I can’t believe I’m writing this post. For a long time, I didn’t know how I was going to make this vision of mine come true. Fear was holding me back from pulling the trigger and signing up for a coaching program. But thankfully, my wonderful husband reminded me that all I needed to do was take the first step. The rest of would come. And here I am!

So I want to share an informational post to help those who aren’t familiar with coaching or who want to work with a coach.

Let’s get started!

What’s coaching?

Coaching is essentially a powerful relationship between a coach and a client. The coach works with the client to establish and work towards a meaningful outcome for each session that helps the client reach their overarching goal. From my perspective, I want to help people understand and reach their potential (very broadly speaking).

Why do I want to be a coach?

The short answer is I want to make a direct difference in people’s lives. I believe that my professional development and career so far has definitely set me up nicely for what I hope to be my profession (or a large part of it) one day.

I’ve also always wanted to be my own boss and ‘do my own thing.’ I think with my passion for this work and my desire to make an impact, I can do that in due time.

Why iPEC?

So once I decided that coaching was something I wanted to pursue, the next step was figuring out the program I wanted to join. I did a lot of research and talked to a number of admissions counselors to learn more about each program – the benefits, time commitment, support, etc.

iPEC stood out from the rest for a couple of reasons. The admissions counselor I spoke with was so knowledgeable (not the case everywhere!) and followed up with me and made herself available. I also liked the fact that iPEC has a business development component to their curriculum, which is super helpful to those who want to turn this into a business. I also resonated with iPEC’s core energy coaching model and philosophy. I feel like it aligns with my thoughts around self-development and how I strive to live my life.

What does coach training consist of?

So I can’t speak for other programs, but iPEC has a few different components. There are three 3-day classroom modules that occur over a 6 month period (I attended my first one this past weekend). In between those sessions, you have webinars, assignments, peer coaching, and a number of other things to help you with the education component as well the practice piece. The program in it’s entirety runs any where from 9-12 months.

How much does it cost?

So programs vary in terms of cost, but the iPEC one is ~$12,000. Not cheap by any means and definitely something to be seen as an investment.

Who is eligible to participate in this program?

From what I know, the people who participate in iPEC’s program come from all walks of life and have varying goals around what they want to do with this new skill. Some want to start their own business, while some want to bring coaching to their current job, while others, believe it or not, are doing it more for personal development reasons.

How is coaching different from therapy and mentoring?

Therapy – from what I gather, in therapy, clients often dig back into their past for answers and stay there for a while. In coaching, you explore your past for learning purposes, but you don’t stay there. Therapy is also about figuring out the why (hence the past), whereas coaching is ultimately about moving into the future by looking at who you truly are at your core.

Mentoring – Mentors differ from coaches in that they are there to show you the ropes by speaking from a personal lens of been there done that. Coaches never bring their own life into the conversation with the client. The coach is the expert in the coaching process and the client is the expert on their life.

What kind of coaching do you want to do and what are your goals?

Honestly, I have no idea. A lot of people assume all coaches are life coaches, but that’s not the case. Niches vary just like with other professions. I’ve toyed around with everything from being a female executive coach to a parenting coach to a mindset coach. I haven’t landed on any one thing yet. Who knows…I may go nicheless for a bit.

In terms of my goals, I eventually (like a year or more down the line) want to start my own coaching business. And if we’re talking big HUGE vision and goals, I want to write a book and do some speaking engagements here and there as well. All in due time!

How has the program changed you so far?

I’ve only gone through the first weekend module. That being said, I really truly feel like this program is life changing. I know that’s so cliche to say, but I can already feel my mindset and energy shifting. I’ve had three big coaching convos with people I love, and each person took action after the convo and said it made a difference. During a peer coaching session over the weekend, the person I was coaching started crying at one point and said, “I may have changed her life.” I think she was a little overcome with emotion, but if even 1% of that was true, I feel happy I was able to make a difference for her.

The lead coach facilitators also said you can’t unlearn what they teach us and what we experience. You are almost always going to approach situations from one kind of coaching lens or another. I love that!

But the biggest benefit I’ve seen so far is that I’m able to coach myself out of catabolic thoughts and shift them to ones that serve me more. I did it on Saturday evening when I got home and was irritated with Vishnu about something. I realized that my thoughts were doing nothing to help me connect with him the way I wanted to and I was able to quickly shift and have a fun evening. I’VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT BEFORE (at least not that quickly).

Ok, that’s all I’ve got today. Let me know what other questions you have. Happy to talk more about this.

If you got to this point, thank you for reading! I can’t wait to share more about my journey and mayyyyyybeeeee even work with some of you!