Your stories are your power. How can you use it to achieve your goals?
All our stories are created in relationship with other people.
With that in mind, here is a short story on how I became a coach.
During my time advising founders and creatives as a business consultant and lawyer, a few clients suggested that I explore coaching. Initially, the idea did not resonate with me because in my professional world, I had been exposed to a specific type of corporate executive coaching.
For me, coaching was a word that either felt like part of a stiff organisational structure or fuelled a false stereotype of what a life coach was. It didn’t feel fun, yet.
Encouraged by my clients, I did more research and re-harnessed my academic background in cultural anthropology. I developed a way to combine my experience of the art of storytelling with the craft of coaching, in a way that worked for me and spoke to those who felt some sort of connection with storytelling or creativity.
Alongside a full-time job, I decided to invest money and time in learning. I became a certified coach and worked with a range of clients from artists to corporate executives to founders to athletes. In parallel, I was exploring the idea of reinventing my first business.
By 2024, I was ready to run my own business (again) and write my next chapter. left my corporate job, started Freshly Ground Stories and added coaching as a new and exciting part of Freshly.
Welcome to coaching; a partnership that can help bridge the gap between the story you routinely tell yourself and the story you want to tell.
Keep reading to explore client stories, pursue your curiosity about coaching or book a call to have a chat. If you’d like to book Izzy as a speaker, you can reach out via hello@freshlygroundstories.com or better yet…
What is coaching?
Beyond the stereotypes.
Coaching is a partnership where individuals or groups are empowered to reach goals or successfully manage transitions in their lives and careers. Using professional International Coaching Federation (ICF) standards, creative frameworks and the art of storytelling, coaching can harness the power of your story and your strengths to help you achieve your short or long-term goals.
Unlike mentoring (giving advice) or therapy (exploring the past), coaching is a forward-looking and goal-oriented partnership. Through asking powerful questions, coaching uses established theory, techniques and frameworks designed to help you flourish.
The coaching industry has typically underserved people of colour and other cultural minorities. Freshly’s coaching aims to be culturally conscious with a firm belief that everyone is storyteller (with stories that need to be heard) and a firm value that everyone in society should have access to the transformative power of coaching. Freshly proudly represents the growth of minority coaches, as well as removing the barrier to entry for many who are seeking coaching.
Find out more by exploring this page, reading up on coaching or booking a free discovery call.
Is this for me?
Some examples of themes coached on so far:
Client Stories
How do I find the right coach?
I am a Certified Coach through Lumia, an ICF Level 2 accredited school. This means I have trained to the PCC level, clocked 100+ hours and am undergoing constant education, training and accreditation in the coaching industry to keep up my skill set.
There are lots of different routes to becoming a coach. It’s important that every potential client does their own research on what they are looking for in a coach in terms of experience, qualifications and skill set, just like you would with a personal trainer. Just as important is ensuring there is chemistry between you and your coach. Signing up to work with a coach requires a commitment from you, but it also should be fun. If you are curious about coaching with me, or simply want to know more about how to find a coach that’s right for you, I’d recommend booking a no-obligation discovery call.