Being a life coach, is not only about my training. It’s also about my story, so I wanted to share more of the story of how I came to be a life coach… I have a wonderful husband and three sweet girls. I came from a loving, military family. Though moving was so very hard, it taught me to seek God with all my heart and lean into my family.
As I grew older my experiences and personality drew me to helping people. This caused me to get degrees in the area of psychology. And I went on to work with people going through transitions like older age and illness. I really enjoyed my career and job immensely. I had that feeling of being exactly where I was supposed to be and living life full out.
Then for a variety of reasons in 2009, just before my second daughter was born God called me to be a stay at home mom. I have to be honest that until that time I never really envisioned that I would be at home full time with my kids. Have you ever been there, where God brings these unexpected plans for good into your life? Well that’s where I have been for the last several years. I have truly loved it, felt the importance of it, and experienced the challenge of it too.
Then the last couple of years, I have been thinking and pondering over my need to enter the workforce again after all of my daughters are in school full time. So I have been on a mission to find something that would allow me the time to volunteer at my girls’ school and be available to them, but still earn the money that we need. So I started down the research path. I looked on the web, talked to other moms, observed what women were doing to generate income or save money in their homes. I read articles on pinterest and I evaluated the possibilities. Should I get a job at some place like a coffee shop or a retail store so I could work flexible hours when my girls were in school or my husband was home with them? Should I completely change careers and get some schooling in medical transcription or medical billing so I could work from home? I felt like there was no good solution like I was going to either have to give up the kind of work that I loved to do or I was going to have to give up being with my girls.
Through this time, I started learning about the field of life coaching. I loved the books and information that I was gaining on it. It was a chance to choose a profession that was built on some of the principles I had learned in my other profession and a chance to work from home. It was a chance to do what I love, working with people going through the tough parts of life or providing tools to help people with life’s transitions. I was excited about all of the possibilities, but it also seemed scary to start my own business. Would I be successful and accomplish what I wanted to in it?
After praying about it and talking to my husband, I took the leap and enrolled in classes to get my life coaching certificate. This process has been wonderful. I have had so many family and friends that have been so supportive of me with words of encouragement and letting me practice coaching on them.
It has also been scary though. It is a huge, exciting step starting a business. But through it all, I have been more convinced than ever that life coaching is where God wants me to be right now. During the midpoint of my coach training, I had this period of a couple of weeks, where reality struck about what I was doing. I was in the middle of learning about marketing my business and in the middle of learning about what it takes to be a coach. It was do it or get out at that point. And I realized, I had the desire, ability through God, and support to do it. One day as I was in class, I heard my coach say, coaching provides people with the ability to make the impossible possible. I was so struck when she said that. That’s what I wanted with my business and that’s what we all want when we are encountering a challenge, whether positive or negative. And that’s exactly where I want to be.
I love coaching. Coaching is a gift and a privilege that I do not take lightly. I love the opportunities for you and me through coaching. The chance to come alongside of you and other women. To hear your hopes and dreams. To partner with you in seeking to make those dreams a reality for you or helping you through a struggle that you have found yourself in- unsure of what you want or where you are going. Each client I talk to is in a unique place and has a special story. And now I have been given the unique and incredible chance to be a part of those stories.