If you’ve been following this blog for a while, or maybe you’ve come across one of my previous posts, then you will know that my coaching journey started back in 2016, and it has been truly transformative. When I first agreed to try coaching it was for two reasons. One was out of curiosity, having only ever been to therapy before. Can coaching help me? What is this trendy thing popping up? And the other was because I thought “maybe I can be a coach! I have to test this for myself”. As I just finished my coaching training with the CTI and am officially a coach, I wanted to take time to reflect on this journey.
How it started
As I said, my main experience up until 2016 had been with therapy and I was curious to know what coaching was. At the time it seemed to be en vogue with coaches popping up everywhere, but also seemed very woolly and I had no idea if it was actually effective or just people spewing nonsense by pretending they could change your lives. My coach was a CTI student himself, which is how they came on my radar as a training institute.
As I started to work with him, many doors began to open and I started to realize the value of coaching. The biggest difference compared to therapy was that it was very much focused on the present and the future. Creating the life you want, by discovering who you are now, as opposed to trying to find answers in the past. At that time, I wasn’t interested in revisiting the past as it felt fruitless. I liked the approach: being curious, asking questions, and understanding my values. Many of the exercises we did like “visioning” (i.e. envisioning my future) were very eye-opening to me as I discovered aspects of myself I wasn’t in touch with. For example: I discovered I am creative. Saying it today sounds like a no brainer, but I assure you – back then I wasn’t in touch with it at all. 🫣
Slowly but surely, I started to learn a lot more about myself and what I could or couldn’t control. Most importantly, I began to realize that I already had most of the answers within me, and John was helping me find them.This is one of the main principles of the Co-active model: that people are naturally creative, resourceful and whole. After John, I had two other coaches and the journey has been ongoing, helping me to constantly evolve my life.
Learning and education
Throughout this entire journey, not only was I getting to know myself through coaching but I also started educating myself. I read leadership books (7 Habits of highly effective people, or Turn the Ship around – to name only two), I read the Co-active book, I started reading more psychology books, listening to podcasts, and of course, I was gaining in work experience.
The longer I worked, the more I started to see all sorts of things. There were, of course, the terrible managers who had no idea what they were doing, and there were the toxic workplaces who couldn’t care less about their employees. There were also the good managers who inspired me by their caring behaviour, empathy, and support for my career. All of this started to shape my vision of leadership and the importance of having a work culture that was centered around people and their value, rather than profit. It also helped me think long and hard about the type of manager and colleague I wanted to be and how I wanted to show up in the workplace. As I started to manage people, I realized that watching them develop was something that brought me a lot of joy.
All of the above combined with my own experience with coaching, confirmed that at the very least, being trained and having coaching skills would be extremely valuable in the workplace.
Starting training
When I arrived in Amsterdam, I was fortunate enough to work in a startup that had budget for training and this covered the cost of my Fundamentals course. I had finally left agency life and I knew a change was on the cards for me so I thought: what better time to take the plunge and start this coaching training? I absolutely loved it! I remember the feeling of being connected to the people in the room. I loved the vulnerability, and I was wowed by the skills of our leaders. I remember enjoying practising my budding skills all while feeling wildly incompetent. But I was hooked.
I had wanted to continue then and there but in all transparency coaching training costs a bomb so it took me 5 years to save up enough money to finance the second part of the course. But guess what? There’s such a thing as divine timing (I can see you rolling your eyes…) because when I signed up for this course in 2024 it felt like all the planets were aligned. By the time I had finally managed to save the money, I was considering a change of career spurred by the approach of my 40th birthday. Not only that, but I had finally created more stability for myself and felt settled in Amsterdam. No longer in crisis mode, I had time and space to fully open myself to this training. In the end, I really believe I was meant to do it now and no sooner.
In September 2024 I started with the next module of coaching training and loved it. Not only did I refresh my memory but I discovered a whole bunch of new tools. Already in the first course I felt “this feels right, this is really aligned with who I am and what I’m good at”. Of course I had (and still have) moments of self-doubt, but being able to practice with my fellow cohort members helped a lot, as did hearing from our front of the room leaders. Right after that module I decided to look for free clients I could coach. I am super grateful to those people (you know who you are) for trusting me and allowing me to practice my budding skills.
With each new course I gained new skills, and arrived feeling better equipped to coach my clients. Witnessing their transformation has been incredibly rewarding. There is something fantastic about watching people grow and seeing the change in them, that brings me a different level of fulfilment. Finally, in January 2025 I completed my last module with CTI and I’m ready to make this my job – and that’s the story of how I became a coach!
I have witnessed the power of coaching first hand and truly want as many as people to be able to experience this transformation for themselves. I see many people who are unhappy, unfulfilled or not living to their full potential – and my only wish is for them to be fully in touch with that side of themselves (if that’s what they want). In addition, the human aspect of the job is so rewarding and meaningful, and allows me to really be in touch with people on a deeper level – something I really appreciate.
If any of this resonates with you and you’d like to work with me then please get in touch, it would be my pleasure to be your coach. If you have any questions about my journey let me know.
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