Coach in the Spotlight - Penny Whitelock

I was fortunate not to be short of volunteers from all walks of life who had a rich range of issues. My first route to market was Facebook - then word of mouth until I became qualified when I began to blog, cold call companies and speak at events.

What I wasn’t sure of initially was a niche where I felt I had that extra something to offer that not everyone has. That niche came to me when I attended the CPD event for retirement coaching . I had a eureka moment and really ‘got’ it! I went away and read all of the recommended materials, researched on line and talked to people already offering these services.

I decided to focus on unwanted end of career – having been through it myself and still remembering the raw pain that stayed with me for a long time, I felt my personal experience made me strong in this area.

I presented on the topic at a Chamber of Commerce event and in the audience was the Financial Director of a global company – he took my card and weeks later contacted me to coach one of their longstanding employees through his unwanted redundancy. That’s when my niche was formed and I continue to work with that company in a variety of training and coaching capacities.

I engaged  a PR company and provided them with content that was lapped up by many publishers form the HR Director Magazine to Money Matters to the European CEO where I was interviewed. From the contacts I made, I was then asked to do more Executive Coaching and that is where I find myself today.
 
For me my success came from hard work on my part but that was not enough – it also came from the training that I received at The Coaching Academy (TCA) – the honest and frank feedback during  my observed sessions and through reading and research around the area.
 
If I was to be asked which tools from the full kit that TCA supply do I use most I would say the wheel of life, and the team coaching script that Kris uses on his session.  The latter I use every time I train groups and carry around with me on my phone at all times – just in case!!

I have applied material and strategies from everything that I have learned along my studies – perceptual positions, scale of awfulness, touching the place where the anxiety sits inside you. I remember when I was training with Ann Skidmore and her saying that you will just get to know what works for you and when to pull which tool out of the bag – that is definitely true for me now. I am currently coaching a number of execs at very senior level and look forward to much more of it.