By serendipity if I'm honest. I've spent most of my professional career training people on IT. I trained in applications, in the technicalities of support and also the selling aspect.
How did it all begin? By serendipity if I'm honest. I've spent most of my professional career training people on IT. I trained in applications, in the technicalities of support and also the selling aspect. I was lucky enough to work for some major corporations including Compaq, IBM, HSBC, Deutsche Bank. I realised that the interesting part of training is when people ‘get it’ and have a light bulb moment that motivates them. I needed a new challenge and so I took a BSc in Social Sciences, I also enrolled on a NLP Practitioner course followed by a master practitioner and a clinical hypnotherapy course. I had lots of tools in my toolbox but I needed something to bring all of these skills together and to put a structure around it. What made you choose the Coaching Academy? I booked myself onto the free two-day certificate in Life Coaching as I wanted to see some of the trainers and what the organisation was like. I was impressed and knew straight away that I wanted to study the full programmes to gain the most knowledge and skills. I had a phone interview with the Coaching Academy the next day and luckily, I was accepted into the Protégé programme. It was an exciting day when all my binders, DVDs and books arrived!! How long did it take to complete all the courses? I took the summer to complete my PPD and Corporate & Executive and then started on the Youth Impact and the Small Business courses in the autumn. I then followed the same study pattern for the following few months. Altogether, I think I attended all the accelerator days except two. Having the tutor, the expert, there and being able to raise questions and debate ideas is invaluable. Meeting other coaches on their journey is also priceless. Some have become fast friends and we've worked together on projects, just as we spent days working on our pre work or thesis together too. Once I'd completed all the paperwork that went with them, I submitted the final binder. I was lucky enough to get a merit for all the disciplines. Where did you get your practise clients from? I worked mainly with other coaches for the assessments and with real clients for the coaching sessions. I coached on a pro bono basis in return for them completing the Client Testimonial sheet. I didn't feel it was right to charge until I had completed my course and gained my qualification. How have you built your coaching business? I work with people and businesses who have met a challenge that they can't see how to deal with. Almost all my clients have come from referrals and via the Coaching Directory, or being found on a web search. My aim in coaching is to help the people who need it most; often these are not the wealthiest clients! So my ambition is to create a passive income in order to be able to coach these people and help them overcome their challenges. How do you feel about being awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Coaching Academy? Surprised, shocked, delighted and disbelieving! I'd say they were my first emotions!! It was so unexpected and, well, just amazing. I feel very honoured and humble to be honest. I invited a few friends over that weekend and we opened a couple of bottles to celebrate. I'm still smiling and pinching myself!!
The Coaching Academy was established in 1999, and is now the world's largest coaching school.
In that time we have trained over 14,000 people to become life coaches.
We are accredited by the International Coach Federation and the Association for Coaching, and we're rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot.
