Sharon Lawton is a passionate personal performance and NLP coach with a successful background in learning and development. She specialises in family and lifestyle coaching running her own practice, Natural Flair Coaching, and has appeared on various TV shows.
What was your profession before becoming a coach?
Immediately before becoming a coach I was on a career break because I had my two children, my two boys.
But before that I was a corporate trainer for a large insurance company. So that’s pretty much what I did for a long period of time before I had my family.
Why did you want to become a coach?
I was on a career break and when I look back on it now I was definitely on the lookout for something, I just didn’t know what. I was the chair of a local PTA and giving a lot of time and energy into that but it didn’t have that spark that I wanted. Then around that time one of my friends was talking about the coach training she had received (she had also trained as an NLP Practitioner) and while she was talking I thought to myself, “That sounds really interesting” and that seemed to spark something for me. So I did a bit of research and came across The Coaching Academy’s Free Foundation in Life Coaching Course and that was the start of my journey!
Most people become a coach to change the lives of others… How has coaching benefited your own life?
Personally how it’s changed my life that I have a much stronger self-belief than I had 10-15 years ago. Also I just look at things differently, coaching has not just giving me those things but also the tools to build a thriving coaching practice, that I’m really proud of!
What is your coaching niche?
My niche is family and lifestyle coaching. And more recently I’ve been working with young people with exam stress and helping them reach their full potential. It definitely wasn’t parent and family coaching that I was looking to move into. Possibly because I was on a career break prior to my training and I was looking to find something just for me that parent and family coaching was sort of like “No, I’m not going down there. That’s what I want to leave behind”. But when I was looking at areas that I would have a natural affinity with, this is what I kept coming back to. So I was already delivering parent group coaching programs voluntarily, so I knew there was already a little market there waiting to be tapped and when I embraced that, that’s when my practice took off!
What was your experience being trained by The Coaching Academy?
It was extremely positive right from the start! I went along to the Foundation Course, and straight away after day 1 and day 2 I came out absolutely buzzing! It was just something I connected with. My self-belief at that time was quite low so didn’t immediately sign up to do a coaching diploma, but it was like I released the genie from the bottle as I just kept thinking about it and the buzz that I felt after the 2-Days didn’t go away. So I took the plunge, signed up for the Diploma and the rest is history!
I remember getting my books and manuals, and digesting the information very hungrily because they were easy to read and easy to get into. I loved the Accelerator days: people were lovely and friendly, and the trainers were knowledgeable and friendly - The way they presented their issues clearly showed that they were very experienced in their coaching areas. The way the training was delivered was interactive and the coaches gently pushed you out of your comfort zone so you tried new strategies and experience new ways of delivering coaching, in a way that didn’t feel threatening. So for me the whole experience from start to finish (and it still is) very positive!
When it comes to the Diplomas, again from my own experience, it’s something I haven’t regretted. It will change how you look at things and it will definitely change your life for the better!
What would you say to someone thinking of enrolling with The Coaching Academy?
I would say from my own personal experience it will be something that you won’t regret. The free weekend means that you’ve got everything to gain and nothing to lose. So just get out there and do it!
If Sharon's words have inspired you and you feel that Coaching could be a potential full or part time opportunity for you, or if you would just like to know a little more about what Coaching is and how it can benefit you and the lives of others, please contact our Specialist Course Advisor, Jamil on 0208 996 4830 or email: Jamil@the-coaching-academy.com
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