Elena Resera - 'Look inside yourself first'

When did you first hear about coaching?

My personal journey with coaching started in 2015, when I was given the opportunity to attend a series of training on Coaching, GROW model and DISC profiing within my company. It was a truly mind-blowing, revelatory and transformational experience! So a couple of years later, I finally decided to quit what seemed like a dream job to others, as a Manager for a large corporation, but was actually a nightmare to me. 

As a matter of fact, my true passion was developing people’s skills, nurturing their motivation and seeing them succeed – opposed to focusing exclusively on numbers. As coaching had remained in the back of my head, my decision to attend the two-day Foundation in Life Coaching Course was a natural choice. I discovered the course after an ex-colleague recommended The Coaching Academy to me. I decided to qualify as a professional coach because I believe that a formal diploma is key, not only for reputation and credibility, but also to provide the highest level of professionalism, experience and integrity to customers, - and this is something that only an established institution can guarantee.

How was your training journey with The Coaching Academy?

Looking back at the whole experience as a TCA student, the most exciting and rewarding part was definitely the live training days. Meeting other like-minded people, being inspired by exceptional trainers and above all having the chance to reflect on me and improve every single time was truly priceless! I am also very proud to say that, despite a little distraction called ‘being pregnant with my first child,’ I managed to complete all my coaching hours and practical assessments within 1 year after starting the Life Coaching Diploma (the last assessment was actually 2 days before the due date, I was exploding!). 

The learning that really stood out for me is that we all have the potential to direct our lives towards our idea of happiness, whatever meaning we assign to it. It’s just a question of will power, getting rid of our ingrained fears and taking that very first step.

How are you using your coaching skills?

I myself believed for a long time that success meant having a career, reaching a certain social status and making money. Now, I believe that turning your passions and your strengths into your job are what ultimately gives you satisfaction, both on a professional and personal level. That I why I recently founded my own coaching and training business with the same ex-colleague who had recommended the Coaching Academy to me! 

We are The Coaching Heads, each one specialized in the field we are more passionate about: Federica in Executive Coaching and myself in Small Business Coaching. In particular, I focus on empowering women, young entrepreneurs and socially responsible businesses. Vision, risk-taking, passion, creativity, excitement, freedom: this is what I love about small businesses and start-ups. And the challenges and obstacles too, you never get bored or stop learning! 

Elena’s top tips:

My top tip for someone who is looking to become qualified as a professional coach is: look inside yourself first. As soon as you identify the ‘cause’ that truly matters to you or the field that interests you the most, it becomes much easier to find your area of specialization. Motivation and determination just follow naturally. In particular, if you are currently in training with TCA: start coaching people in your niche as soon as possible, because practice does make you (almost) perfect, but don’t forget to attend the live training days on a regular basis too, as they are equally important to set solid foundations for your coaching journey. 

I was asked to also give a tip for people interested in coaching, but I will be a bit revolutionary here and give a tip to people who are skeptical of coaching instead: give it a try! Only then will you discover its life-changing potential and you might even become an advocate of coaching. At the beginning, I was skeptical myself and look at me now!