MY PERSONAL JOURNEY INTO COACHING

When I look back at my life today, I see that every phase of it propelled me to the next and led to me this point here, right now – a time where I feel I’ve truly begun to understand the cycle of life. I didn’t realize it at the time, but all the setbacks, rejections and heartbreaks were EXACTLY what I needed, to ultimately find myself, and what I am made of. All of my experiences have taught me one thing – life goes on, even if we choose to stand still, it will go on.

I graduated with a degree in communication and media production back in 1999. Since I came from a media-oriented family, my mind was set on making my mark in the media world. I found it to be so thrilling and impactful – it felt so familiar, yet exciting. Each day was a new adventure.

Armed with such a degree, I went on to conceptualize and see through some major launches and initiatives across various platforms in the media and marketing industry. Every success motivated me to achieve more and become the best version of the Leila I dreamed to be.

What became obvious over the course of these 13 years is how well I interacted with people. I worked hard to solve individual and team challenges, guide my peers and engage in team building and morale boosting activities and strategies. The joy I felt from bringing a smile on someone’s face or being the positive impact in someone’s life, was like no other.

Accidentally, I realized that my colleagues and friends were satisfied with the approach I took. They’d bring fresh bouts of energy to the table every day and started becoming happier and more productive. Since they looked forward to work with a renewed zest, they stayed in their jobs longer than they expected themselves to. I began to see a clear correlation between all these factors and it gave me great pleasure to see my team happy – I went to bed with a smile every night.

So how did I jump into the world of coaching? Equipped with my insight and love for being part of something that lifted people coupled with the fact that I was nearing the end of my 30s (a personal timeline I set to build my own business), it made sense to dive straight in to something I felt was a natural calling.

I enrolled myself in one of USA’s top coaching institutions – IPEC – and devoted seven months to an intense and invaluable curriculum around the methodology of energy. It was in line with my insight and fit in well with my long-term goals. Once my certification from the International Coaching Federation came through, I executed my plan and established my own business venture – LA Coaching and Consulting.

Coaching around energy is all about consciously identifying what level one’s energy is at. This helps shift them to the level best suited around their goals or simply bring them back into balance and harmony. The concept is simple – there are 7 levels of energy that we, as humans, tend to bounce through on any given moment, with the lowest two energy levels being very catabolic in nature while the higher 5 are more positive and constructive.

As a coach, I sit with clients to identify what energy level they spend most of their time at, while simultaneously identifying their goals, values and assessing the overall balance in their lives. With carefully structured tools, I work towards shifting energy, creating buy-in and confidence, and constructing a solid plan of action that keeps their minds on track.

I also customize (hourly or daily) group sessions and interactive workshops around this approach and find it very useful, especially for corporate groups, friends’ gatherings or even family settings.

So that’s my journey in a nutshell – what I do and what I aim to focus on.