My path to coaching

A tale of burnout and adventure

Tell me if you’ve heard this story. In late 2021 I was part of the growing number of people who have experienced burnout since the onset of the pandemic. I am proud of what I accomplished leading a team of IT professionals and public servants through the pandemic and pulling off transformative change at a breathtaking pace for our organization. But despite having fantastic support from my family and various healthcare providers, I hit a wall. Hard. I took sick leave for two weeks, tried to come back just before the new year, and remained off for nearly two months. Sound familiar? Maybe you’ve experienced a similar situation. You almost certainly know someone who has.

In early 2022 I slowly returned to work, but a combination of factors made me realize that I needed to make a change that would sustain me long term. I researched training and career paths and roles at local and remote organizations that would let me exercise my strengths and avoid patterns I knew would land me in another burnout. In this research, coaching kept coming up. And I kept gravitating to a program at Concordia University in Montreal - a city that I love! Why not try, I told myself. After all, if I got in and couldn’t make the logistics work, I could just decline or defer that offer of admission. I applied and interviewed for the program. And then I waited.

Moving forward

In March 2022, I got my acceptance letter for the Professional Goal-centric Certified Coach program. Suddenly, this what-if scenario became real! I started letting close friends and family know about my acceptance and explained that I’d travel once a month to Montreal for the intensive seminars, do my practicum coaching sessions remotely from home, and then start my coaching practice.

Meanwhile, my husband and I had started a bit of planning in secret. We asked ourselves one question: Could our family spend the year in Montreal while I was in school? We told ourselves that we’d keep asking follow-up questions until we came to a barrier that we couldn’t overcome. Were the kids open to the experience? With some patient conversations, yes. Could the kids transfer schools? Yes. Could we find a place to live that didn’t blow our budget? Yes. Could we participate in the community given our limited grasp of French? Yes, and it was excellent motivation to learn more. Once we had the yeses we needed, we announced to our nearest and dearest that we were setting off on a year of adventure in Montreal. Most were shocked, everyone was supportive, and many have since come to visit!

My cargo bike, loaded with boxes to prepare for our move.

Putting my learning into practice

Why am I telling you all this? Because I want you to know that I didn’t go into coaching lightly. I came to coaching with a career’s worth of experience - the good, the bad and the burnout. And I came to it through a period of major personal and professional change. And I had the privilege and the courage to throw myself wholeheartedly into a year of learning and joy and rebuilding to come out the other side as a coach. A coach who is thrilled to know that this is only the beginning of continuous growth - for me and for the people I get to work with!

I’m writing this post the week before my final coaching evaluation. This weekend I’ll be coaching in front of the mentors, instructors and peers who I’ve been learning with since September. I get to partner with my coachee and support their outcomes by putting into action all the learning that I’ve integrated during this immersive year of adventure. It’s this energy and learning and sense of purpose that I’m bringing to my coaching practice and that I can’t wait to share with my community.

Now that you know a bit about my story, I’d love to hear yours. Where are you on your own journey of reflection, rebuilding, or growth? What changes are you experiencing right now? And how can we partner together to support you as you move forward? Book a coaching discovery call to spark the conversation.