One "sure, I'll do it." One more "I don't want to disappoint." One little thing that will tip your balance. Marta Sýkorová, author Very bad fairy tales, She knows this firsthand. She spent a long time adapting to her surroundings, wanting to please them, and pushing herself to perform until her life began to crumble under her hands. She decided to deal with it in her own way. And she didn't stop there; through her Very Bad Fairy Tales, she also tries to help other people.
“Very bad fairy tales were created at a time when I was trying to please many people around me, to please myself, and to use all my talents that were entrusted to me fiercely and diligently. I was unable to say NO to almost anything that “went around” me. It got to the point where I couldn’t finish my bachelor’s degree, I had to go to the employment office right away, I started working with seniors as a caregiver, and I encountered the topic of death even more.”
We asked Marta about how Very Bad Fairy Tales came about - from idea to implementation and Marta's participation in the Social Impact Award 2025 incubation program, in which she won the public award.
Therapeutic fairy tales
The concept of Very Bad Fairy Tales is based on the principle of therapeutic fairy tales. Similar to fairy tales for children, readers learn about the world around them and especially about themselves through stories. The form allows them to look at what is happening to them/them without talking directly about themselves. Paradoxically, this depersonalization helps them to better recognize themselves in the character and accept their reality. Instead of shame, thanks to this presentation, there is more of an “aha moment” – aha, I feel this way too, aha, maybe more people deal with it and it can be dealt with in other ways.
Very bad fairy tales present two endings – good and bad. In this way, they show readers the consequences of their own choices and make them aware of the possibility of deciding their own destiny; we choose how our story ends and we ourselves are responsible for it. In addition, Marta follows up the stories with questions for reflection and practical tips for working with the body, so that readers do not just stay with theory, but can transfer the solutions to the reality of everyday life.
Marta approaches the topic with great respect; she consulted the stories with several psychotherapists and her ambition is not to replace therapy but to combine it with the power of art.
“I have had ‘aha’ moments from a single book, film or play that have been transformative for me, more powerful than weeks of therapy. And when I look at expressive therapy, I ask: when is what comes out of a person the result of the therapeutic process, and when is it a work of art? Don’t those worlds naturally flow into each other? Just as medicine returns to wholeness and psychotherapy to the body and spirituality, I try to combine the power of art with a safe framework in which one can experience acceptance and gain the tools to change patterns that don’t serve us.”
What themes does Very Bad Fairy Tales explore?
“Basically, we can perceive it [Very Bad Fairy Tales] as a non-violent form of opening up about various topics that a person, mostly highly sensitive, is dealing with. The therapeutic impact of the book is not only in the fairy tales themselves, but also in the subsequent “exercises” and tips on how to work with yourself.”
Marta names it as the insecurity of talented people, a sense of inner inadequacy, fear of living one's own potential and setting boundaries. In his practice, he meets many capable people who, paradoxically, believe in themselves the least. It is the realization that we live in a culture that rewards adaptation, performance and silent overload. Which produces people who cannot rely on their own value. Readers appreciate the playfulness but also the roughness of the two endings. Many of them find themselves in the stories and want to change something in their lives.
“One of the main purposes of Very Bad Fairy Tales is to disabuse readers of illusions, such as that others will take care of them if they are very good, that someone will always stand up for them, or that what they dream of will fall into their laps if they are obedient and humble enough.”
Marta opens up these topics in book form as well as in workshops and coaching. Participants (mostly women) talk about how this experience helped them return to themselves, to their bodies, to priorities and dreams that they had put aside.
“Often, that time at the workshop is a time of stopping, recharge, encouragement, and even healing. One sixty-year-old woman left the weekend course feeling that she had finally accepted her name at her age.”
Social Impact Award Incubation Program 2025
“SIA gave me perspective, a little distance from the whole project and the realization that it goes beyond me and that I am not and do not have to be the center of the project. Learning to let go of things, collaborating with others, not being in charge of everything, doing it sustainably.”
The Social Impact Award did not bring “meaning” to the project, it was already there. The benefit of the incubation program was different for Marta; it helped her see the project from a higher perspective and approach it in a long-term sustainable way in relation to herself. Thanks to SIA, she also realized that Very Bad Fairy Tales has potential, and that people around her see it too, which boosted her self-confidence – that is often what we need to learn the most and what Very Bad Fairy Tales actually teaches.
In addition, Marta appreciates the practical advice from various areas on the program, the opportunity to connect with lots of interesting people, and the mentoring, during which she had to answer countless uncomfortable questions and calculate whether the project was economically sustainable.
In the Social Impact Award 2025 incubation program, Marta won the public award for her project.
Marta Sykorova
In addition to being the author of Very Bad Fairy Tales, she is also a scientist at the Institute of Social Health, a musician in the band Dobrá otázka, and a theater improviser.
- Thanks to Very Bad Fairy Tales, he allows himself more freedom in life than before – to approach an unknown musician on the street and join him with his voice, climb on a cupboard in class, arrange an internship in Brussels, or do workshops and concerts in unconventional places.
- If she had to choose one object that symbolizes the entire project, it would be a potted flower that she brought from Sweden on FlixBus: “A flower needs care and then it can be useful.”
- She is currently writing a fairy tale in her head about Princess Speedy. She was in such a hurry – and never stopped to tell herself that this was enough, that she herself was enough: the title would be “You are enough and that is enough”.
- Her biggest "dragon to defeat" is her impatience with herself and others.
“We didn't choose the beginning, we sometimes don't choose the circumstances, but the end of our story, how we deal with it all, we choose.”
Social Impact Award
Social Impact Award (SIA) Czechia je incubation program, which supports young people aged 14 to 30 in developing socially beneficial projects. Its aim is to help develop an idea into a real and sustainable business with positive impact to the company.
It offers:
- Mentoring Programme from experienced professionals and consultation with more than 190 experts.
- Workshops focused on developing entrepreneurial skills.
- Chance to win €1 for the best projects.
- Access to the international community over 30 social innovators.
It is intended for start-up projects that:
- They are in the initial phase (within 1 year of existence).
- They have not received any other support exceeding €3.
