International competitions, workshops and women empowerment groups - what do these things have in common? Our Coach in the Spotlight of the week, Tania Zayets, who shares how coaching can benefit individuals, teams and businesses alike!
After experiencing new levels of self-awareness shortly into her training course, Tania experimented with different environments she could use her coaching skills in, including group workshops, international competitions and a women’s empowerment group. Read all about Tania's inspiring journey in the article below!
How did you first hear about The Coaching Academy and what inspired you to enrol?
I remember I had a conversation with a friend who was struggling with her job search. Wanting to help I’d spend hours chatting and exploring potential options for her without any fruitful results. And I recalled feeling similar frustration during lengthy sessions at my work during meetings.
I would think to myself, how can time be more efficiently used and with better results?
How could I be more helpful?
I heard about Life Coaching before, but I didn’t realise what it was until I went to The Coaching Academy’s two-day free Foundation event. Within two weeks, I enrolled for the course, and it took me just over three years to qualify.
What was the most rewarding part of your training/journey, and what did you enjoy the most about it?
I absolutely loved attending accelerator days, where the atmosphere is literally electric, filled with shared excitement and buzz about learning. I met many interesting people and made friends too!
The training has also transformed me as a person. Initially, I thought I would be learning to coach so I could help others. However, I think an additional gift that I got from coaching training was an enhanced level of self-awareness and understanding the importance of taking full responsibility for one’s life. That is a very empowering state to be in.
Did you open a coaching business after graduating? What did you choose as coaching niche?
I have opened my own coaching practice, Tania Zayets, and have been offering coaching sessions on varied life coaching topics. I witnessed the infinite potential of coaching when I successfully coached on a variety of topics ranging from pregnancy and childbirth to recruiting staff and running marketing for business owners.
I’ve also started running coaching workshops on topics of commitment, responsibility, confidence for individuals and organisations. Recognising the good results from coaching and wishing to make it more accessible, I initiated the Blossom Club – a women’s empowerment group to support women from all walks of life to live a more fulfilled life. The power and effectiveness of group coaching is something I have been fascinated by.
Last year my trajectory with coaching changed when I chose to participate in the London Fintech Hack. It’s a 72 hour Bootcamp where professionals from different backgrounds form teams to come up with tech solutions to the world’s biggest problems. In our case, it was world hunger.
These were one of the most professionally enriching 72 hours of my life. Our team managed to beat 27 other teams and got the chance to go to New York to present this innovation for the United Nations’ SDG 2030 delegates.
Needless to say that I attribute this victory to my coaching competencies and skills, which I used full-on during this 72 hours hack – active listening, open questions, GROW, reflections and self-awareness.
This latter experience has shown me that the best value I can create for people if I use all of the skills I acquired in my life, including business, marketing and coaching.
Today I am offering performance coaching sessions and actively exploring ways to effectively apply my business and coaching skills in organisations.
What are your top tips for people who are looking to become qualified as a professional coach, including those currently in training with TCA?
My top tips are:
Adult education is tricky as life gets in the way, but every stone on the road has a reward attached for overcoming it.
It’s the only way to love it as well as become better at coaching.
I am evangelising Kris Roberston’s quote: “No matter how much you already know about your client, every new session see him as a new/changed person.”
I am very happy to notice that the coaching momentum is growing within organisations too and coaching skills are a very useful set of tools that add value to the CV.
If you're interested in finding out more about coaching, just like Tania did, start by joining us in our interactive live webinar. Choose from available dates here.
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.
