We are pleased to be featuring Camilla De Burghe as our Coach in the Spotlight in this week who is a qualified Coaching Academy coach who has set up a successful Career Coaching business. As a Career Coach, Camilla is passionate about empowering professional women to succeed and to ‘own’ their careers. Using her years of corporate experience to support, she specialises in career change, career progression, and key skills development.
What has led you to coaching?
I’ve always been an advocate for meaningful support being available to all within the workplace that want to develop and grow their career. Over the years I’ve enjoyed mentoring and supporting others, and once I discovered coaching, I immediately saw the value that it could bring as a highly positive, practical, and forward-facing form of support. I also knew that I wanted an opportunity to stretch myself, learn new skills, and overcome new challenges. I had my lightbulb moment and realised that coaching felt like a very natural and exciting career path for me to take!
Most people become a coach to change the lives of others… how has coaching benefited your own life?
Friends, family, and colleagues have noticed that I’ve become much more confident, especially with speaking in larger groups. Coaching has made an invaluable impact on my personal mindset, I’m able to re-frame challenges and have learnt to treat myself with kindness.
Tell us about your journey as a Coaching Academy student?
I completed the course whilst working full time; I really appreciated that I could take it as fast or slow as I needed so that it fitted around my personal life and work deadlines. The variety of times and dates for different course elements (i.e. modules, mentoring sessions etc) provided additional flexibility and I loved that I could book them well in advance. My best investment for the course was a weekly planner, this got me through the more challenging times and ensured that I kept my studies on track.
What was the most rewarding part of your coaching journey?
The personal journey that I went on through the diploma was incredibly rewarding. Completing the course, learning new skills, and working outside of my comfort zone gave me a sense of purpose and passion that had been lacking before I started coaching. Despite putting in some long hours between the course and my day job, I would leave my client sessions feeling energised. I loved investing effort to see my skills improve and consequently, be able to motivate and empower my clients to succeed in whatever they put their mind to.
Tell us about the work you do, how are you using your coaching skills?
I’m excited to have launched as a Career Coach, empowering professional women to own their career. I work with clients to help them find their dream career, navigate career challenges, and reach the next level of their career journey. I love being their biggest supporter along the way too! The career challenges that women face are well documented; experiencing some of them first-hand has made me feel drawn to supporting and elevating the careers of others. My coaching style is very much celebratory, creative, and gently encourages you to have some fun and laughter along the way.
What’s the biggest area in coaching you are curious about and why?
Highly visual and creative ways of coaching, particularly for those that may find articulating their thoughts more challenging. My background is in design, and I’ve always been drawn to more visual-based ways of communication that are creative and fun. The famous phrase ‘a picture can paint 1,000 words’ has always resonated with me! I’m looking forward to continuing to explore and research this aspect of coaching and bringing my learning to my practice.
What advice would you give someone wanting to pursue life or career coaching?
Go for it! I spent a lot of time talking myself out of the course; I’d tell myself that I didn’t have the time to study and work, I didn’t think I’d be a ‘good’ coach and I felt terrified of putting myself out there! I signed up to the free 2-hour Introduction to Life Coaching webinar hosted by The Coaching Academy, embraced the fear after several calls with the (very patient) support team, and enrolled in the Life Coaching Diploma. The reality was that making the decision to train for my diploma and pursue a career in coaching has easily been one of the best decisions that I’ve made. I’ve gained so many new skills along the way, made new friends, and joined a network of inspiring and supportive coaches. I’m now able to start a business in an area of coaching that I’m highly passionate about and am so excited for the future.
What are the best resources that have helped you along your coach training journey?
The Online Learning Platform that you receive access to as part of the course. This is packed with highly useful reads, tutorials, links, and videos that I used throughout every stage of the qualification. It really helped me develop my understanding of various coaching competencies and was my go-to resource if I found something challenging.
Thank you Camilla for sharing your coaching journey with us!
If you’re feeling inspired and would like to find out more about training to be a life coach, why not join us for our free Introduction to Life Coaching webinar?
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.
