I frequently get asked, so how did you become a coach...
My answer tends to be quite lengthy, so I thought for today’s post I would share with you all my story on how I became a coach! 😄
I had just gotten off a Zoom meeting with my manager where I had said yes to one more additional project and as I began writing follow-up emails to all the customers I had spoken to that day, I started to cry. Shortly after, I found myself lying on the ground looking at the ceiling thinking how the hell am I supposed to do this until I retire!?!?
Some days, I was working from 7 am to 9 pm due to all the clients I was supporting globally. I had days where I was in so many back-to-back meetings, I wouldn’t eat my first meal until 3 pm. Sean would come home and I wouldn’t even want to talk to him, because I was so sick and tired from work. Mentally, I was done but knew I couldn’t continue on like this. I was only 26 and 4 years post-college, it was too early in my career to feel this way!
One day, it became too much and I finally took that first step in getting help, and I reached out to Alli Rizacos on LinkedIn. I had met Alli, at a virtual WISE (Women in Sales Everywhere) event about a year prior so, we had been connected on LinkedIn from that. I had seen her posts about coaching and imposter syndrome and thought maybe her coaching could help me out, as I could relate to so much of what she was sharing! This is why I share my story on Linkedin, her posts are what helped me feel less alone and that someone out there could potentially help me out.
Her coaching changed my life - not joking here at all. If it wasn't for Alli's coaching I wouldn't be here writing this post, working at Movable Ink, know that I have ADHD & PMDD, and wouldn't be coaching clients! There's so much more I could add to this list but I will save you all the time and leave it at that!
Alli challenged me to think so differently about my life and how I was living it. I had this safe space that I could come to weekly to communicate my feelings, thoughts, and fears, and was able to dive deep into what I actually wanted in this life of mine. I learned about my values and who I truly am as a person at my core.
Before coaching, I wanted to be a Chief Customer Officer. I wanted a fancy title so that people would see me as "worthy" which at the time in my brain saw worth = love and isn't that what everyone wants in life, to be loved?
After maybe 4-5 sessions, I told Alli, I think I want to be a coach just like you!? This was very much different than the career plan I had imagined for me. I wasn’t confident at all in this idea but, something about it excited me. I had so many fears about me not being a "good enough" coach, not knowing where to even get started, or who to even coach.
That’s when Alli stepped up and began to mentor me. She advised me to check out The Positive Intelligence coaching course as this was the same course that she had taken to help her start her coaching career. That course was the first of many coaching courses I would take! ◡̈
After that course, I immediately felt way more ready and confident that coaching was 100% for me! Alli and I spent a lot of my coaching sessions after that course talking about this coaching vision of mine and finally after one session, Alli messaged me about an idea she had....and that idea blew my mind to pieces.
She asked me if I wanted to work for her business!?!?!?!?
She offered to coach me on how to coach and then she would support me as I would work with my own clients 1:1 under her signature program that I went through myself!
This ask of her's only added to the life-changing experience!
I couldn’t believe that SHE wanted ME to coach her program!! It felt like an absolute dream but at the same time my brain was FLOODED with imposter syndrome thoughts (which I worked on with Alli in my own coaching sessions with her but also why I call myself The Imposter Syndrome Coach Who Has Imposter Syndrome)
After 2 coaching training sessions, she let me know she had 2 clients for me that I could start working with. I couldn’t believe it... I was going to be a coach! Two clients quickly became four which quickly became six! I was coaching, I was a coach!
I frequently get asked if and when I am going make the jump into doing this full time and up until a few weeks ago, I was unsure of how to answer that but, I finally feel good about my answer.
In my soul, I know coaching is for me! It’s my passion and I absolutely love it BUT, I also love my corporate job and what it’s been able to teach me in just one year! I love the experience I am gaining by working for my incredible manager and my counterpart teammate who are both so beautifully vulnerable. These two have shown me what amazing managers and coworkers can look like which I speak a lot about in coaching sessions with clients! I’m not ready to leave the corporate world, and I don’t plan to anytime soon but, I am still a coach and actively coaching clients! Someday, I will be a full-time coach but until then, I will be working as The Imposter Syndrome Coach Who Has Imposter Syndrome under Alli Rizacos’ incredible life-changing program, and as of last week I am officially a Level 1 Certified ADHD Works Coach so, I will also be taking on a few clients for that program as well!
If you are looking for a coach, check out my new Need A Coach? page on this blog to learn how to get started! ✌🏻
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