We are pleased to be featuring Felicia Okoro as our Coach in the Spotlight in this week’s blog. Felicia is a Transition Life Coach, since graduating she has set up her coaching business (I am Here, NG Coaching and Counselling.) and launched her own YouTube Channel called ‘I am Here’.
In a nutshell, pain. The middle of 2018 throughout 2020 was the most challenging period of my life. I endured the most brutal emotional, physical, and spiritual upheaval that nearly destroyed me as an individual. In Oct 2019 when I enrolled with The Coaching Academy I was hit with the poignant realisation that in my ignorance, I had lived under gruelling covet narcissistic abuse from 2012 to the point of my discard in 2020. Some may consider me a victim but I’m no victim. I may have lived under narcissistic abuse but I also survived under narcissistic abuse. Enrolling in the Coaching Academy to do a diploma in Life, Life Coaching Diploma was an outward and defiant expression that I could not give up.
At the time, I couldn’t quite verbalise what the goal was in becoming a coach; all I knew was, I wanted to transfer all the manifested trauma and transform it into a positive force that will abet others in their hardest and darkest moments. The coaching process allowed me to introspect, reflect and figure things out. Before discovering the The Coaching Academy I was coached by a family friend. I knew it wasn’t quite therapy or counselling I was being subjected to, but rather an unexpressed understanding that I held the answers to change what I believed was unchangeable. This understanding felt good.
Coaching also made me realise that I was NOT alone in my experiences or raw emotions and that nothing I had endured was isolated or unique. Acknowledging this, laid the foundation and established the building blocks for renewing my mind, altering my perspective, understanding and accepting my reality, and finally forging ahead to a confident, bright future. The wonderful aspect of coaching is that you can dare to dream and live a life well-versed in whatever your dream is. Deriving from a working background in project management and training and development, the coaching process gives the permission to dream – the desire to work towards goals that I once thought are unattainable.
When I initially enrolled to do the Life, Performance Coaching qualification in Oct 2019, I had an 8-month-old baby, and two little girls all under the age of 10. To say it was tough balancing working through this qualification, along with everything else life was throwing at me at the time, will be an understatement! More so than ever, I had to dig deep to battle and overcome the mental challenges of limiting and negative beliefs such as “Who do you think you are?", “You’ve wasted money and you are wasting your time”, “You will never be whom you are envisioning- it’s all a pipe dream”.
It did feel like I was pushing up against a relentless tide, as I had no structure or timetable I adhered worked to; I just kept going. My motivation was “I could not give up” regardless of the outcome, I could not give up. Giving up was not an option. I’m no stranger to higher education and academically what is expected of a student but within this particular situation, I utilised EVERY spare/quiet/alone time/ moment I got (which was rare) and made it work!
The most rewarding part of the coaching journey was completing my diploma and becoming a qualified life coach! To know that I had completed and submitted my diploma felt AMAZING! Who I was when I started the coaching journey, no longer existed. The decision to embark on this journey was birthed out of pain – turning a dark experience into something positive and successful. I overcame the limiting and oppressive thoughts and notions, the daily challenges life was throwing at me from every angle. The goal was to complete the diploma, qualify, and live a rewarding existence. Another rewarding part of the journey was discovering the type of coach I wanted to be and the niche I wanted to create. The whole coaching process highlighted hidden strengths, where my cares and interests lay; It was truly an eye-opening experience for me to say the least.
I've started working as a Transition Life Coach and currently working on a couple of projects. I'm using my qualification to work with parents, some vulnerable and it has been amazing! I also have worked/volunteered for an organisation that works with vulnerable families in the community. I have the wonderful opportunity to engage with young families who need life coaching/counselling support to enrich and better their lives. This involves delivering training programs on parenting, general well-being, and mental health. The coaching process for me is about giving back, helping others, and being that support system that makes people realise that the light is at the end of the tunnel.
I have a YouTube channel called 'I am Here', which went live this year. The ethos of my channel is 'Be Encouraged'. I create podcast content that is designed to help, educate, encourage, and inspire people going through tough and challenging situations. The goal is to cultivate the understanding that no situation is truly unique or neither is every difficult circumstances permanent. Through proactive decision making, and choosing the steps to recovery and healing, there will always be that light at the end of the tunnel. My channel is very much in it's infancy stage but I have great hope in its growth and becoming a go to learning and reassurance hub for those who needs it.
The biggest area in coaching that I’m very much interested in is what makes coaching effective. I’m curious about the ideology behind positive psychology, NLP, and transactional analysis in coaching. I’m naturally drawn to wanting to understand the human mind, how it functions, cognitive behavioural patterns etc. As a woman who was subjected to narcissistic abuse for many years, out of that encounter, I wanted to comprehend or even reach a place of empathy as to why someone would behave in the way that they do. Coaching is about encouraging others without passing judgment, so gaining further knowledge in knowing how the mind works, etc would play a part in becoming an effective coach.
GO FOR IT! If there is a sincere and genuine interest in wanting to improve, build and encourage others by helping them to live their life purpose, while fulfilling your life purpose also, projecting empathy, mindfulness (awareness), and a non-judgmental stance, go for it. Make a change, make a difference.
The best resources I have found helpful and have guided me along this process, especially in figuring out what sort of coach I would like to be (in terms of niche) are the following:
Good reads for personal development and knowledge would recommend it!
Thank you Felicia for sharing your coaching journey with us!
If you are feeling inspired and would you like to have a coaching business you can run from the comfort of your own home, then do join us on our Introduction to Life Coaching 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.
