I Was Born To Do This

“I was born to do this.” We’ve all heard this quote before. Some of us have probably even said it. Sometimes you just know when something is a great fit. That’s how I felt when I learned about the world of life coaching. I didn’t realize it, but the experiences and work I had been doing for a big part of my life had set me up perfectly to step into this profession. Much of the work that I have done on myself and the skills I have developed for certain roles and jobs mirror the skills needed to be an effective life coach. I hadn’t even realized how closely these skills related until my coach (yes I have a coach, coaches need coaches too!) pointed it out to me as we were in a session talking about coaching certifications and credibility. So let me tell you about my life journey to becoming a life coach!!

It all started when I was two years old… Ok, not really, but sort of. Let me explain. My parents came of age in the 1960’s and 70’s. They were part of the counterculture at the time, known as “Hippies”, I’m sure you’ve heard of them. One of my favorite stories is my dad’s about going to Woodstock and some of the crazy stuff he saw/did there. Anyways, my parents would go to this summer camp and of course when I was born, I got to go along with them. This summer camp was an outdoor nature camp with a heavy metaphysical, new age, spirituality lean to it. It was very big on personal development, communal living, interpersonal skills and everything related to those topics. So at a very young age I was exposed to these concepts and began to develop them. As time passed and I got older I attended this summer camp on and off from age 10-16. Outside of the summer camp I would also tag along with my parents for other workshops and seminars throughout other times in the year.

As I grew older and started high school I couldn’t help but feel different. Not in a bad way, but I always seemed to do things that I didn’t see other kids my age doing. I could read people and their emotions easily. I often found myself in the role of mediator between two friends when they couldn’t seem to understand what the other was saying, and when they got into arguments. My ability to empathize, and my awareness of other people allowed me to see and understand things about people that others just had a much harder time doing.

Fast forward a couple of years. I graduated from High School and moved out to Boulder, Colorado. I attended a contemplative Buddhist university called Naropa. There, I continued my journey of personal development by taking classes such as Perception, Shambhala Meditation, Wisdom of the Body, and other eclectic courses. These courses and experiences helped build upon what I had learned and experienced growing up. I left Boulder and moved back to Kentucky because I was interested in more of a traditional University subject, biology. While attending the University of Kentucky, I returned to camp as a councilor and began spending my summers there helping facilitate the camp life to the kid and adult campers. I began to not only hone my skills, but got to apply them and teach them to others. I spent another 4 summers as a councilor and program director before moving on and focusing on other things during the summer between college semesters. But the experiences at camp and the other various workshops and seminars stuck with me and benefited me greatly in many aspects of my own life.

A couple years later I started another career as a fitness/health instructor at a CrossFit gym. I coached and managed at that gym for close to 6 years. There, I was able to once again utilize and expand upon many of the skills I had learned growing up. I learned quite a bit about health and fitness along the way as well!

I left the world of Fitness Instruction in 2016 to pursue a career in healthcare. I wanted a job that brought in more money for my family. I am now a practicing Cardiovascular Perfusionist. I work in heart surgery running the heart and lung machine. This machine stops the patient's heart and takes over the function of the heart and lungs while the surgeon is operating so that the heart is empty and still, making surgery possible. It is an amazing job, and it pays well. In the past couple of years, since I have been earning more money, I have been learning about financial health, investing, and how to make my money work for me. I had no idea how much I didn’t know! Financial intelligence is not taught in schools, many parents don’t know enough themselves to pass it on to their children, or there seems to be some sort of taboo about talking about money to your children and your peers. Learning about financial intelligence has been incredibly eye opening and I have enjoyed reaching out to my close friends and discussing this topic with them.

Even though I had this fun, exciting, high paying job, I still felt like there was something missing. I missed coaching people. Sure, I am helping others everyday through the job I have. I had to sit down and really think about what I felt I was missing out on. I finally realized what it was. I missed working with people who were actively invested in bettering themselves. Working with someone who wants to change, but doesn’t quite know how. Seeing someone succeed after putting in the hard work for themselves is a special experience. That’s what I missed. So when the call came to become a life coach I accepted the call and here I am.

Now, as I have been building out my coaching business and learning what a life coach is and what they do, I have seen the parallels between what I grew up learning and the skills necessary to be a great life coach. I have logged many, many hours working on these skills, in my estimation it is close to a year and some change of dedicated work. Most life coach certification courses can be completed in a weekend! So, it would seem like I was truly “Born to do this”.

I hope this story of my life’s journey to becoming a coach has been interesting for you! If you feel like my story resonates with you and want to learn more about how coaching can help you find the success in life you are craving. Reach out and book a free 1-on-1 consultation with me and let’s talk! It’s free, no strings attached, and always a lot of fun!