Why I Became A Career Coach

How I got to do what I love and love what I do...

Growing up in New Zealand was a great country to grow up in, it was before the cellphone era really took off and life was simple.  Being at the bottom of the world and far away from the rest of it meant two things for a curious young adult – I could dream and learn about the rest of the world, or I could focus only on New Zealand.  So, I chose the best option – BOTH 😊

Fortunate to travel about 90% of my own country before turning 25 and seeing the wonderful sights and sounds was unforgettable, even to this day.  A result this gave me was the travel bug.   I was injected with wonders, possibilities, and optimism; what a mix!

What this mix did was create my world where I felt comfortable with change, picking up to see something new, or changing direction with something, or merely just going with the flow.

It is where my optimism began, the strong belief that I will land on my feet, everything will be ok in the end, and if it’s not ok then it’s not the end – a funny story I saw this on a t-shirt in a shop whilst on my world travels, and yes I did it buy it too.

And there was this one constant that stayed with me and it was I loved having new jobs, new industries, and new careers, I changed very often – not great for my new employer but I had this desire to try so many different things out and I thoroughly enjoyed it – the changing environment,  learning and meeting new people really was the world I wanted to work in, so I chose to take it to the next level and I signed up for a job/life of working at sea, it was everything I could imagine and so much more.

Every week I would be surrounded by 2000 – 4000 new people and regardless of the different positions I held on board they all had one thing in common and that was Customer Service, which was always at the forefront.  For the optimistic kiwi learning, human behavior and effective communication were paramount, as it was with this knowledge I then could grasp and excel with customer service.

Moving through the years of working and living at the sea, visiting incredible destinations in the world, witnessing and learning about cultures and lifestyles different from my own, and being fascinated by people a curiosity began, how amazing could someones day be if they were able to view situations, people, reactions, responses in a way that worked for them and actually gave them more? 

Yes, I am talking about personal & professional development.

So I put this to test, on the ships I worked on there were at times 700 – 1000 staff and with internal clients (our colleagues) and external clients (the guests) how can one’s performance peak with behavior and mindset changes to therefore increasing productivity and one’s own well-being.

I started coaching managers, supervisors, and staff members on board with an array of different topics all with a similar outcome – to be better and happier within their roles and self.  I thoroughly enjoyed holding space and with thought-provoking questions was able to assist the client to get amazing results.

Then one day when on vacation it dawned on me – here I was living my best life and why don’t I help women live their best life – it was a very exciting day with this realization yet what came next was the thought – HOW do I help women live their best life, the excitement came down a few notches whilst the searching began again.

Growing up in New Zealand and traveling the world gave me a wonderful advantage in life as I got to see how the world is and how it operates, yes I am being general here, but I have always had empowered women in my life, whether this was from New Zealand having three female Prime Ministers or the first country to have women vote at the election, to female empowered friends and global events.

I knew when I sat with this thought that bridging the gap of gender equality was my purpose and the way forward for me was to help women discover and change to a new career that is in the alignment with their true selves, and gives them career fulfillment and happiness and the result is work-life bliss.

When I was thinking about making the decision to leave ships and move to shore it wasn’t easy, I was filled with thoughts of am I making the right decision, will this work out, what if it does work out, what happens if it does not, where will I live, how will I make new connections, life is easy where I am, I know I am comfortable here – comfortable but unfulfilled, what will family and friends say, and many more.

Yet I was also having thoughts and feelings that do I really want to stay where I am when my mind and body is excited about moving forward, moving to something new, something that I can feel is the right thing to do despite not knowing the HOW to do or if I will achieve my desired result – HELLO FEAR

I know I was a little different to most with my transition as I lived and worked on a ship for 8 months out of a year and then went to land for my vacation, most folks leave the home/career on land to go away for a holiday/vacation, I was doing the opposite and having to decide where I wanted to live, what was most important to me, my new career I wanted to start and basically build a brand new life living on land.  

I hired someone to help me with this transition and throughout my transition, I could not actually find a person who had gone thru life change at the same time – work, home, family/friendship, finances, relationship, new routines, new world, etc…so many parts of this I felt alone with my transition and looking back on it.

What would have made the biggest difference was having support from someone who has been there, done it, and has the educational knowledge to help with the mindset and strategy required for massive change. 

Change needs three things - dedication, commitment, and action and there are times when we can lack one of the three and need support in that area.

This was where I decided this is what I want to help others do – bridging gender equality, career change, and work-life balance together for women.

To me a world full of women living life that stem's from their true self will mean women will be empowered to do what it is they want to do without barriers or borders, they will know how to equip themselves with the tools and resources needed to step up.

I know career change can seem fearful, the unknown & the uncertainty being the two biggest challenges for many, but if we take a step back for one moment and think that you would not be where you are today if you had listened to this fear all your life. 

The power of starting something new leaves the past behind and the power of starting something new gives you the power to be, do and have what you desire.

With all my support

 Love + Sunshine
Alex