The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision. -Helen Keller

I begged my grandmother to let me use my uncle’s old room as my office. I was 11 years old. [She called me Shanda.]
“Shanda, why do you need an office and what are you gonna do in an office?” she asked. “I need it to do my homework,” I answered with excitement.

Clearly, I didn’t know why I needed an office either but that was the quickest answer I could come up with; and from that day until this one, I have wanted my own office:-)

It’s been brewing in me since I was a little girl.

Who knows what you want to do? Where do you share your goals, dreams and desires?

It was January 1999, I worked as an admissions counselor and career coach for the Computer Learning Center when my co-worker, Carol, handed me an article and said, “April, this is right up your alley.” The article was titled,“Hey, coach! I need a game plan – Personal coaches are the latest trend in self-improvement.”

She knew this because I shared my dreams and goals out loud.

That one article set me on a new course. I read and re-read the article. Could this be a true? Coaching as a real profession. I was in love. The coach in the article lived nearby in Upper Montclair, NJ. Her name: Laura Berman Fortgang. It felt so me. I just couldn’t believe that coaching was a profession that I could do as a free agent.

Coaching lit a real fire underneath me! Remember, coaching wasn’t as popular as it is now.

Next step: I hired my own coach in 1999.

I became an active member of Coachville to learn and explore the possibilities within the coaching industry, and there I took many training programs and certifications with the late Thomas Leonard.

I was downsized before turning 30 years old. Are you kidding me? This only happens to middle aged executives, right? WRONG!

By 2000, there was trouble in the land at the Computer Learning Center and talks of all 27 schools closing down (due to some federal monies stuff). Will I stay or will I go? I chose to leave.

I was young, ambitious and on fire. Being jobless was not an option. I left there and went to work for a day trading firm in the training department where we were responsible for selling a proprietary software to day traders and then training them in the use of that software.

You know the saying, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, shame on both of us.”

Keep in mind that I was still working with my coach when I got a call from human resources to confirm what we already knew – our boss, the VP of the department had gotten into a beef with the President (his BFF) and the VP left to work with a competitor. He was the visionary, so when the visionary left the department, he took the vision with him.

Great Coaching Happens inside of Conversations. It’s not chitchat or idle talk.

My coach: “April, take the leap of faith”
Me: “Take the leap of faith where?”
My coach: “The Universe is speaking…”
Me: “What is it saying?”
My coach: “It’s time for you to leap” “You said that you want to be a coach – go be a coach”

The Leap

Since that time, I have worked with high-end spas and salons, hospice marketing teams, coaches, consultants private schools, universities and many serviced based small businesses.