My road to becoming a career coach
After years of working my way up the management ranks, at the peak of my career in my mid-40s, I was surprised to find that my long-held dream of being a CEO no longer appealed to me. I realised it was something I thought I 'should' do, not something I wanted to do.
Management was where I had been conditioned to believe success lay – not working from home for myself like I do now. But after lots of soul searching, I eventually realised that was an external expectation – and success could be anything that felt meaningful to me.
Being true to myself
But if I no longer felt the pull to become a CEO, then what did I want to do? I started researching different career options. And as I had done at previous turning points in my career, I looked around at other people to see what aspects of their jobs appealed to me. I looked at what I enjoyed about my job and how those things could translate to another career.
This was how I realised that it wasn't just being in management that I loved; it was the people - specifically, the opportunity to lead teams and develop people.
Without knowing it at the time, I had already been coaching my employees for years. I had a habit of identifying when people were unhappy or not producing at work, and engaging them to find out what was going on. Depending on the issue, I would sometimes help them move to a different role or change something about their working approach to make them happier.
“A career transition can be a messy process, but it’s worth it when you work out what you want and come out the other end.”
Often this included working through personal issues that were affecting their ability to be present at work. Now, this would be recognised as coaching, but at the time, it was just something that I did because it came naturally to me.
I knew other leadership coaches and decided coaching could be a role I would enjoy. I had also been dabbling in property development as a hobby, which was another potential career. Although they seem like wildly different options, both coaching and property development involve transformations!
My transition to career coaching
Eventually, I decided leadership coaching was a better fit. But there was still a lot to learn. I have always enjoyed learning about personal development, so I started reading up on how to become a coach. I also started learning about how to run my own business, such as internet marketing and writing, as this would enable me to run a remote home-based business.
People said I wouldn't be able to do it - and whenever someone says that to me, it just makes me want to try all the harder.
I invested a lot of time, effort and money in learning to be an online leadership and career coach. At first, I coached alongside my contracting work and offered my services for free to gain experience.
Finally, a year after turning 50, I qualified as a certified career coach with the International Coaching Community (ICC). I continued studying and became a master neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) practitioner.
Recognising different career stages
Around this time, I also learned about career peaks and professional decline. After the ambition and growth that can define your career through your 20s to mid-40s, this transitioning stage can be marked by a feeling of needing something more significant, as well as thoughts of retirement.
As I was nearing 50, I started thinking about undertaking more meaningful work and figuring out what I wanted out of my retirement. I wanted to help people – being a manager was no longer important to me.
For many people, the thought of a different lifestyle comes first. However, my lifestyle didn't fall into place until after I started coaching from home. I realised I wanted a slower pace to enjoy more time with my family and a more rural lifestyle.
“If you’re going through a similar journey right now, my best advice would be: “It takes time.” ”
I wanted to create my own little community, where family and friends would be welcome to stay for as long as they wished. As my business became more successful, I moved on from contracting, and my family and I started looking at small towns we could live in. Eventually, we left the big smoke and settled in Whangarei.
After years of having a boss, it took a while to adjust to working for myself. I had my fair share of imposter syndrome and voices saying I should work harder – it took lots of inner work to figure that out.
A career transition can be a messy process, but it's worth it when you work out what you want and come out the other end.
Take charge of your work-life
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If you're going through a similar journey right now, my best advice would be: "It takes time." It can take a long time to change your identity from the one you created many years ago to a new one. Make sure you talk to people who have been there before. I wish I'd had a coach on my journey. Still, instead, I spoke to many people – including coaches and marketing experts – who had undertaken similar life changes.
I'd also suggest doing lots of research and soul searching until you figure out what the next step is - you'll know when you've figured it out because it will feel right.
On the other side of the looking glass
I've been coaching for over 10 years, and I couldn't be happier. My life is entirely different to what I thought it would be at this age. I enjoy interacting with people around New Zealand and the world every day. Coaching from home has given me a slower lifestyle, more time with my family, more time to enjoy nature, and a better work-life balance.
My main challenge now is keeping my coaching business at a manageable size amidst the pressure to grow. I'm currently looking at ways to help more people at once, in addition to the one-on-one coaching sessions I run.
This is just another step in this crazy, confusing, but ultimately rewarding career journey.
My coachees who’ve found success through work-life coaching
