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Feb
05

How I got started

UncategorizedFebruary 5th, 2015stefaniezizzo@yahoo.com No comments

In these blog posts, I will be sharing snippets of my personal story of how I built my coaching business through the last 10 years.  I’ll be including strategies I took and especially how/where I stepped out of my comfort zone.

Around 2003/4 is when I discovered coaching.  I was working at a university as a Career Counselor and was also planning a move to a new state.  Coaching was the new career path I wanted to take so I enrolled in my coaching program through the Institute for Life Coach Training.

There I began honing my coaching skills and discovering my coaching style.  I brought my coaching skills to the clients I was already working with at the university and also embarked on finding some clients of my own.

Where I stepped out of my comfort zone?

During my coaching program, we had to coach each other in triads, and also coach during the class (mine was a tele class).  Wow, that was scary!  To have “observers” listening to me coach was very uncomfortable.  What got me through it?  Remembering that we all were going to be doing this, and that I had to find a way to allow my “true self” to show up during these practice sessions for the feedback I received to be truly worthwhile.

When I first had to find my own clients (as part of the requirements of the program for certification), I was nervous.  Who would I ask?  How would I ask?  You see, I was a relatively shy person most of my life – and preferred to have people come to me without having to “solicit” them.  I realized though, that in order for anyone to come to me, they had to know what I was doing now.  What did I do?  I started with people I knew (friends, select colleagues) and shared my new path, letting them know I was offering a select few a special coaching package for them or someone they referred who could benefit from coaching.

The results?

I found three initial clients to work with – a friend, a colleague and surprisingly a family member – and completed my coaching program and got certified!

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