Meet Candace. She’s one of the newest members of my Circle of Licensed Coaches. She’s still a full-time accountant, and mom-turned-coach, and her story about how she found her way to college consulting and academic coaching is nothing short of … an inspiration. Her story includes being a first generation college student, becoming a teenage mom, navigating parental disapproval, the TV show A Different World, the allure of a Howard homecoming, and so much more!!
I LOVED THIS INTERVIEW!!! We had such a good time talking, and Candace is suchan amazing storyteller, that we talk for a LONG TIME. I know many of you may not have time to take in the whole thing (though I highly recommend it!). Check out the timestamps below to find the parts of the interview that are most relevant to you.
If you only have a second right now, here’s my favorite quote. I had asked Candance to give one tip to people who are entering my ROCK YOUR BIZ training right now (which starts up June 6!), and she said this:
“What’s probably going to happen is that you’re going to feel busy. It’s very easy to feel busy and think, ‘I don’t have time to do this.’
But what I want you to do is to show up for the community calls. I think that was the biggest thing for me. I may not have been able to go through each lesson and comment as I should, but when I showed up to those community calls, it would be the drive I needed.
I would get inspired because I would hear about what everyone is doing. And guess what. I wasn’t the only one struggling. That was so key. Just hearing what they were doing with students, hearing what they were experiencing, the highs, the lows, the joys, the wins. It was like staying around the fire.
Even when your 9 to 5 starts to overwhelm you, your life starts lifin’, get around the fire.
I can’t even speak on the calls because I’m at my desk. So I just listen in and comment in the chat. But what I’m doing is that I try and make sure I’m around the fire. The more I stay around that fire, it motivates me to go back and make that plan.
This week I was listening to your student Olivia (the full unedited session of Gretchen coaching a client). I understand I can get overwhelmed by the information, so I choose one thing I want to work on this week. “Last week, it was the Executive Function videos. As long as I stay around the fire, I know what’s going on, and I can go back to work on what I can.
Just stay around the fire.”
I really get what Candace means about “staying around the fire.” And in fact, I’ve added six hours of community calls in the month of June because I KNOW how inspirational it is to meet together.
If you’ve been thinking about joining ROCK YOUR BIZ (or even ROCK YOUR COACHING, if the full biz program is too much for you right now), come sit around the fire with us and use the month of June to hit the ground running. Your new baby biz will have the warmth and community connection it needs to get going now.
But back to Candace. Here’s what we talked about during the interview.
- 0:00. Candace’s long-and-windy journey into academic coaching and college consulting.
- 14:23 How she balances having a full time job as an accountant, being a mom, and starting a biz,
- 20:20 How Candance is planning to transition from 1:1 coaching to group coaching.
- 26:45 Advice for people who want to keep their full time job while going through the ROCK YOUR BIZ training.
- 30:07 Candace’s personal experiences with island/Caribbean culture, and how to coach parents who have a culture of intensity, academics, and strictness, to “get out of the way” to let their students shine.
You can catch the entire conversation here:
Want to chat with me about which program is a good fit for you? Get on my calendar and we’ll talk about your unique situation and goals…and whether one of my programs can help you get where you want to go!
Remember, a new group of students is starting June 6–come join the fire!
P.S. I even have discounts available for fast action takers who sign up this week! You can use this coupon for Rock Your Biz… or … use this coupon for Rock Your Coaching!