The Story of a… Life Coach
For Jennifer Lee, 46, helping people change is the name of the game.
“I never give any advice. As a coach, it’s never about me telling you what to do. It’s about asking the right questions. So if somebody says, ‘Should I leave my husband?’ I would say, ‘Why would you want to leave your husband?’ And then they give their own reasons. They’re going to be the ones to make that decision. I never tell anyone to do anything.”
Lee, who lives in Winter Springs, left a job training salespeople to start a life-coaching business in 2007 with a friend. Since then, she has worked primarily with women ranging from their early 30s to late 40s. While life coaches have the option of being certified through a university, Lee chose not to take that route. She felt that her professional background gave her skills that she could easily parlay into life coaching.
“Coaching is about action; it’s not just about a bunch of talking. I’m going to ask you some questions, you’re going to reveal some stuff, you’re going to have some sort of goal going in. What is it that you want your life to look
like 90 days from now?”
During the first meeting, Lee asks a client to identify three things that she is not happy with in her life. Lee says she helps her clients with everything from breaking through the glass ceiling at work to ditching toxic friends. She charges $2,500 for a 90-day service that includes unlimited access to her.
“A therapist’s role is to help you uncover things from the past that may be affecting your present and future; they bring that up and help you heal. Coaches take it from that point forward.”
“It doesn’t have to be these big dramatic changes. Sometimes it’s just one choice that you make that can make a difference.”
According to Lee, the biggest challenge that her clients face is saying “no,” a problem that she feels isn’t as common in men as it is women. “It is a problem for women, not because we should become men, but we need to recognize that we don’t have to do everything to prove our personal value.”
“My main mantra that I am trying to get people to see is that life is not supposed to be this difficult; we make it difficult. Apply the philosophy of ‘Does this work for me or does this work against me?’ If it works for you, keep doing it; if it works against you, get rid of it. Do something about the things that don’t work for you.…You are your number one priority.”
