This week's Coach in the Spotlight is Helena Metcalfe. Helena worked in the charity sector before retraining to become a life coach with The Coaching Academy. She is passionate about supporting mums through coaching, empowering them and helping them to navigate motherhood and be confident through her coaching business The Village Coach.
I came to coaching after 13 years in the charity sector - work that I loved in some amazing organisations. However, naturally an inquisitive, ‘people’ person, suddenly my core fundraising roles weren’t fulfilling the impact I really wanted. I wanted to work directly with people, supporting them through challenges, personal growth, listening to their stories and understanding their values and beliefs. I thought a LOT about what that could look like (teacher? counsellor? mentor?) After looking into options and booking some coaching sessions with an ex-colleague who had already qualified with The Coaching Academy, I decided that the Life Coaching Diploma was exactly what I was looking for.
Shortly before enrolling, I needed to make a decision to ultimately be completely in charge of my working life. Due to the impact of Covid, working remotely whilst caring for two small children during lockdown, and then managing a big house move, the underlying stress escalated into a diagnosis of chronic migraine, signing me off work, childcare, exercise, socialising, and my normal ‘busy’ life for several months. Among many pain management tools I developed - medical and otherwise - coaching was fundamental in helping me start to recover and manage my symptoms, supporting me to make some major lifestyle changes to preserve my mental and physical health in the long term. Although now I am much better, I still use these techniques to this day.
When I started the course due to my health issues, my coaching studies were one of the only positive steps I could still pursue at that point in time – studying remotely and completely in my own time allowed me to work around my health condition and take things at the right pace for me. As I recovered from that chronic period, I continued to hugely benefit from the flexibility of the course – working around my young family and other freelance work, and being able take time off when needed (i.e. during school holidays).
Without a doubt, it’s been the feedback from clients – hearing of their successes and changes they’ve made, no matter how big or small. Some have made significant life changes including changing jobs, starting businesses, or relocating, whilst others have stated they have felt a shift in their mindset about what they are capable of achieving. Seeing clients through their ‘lightbulb’ moments, and watching them gain clarity and direction in whatever they want to pursue, never gets old. For me, helping clients feel empowered with tools to implement in all areas of life is the most rewarding part of being a coach.
Having qualified at the end of 2022, I am currently focusing on building my business - The Village Coach. I am a coach for women – specialising in supporting mums. I truly believe it takes a village to support a Mum and I offer 121, group and workshops for all stages of Motherhood. My sessions are totally client led and holistic in approach, but often cover the topics of the juggle of work/life/family, the overwhelm of the mental load, confidence and identity as a Mum – and much more. In 2024 I will be running online and in person workshops for Mums covering themes such as breaking habits, returning to work after having a family, intention setting and ‘how to find your village’ - however that looks for you. As a Mum of 3 myself, I know how invaluable the coaching mindset can be to help you navigate all the curveballs that parenting can throw you!
For me, it’s values and beliefs and the influence they have over individuals – both negatively and positively. By supporting clients to really get to know these inner programmed systems I passionately believe they can unlock a lot of power in them: to move away from limiting beliefs, become ‘unstuck’ and move towards growth and positive change. My goal this year is to add to my coaching skillset with some specialist NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) training as I love how this totally flips the way you habitually think or behave, widening your perspective on life and ultimately releasing new ways of being in the world.
Once you have some understanding of the basic GROW model, coaching principles and ethics of coaching – get practising! You can use a coaching approach in any area of life – conversations with friends/family, with colleagues, employees and anyone else. Focus on improving your listening skills and reflecting the language of the person you’re talking with. There is so much power in really paying attention to what someone else is saying and you’ll find you can delve deeper into most conversations that you ever thought possible. Don’t overthink it – just start.
Reach out to the brilliant network of Coaching Academy students and trainees, as well as qualified coaches and alumni. It’s such a supportive group of people, many of whom have developed their own networks and communities across social media and beyond. Be brave and connect with people to ask questions and find out more -there is so much information out there and I’ve found everyone to be friendly, informed and really welcoming. Getting a coaching buddy was a game changer for me – for reciprocal practice sessions and general catch ups and pep talks along the way!
Thank you Helena for sharing your inspirational journey with us!
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