When people ask me what I do for work, 9 times out of 10, my response is met with a brief pause followed by a “Wow, that’s different! How do you even find something like that!?”
So let me tell you how it all started…because there certainly wasn’t an Indeed post for what I do, and chances are, there is much more out there than you see on Indeed for you too!
So here’s how the story went for me…
Five years ago, I was in a job I hated. On paper, it wasn’t bad, but inside I knew it was wrong. So much of my job was frustrating to me… stuff I didn’t think I was good at, and perhaps most importantly, stuff I just didn’t care about that much.
So one day, after weeks of being bored out of my brain and anxious at work, I decided to start taking some action. Each night when I arrived home, I started brainstorming about what energized me, what I loved doing, and what kind of life I truly wanted to live.
I started exploring things that interested me, however random those things seemed – I joined a choir, started dance lessons, and got HEAVILY into personal development.
Three months later (while on a 27-hour bus ride to Ukraine!), I read about this thing called Life Coaching – and as if magically, my light bulb moment happened.
“I think…that’s…IT!” I said to myself. “I think that’s what I’m meant to do!”
Suddenly I had this deep knowing of what I wanted.
I wanted to help people. I wanted to empower people. I was SO drawn to this thing called coaching…
But… I had absolutely no idea how to make it happen.
And that was stressful.
After a totally fun time wandering around the old streets of Ukraine for a week, I returned home and started trying to figure out how the heck to make a career like coaching happen.
“No one in my family has done this before; in fact, I don’t know anyone who’s done this!” I thought to myself.
When I spoke to my friends and family about it, some had no idea what it was, and others gave me conflicting ideas and ways to get started. I was lost. Very, very lost.
I struggled with what to do next for four months. It was uncomfortable, but looking back on it, it was also necessary.
I was coming face to face with my dream. And while I didn’t know how to make it happen yet, I didn’t give up.
I kept learning about the industry. I kept reading everything I could about personal development and coaching. And through this research and “puzzle piece finding,” eventually I found myself at my first step:
Get trained as a Coach!
There’s no legal obligation to get certified as a coach in this industry, but after lots of research, I knew I wanted to do things properly (even though many people told me otherwise). So I found an organization I loved and embarked on a coaching certification!
Four months later, I launched my coaching practice and developed my first program.
I put myself out there into the world, and it was scary!! Some things went well, other things went wrong. But I knew this was what I wanted to do, so giving up just wasn’t an option.
Over the next two years, I kept building my business, getting help from other coaches where I was struggling, and over time slowly building my client base and expertise.
I developed my expertise and ended up being hired for other cool contracted roles like mindfulness teaching and youth coaching (both of which I had ZERO direct experience in).
And now, I run a business that can grow and change as I do, where I get to do work that is my passion and my mission every day, and oh HECK am I grateful!
So if you could follow the career of your dreams, what might it be? And what could you do right now to begin taking even the smallest step towards it?