A person’s story can include many chapters, but this one responds to a question I am asked all the time:
“How did you end up being a life coach?”
Well of course when I was a little girl growing up in Southern Ontario, life coach was not in any one’s imagination. Like most kids I think I ran through a variety of job possibilities from horse rancher to doctor to Good Humor ice cream driver. As I got older I developed a real interest in writing and was serious about become a journalist. At the end of high school, that was what I intended to study.
I probably let my inner committee have too much to say about the feasibility of journalism as a career path and somehow I found myself enrolled in Education and Arts pursuing concurrent degrees in teaching and English Literature . Writing became a distant memory.
Like many people, I finished my education, got married, moved to Alberta and began a successful teaching career in Special Education. I was fortunate to have some amazing mentors and was given the opportunity to create cutting edge programming for students with learning disabilities. I loved my work. I began doing some inservice training with other teachers and eventually left the classroom to run my own educational consulting business. Part of my work included doing seminars helping teachers deal with stress and time management and reconnecting with their lost passion for their work.
One day an email crossed my desk about an introductory course in professional coaching. I was intrigued – it seemed like a fascinating way to help people get what they wanted out of their lives. So I gave it a try and after only one day I was convinced that this was for me. A little research helped me find the best training organization and in 2002 I partnered with another coach to start a new coaching company.
One of the perks of being a coach is that in order to do your job well, you have to continually stretch your own boundaries, confront your fears and begin to speak your truth. It was a process that included my own personal light bulb moment:
I do not have to apologize for who I am.
I do not have to choose to make everything ok for other people, especially to my own detriment.
That was big!
photo by Laurel Vespi
As I became clearer about my path, I was drawn to creating my own company – one that clearly reflected my unique personality, philosophy and interests. And so Stone Circle Coaching was born. A friend encouraged me to rediscover my writer’s voice and it wasn’t long before I was working on the manuscript for Spontaneous Combustion.
People often ask me what I like best about coaching. That’s easy – it is such a great honour every day to be able to partner with people and help them create what they want. I get to be witness to individuals becoming fully who they are and loving it! That fulfils me on many levels. When we are all embracing who we are, sharing our special gifts and living our best lives, then everything becomes possible for the world.
