Jen Waller
Short version:
Jen Waller is on a mission to support, nurture and encourage coaching skills and talents from non-coach to coach and beyond.
As an experienced coach and trainer Jen is happy to utilise all skills at her disposal to assist clients from getting out of their own way and making a difference in the world with their coaching.
Her coaching blog, Coaching Confidence, the coaching blog is a blog for coaches of all niches. Containing daily quotes, alongside posts covering topics such as personal development, coaching skills and resources. Each Friday the blog hosts a guest post covering a broad range of different coaching experiences, styles and approaches.
In her spare time Jen is a volunteer for the UK based charity The Cinnamon Trust who support elderly and terminally ill pet owners provide care for their pets. As a volunteer, Jen regularly walks dogs for owners who physically often find that more challenging then they once did. As a pet owner herself, Jen finds it really rewarding to be able to assist an owner stay with an animal that is like part of their family – particularly when the owners mobility outside of their home is often more restrictive.
Jen also loves theatre and has been known to watch certain popular science fiction films and TV shows!
Longer version
(The bit that goes into more depth about my coaching journey and the work I do now)
Let me tell you a secret – I didn’t set out with the intention of becoming a coach. For a long time I didn’t have any context for that word outside of the sporting arena. It certainly wasn’t part of a great plan, at least one I was aware of, when I started out first just reading books that fascinated me and then graduating to going on courses – just for the fun of it.
I think my colleagues at work thought I was slightly mad when I would book a weeks holiday to go on a course rather than spend it lying on a beach – but I loved my choice.
I did find that, as I played and learnt more, I would bring more into my day to day job – first in management and finishing as a member of a training team. By this stage I had learnt about coaching and loved having coaching style conversations.
A change in my employers ownership meant that I was unofficially warned that this new company usually outsourced their training so I could be made redundant in a year. It actually took 18 months and it gave me time to think about what I’d love to do and go from coaching part time alongside my employed job to getting made redundant and in effect being paid to go and start my coaching practice full time.
Looking back to when I first started as a coach I let so many scary thoughts get in the way of me actually doing the coaching I love doing. I felt my calling was to make a difference in the world using all these coaching skills but I questioned if I was “good enough”.
I can still remember working with my first coach, who was also a skilled trainer, and being terrified that he’d immediately spot how terrible I was at all this and how unworthy I was to even consider calling myself a coach. After all, if I hadn’t got all this sorted how could I possible be of assistance to a client?
I had all these feelings of being totally out of my depth, unprepared and uncertain if I could provide any sort of value. Let alone if I would ever be brave enough to consider asking someone to pay to have a coaching session with me!
I have since spoken to many, many others who have also shared that they also had similar thoughts and feelings – so if any of this sounds familiar then please know you aren’t alone with any of that!
I also have a sneaking suspicion that if I’d been told that at the time that this wasn’t unusual it may have been lovely to hear but I still wouldn’t have known what to do about it!
My work often has two aspects:
There’s the bit that concentrates upon visible and measurable results and performance. It’s the bit where people will describe that they are wanting to do things like:
- building and growing their coaching business,
- starting working with “real people”,
- increasing the income they create with their coaching,
- making more of a difference with their work,
- having a full coaching practice etc
Then there’s also the bit that’s not so easy to describe as each person has their own experience and language for the experience!
For the purposes of simplicity and without being bogged down in language and labels around beliefs, values etc I think most coaches will be aware of the impact of what’s going on inside our heads.
So it probably won’t come as a surprise that at some stage our conversation is likely to focus upon the nature of thought as well as any logistical issues.
When I’m working with someone they are usually attracted to this bit because they currently think they need more confidence or self belief. They often say that they are finding some thought of the next bit of their coaching journey really scary. I hear a lot of people secretly questioning if they are good enough, worthy enough etc.
Their description of the impact of this part of my work include:
- “connecting with the light inside”,
- “coming from the heart place, not the mind place”,
- “relaxing and being me”
- “connecting with an amazing space of flow”
- “getting really quiet on the inside”
- “being really comfortable in my own skin”
- “trusting myself”
It’s the bit that allows you to handle any bumps and lows you encounter with more grace and still really enjoy the “highs”.
As coaches we are not all the same, you will find your own way of working with your own style.
In my experience when a coach gets stuck they often try to self coach themselves – which is a great tool to have available to you. Sometimes you can be so caught up that you don’t see the question or conversation that’s going to free you up again. A lot of my work is about providing a nurturing space to think and have a conversation from.
Before we start working together we will have a conversation about what you want to get from our time together so we can tailor make our work specifically to you. It also allows us both to get a feel for if that “chemistry” is there
If you’ve read all of the above, the main page and feel drawn to find out more – let’s talk.
What others have said about me:
“Jen is the kind of coach that other coaches aspire to be. She’s fantastic. Grab any opportunity to spend time with her.”
“Jen’s trained with the best of the best, undergone extensive coaching herself with many coaches, and as such has distilled and evolved her own skill set like few people can or ever do. I know Jen personally and can highly recommend her.”
(Jonathan Altfeld, Director of training, Mastery Insight Institute.)
“Working with Jen as been a fantastic experience. In just a few short sessions I have learned things about myself I never had realised before. Jen has helped me to identify what I really want and I have now defined some clear goals. I have set some objectives along the way to achieving my goals and I’m already beginning to see results!
Jen is pleasant and easy to work with. She is very skilled in her approach. I highly recommend Jen’s services.”
(Mike Gee)
“Although I was initially nervous about what to expect, Jen put me at ease and made it fun. After each session I felt so much better and ready to take on the world, with a toolkit of exercises to use as and when I needed.
I would recommend Jen as she is professional, very approachable and she gets results.”
(Sophie Wise)
“From the very first phone call I was amazed at how much Jen was able to draw out of me and just how motivated I began to feel. I feel positive about my future and know I CAN do what I’m planning without fear! I would recommend Jen without hesitation!”
(Deborah Roberts)
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