I never said “when I grow up I want to be a coach” Maybe a fireman or policeman, but not a coach.  So how did I get here?  I guess like most coaches do.  They spend a lot of their time helping people and then decide they’d be good at coaching.  I’ve been helping people my entire life.  Here's some of the jobs I've held. By the way, I changed jobs so many times, I felt like a constant failure.  But as I look back on it now, I can see where each job actually contributed to my talents and abilities. 

      I worked as a custodian, farm hand, department store sales clerk, restaurant manager for a big chain pizza parlor, assistant manager at a big chain grocery.   Then, I went on to work as a sales clerk and technician for an electronics store.

 

But I learned the most about serving customers, while running my own businesses.  I started in my garage, building window and door screens struggling to pay the bills until, with the help of my first website, I landed a large contract for 1,300 screens for a local college that netted over $30,000.   I could then start hiring employees and built a big shop.  17 years in, with 10 employees, I was able to buy a struggling glass business and turn it around.

 

  I've designed, built and promoted multiple websites for two different businesses, over 25 years, gaining more insights with each one. They ranked #1 or 2 for every search term used for over 20 years. I learned what the web providers algorithms were looking for and what was needed to rank above my competitors.  

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After several years of growing the two companies,  I also had to learn to improve my communication skills to ensure that all of the staff and technicians were kept up to date on customer orders and trained in all aspects of their jobs.  Here's were I learned that the art of coaching can be extremely beneficial to customer satisfaction and to a company's success.    

 I had no idea at the time when I took several courses in college that I would be able to put them all to use someday.  I was fortunate enough to have studied graphic arts, photo journalism, advertising, marketing and science that helped me to see what others don't see.  And some courses that gave insight into what people want and think like psychology, sociology, history, literature. 

 

The ICF Coaching certification course I took while running the business is what really helped me put everything into perspective and made it all very useful.  

Like I said, I felt like a constant failure.  It's easy to underestimate the value of something until you see what it can produce.  I highly recommend continuing to learn and expand your experiences, whether it be through a course, a mentorship or a coach.  You'll never regret it.   

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