Finding Your Path with Angela Stillisano

Melissa

Hi, Angie. I’m so glad to have you here. I guess for those that are listening, can you give us a little bit of an introduction of who you are and what you do?

Angie

Sure. Yeah. My name is Angie Stillisano. I manage a team for new product introduction and campaign writing this at a large pharmaceutical company in Frederick, Maryland.

Melissa

Awesome. So we coach together for six months. We just finished that engagement. And so if you can take me back to July when we started working together, what were things like for you at the time?

Angie

So work was pretty unfulfilling. I didn’t know what my future direction looked like, and I didn’t know kind of the career I wanted to take. It was really around June, July, right before we started working together, that things were just moving so fast. My career started to move really fast. Everything started moving, and I felt really out of control about the next steps that I wanted. I felt like somebody else was really in control of what my next step was. So I was pretty eager to try to understand what my next move was and take control back.

Speaker 4

You know what I mean?

Angie

I didn’t want to be sitting somewhere in five years and say, how did I get here? Yeah.

Melissa

And I remember when we started talking, everything was kind of on the table. I feel like you were pretty sure you wanted to kind of stay within at least your industry. But as far as what Department you were in, and I remember also, we were talking about just everyone else around you, and it was hard to decide what you wanted and not kind of take into account what everyone else is doing.

Angie

That’s true.

Melissa

Yeah.

Angie

I was really comparing myself. Like they’re moving up. They’re moving around. Why am I not doing that? Should I be doing this? Am I doing something wrong? Should I leave to take the next step? Do I want to go back to being just a rock star, independent contributor? I don’t know. I don’t know. I didn’t know anything that I wanted necessarily. I was kind of open for anything which made me feel out of control.

Melissa

Yeah. What about your decision making? I remember when we went through out of an idea, you had to score some things that you really struggled with that. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

Angie

Sure. I mean, obviously, you were giving me these no risk questions. How do you feel about your career? How do you feel about your friends and family? How do you feel about your physical help? And it was very eye opening to look back at the notes that you you sent me. And it was, I don’t know, maybe a seven or an eight, maybe a five or six, maybe. I don’t know. Eight, nine, maybe ten. I don’t know. You know what I mean? I was really like I was taking the question so literally and just spinning on them even though it didn’t matter.

Angie

You know what I mean?

Angie

Like, it was no risk. And I just sat there and contemplated way too long. That was something that didn’t matter. It was a simple question.

Melissa

Yeah. So what do you think? If you can remember at that time when you were feeling kind of uncertain and you were comparing against others and not feeling confident in your decision making, you’re not sure what your career path was like, what kind of impact was that having on you?

Angie

I mean, obviously, it was not very beneficial to my emotional health. Probably not my physical health, either. I’d be drained by the end of the day. You open a bottle of wine. But seriously, I mean, I was really, really could not. I felt unfulfilled in not knowing what my next step was. I didn’t because I didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t know what steps I should be taking. I felt really strong at work in the decisions I was making when I felt informed. And so I just felt that need to be informed more about not so much of the technical stuff, like the things that I have to do as a manager, but the things I need to do for myself.

Angie

It was really taking, though, I think, a toll on probably more my mental and physical health just because I go home and I talk to my husband for hours, and he didn’t want to hear it because I wasn’t doing anything about it. And he said, do something and I’d be like, I don’t know what to do. So it was it was very unhealthy. Yeah.

Melissa

I guess. Is there a tipping point that you think you had that maybe you want to get help with that?

Angie

No, I don’t think so, necessarily. And I’ll tell you why, because I had some career coaching starting in 2019 that my company put me through, and I thought that I would get a lot more out of it, unfortunately, than I did. They were very, you know, obviously, my company paid for it. So I felt they were very biased to push me up, up, up. At the time, I felt very I was pushing against a little bit. I was like, what if I don’t want to go up like, Whoa, slow down, slow down.

Angie

And so the coach there had obvious intentions, obviously paid for by my company, which is fine. But prior to that, and around that same time, which was six, seven, eight months before I started working with you, I was reading books and I was doing surveys, and I was trying to I had a mentor, and I was trying to do some trainings. I don’t feel like there was an obvious tipping point. I feel like I had been trying to figure this out for a long time. I actually made my goal two years ago in 2019.

Angie

I made my goal, my personal goal, to figure out my five year plan. And I couldn’t the whole year I thought about it, and it drove me crazy that I couldn’t even come up with with a plan for myself.

Melissa

So do you think that maybe was at tipping points and was all of this, like, do it. You maybe maybe company support. You had the books you were reading about all these things you were trying to do and nothing was working? Yeah.

Angie

I guess you’re right. It was a God point, but I didn’t see it as, like, one single event. It was kind of like very cumulative. When I saw your posts and your ads and stuff, I started thinking I might as well try it.

Angie

You know what I mean?

Angie

And the intro call, at least. So it’s just another thing I’m trying, but it it was very frustrating to try a lot of things and think I was sticking with them.

Angie

You know what I mean?

Angie

And think I was doing what I needed to do and still coming out with the same resolution. I still didn’t have a five year plan. I still didn’t have even a one year plan. I just kind of was going with the flow. Yeah.

Melissa

I remember the post. I think I did a video where I was going through some scenarios of different challenges with figuring out your direction and getting advocacy from your boss. And I remember you commented, you’re like, this is me. Oh, my gosh. Who do you talk?

Angie

Right looking to me. Seriously. I do remember that, too.

Melissa

Was there anything else that you want to add that you kind of tried to do on your own to try to resolve this?

Angie

No. But I did. Like I said, I was talking to my husband a lot. I was talking to my mentor a lot. She and I would go out to lunch every couple of weeks, and I just talked and talked and talked, and there was no people would give me advice, but there was no, you know, it’s nothing that seems to really work for me. I mean, everything I feel like really helped me. Now, looking back, all of it really helped. But I don’t know. Coaching was much better, not only because it was weekly and it held me accountable.

Angie

I had to hold myself accountable and make the time. And it was so much more than trying to find time at the end of the night or make time at the end of the night to read or you know what I mean? Like when I’m having a great day or when I’m having a bad day to spend the time talking about my career to somebody, my mentor, we work together. She’s at a higher level than me in a different Department. But I wanted to sometimes just stop talking about work, too.

Angie

So, yeah, I tried a lot. I think I tried a lot of things and nothing single handedly worked out.

Melissa

It sounds like you did a lot between the mentor. You had your company development program and a coach there. You had books. You read me pretty much everything.

Angie

I think I tried.

Melissa

I would think of all this, did you have any obstacles and hiring a coach outside of your company?

Angie

Yeah. I mean, I think the at the very beginning, after having our call, like, the money saying kind of stuck with me. I wanted to make sure it was COVID, no money. I’m very frugal. I don’t think I’ve bought jeans in, like, two years to make that kind of an investment in myself in coaching, something that’s not I didn’t feel like it was tangible. Like, I couldn’t see it. Or I tell my husband and spending this money, but you’re not going to see it. He was very supportive, though.

Angie

That was great. Feel very busy in my life, both at work and at home. I feel like I sign up for so many things to do. I’m doing so many things at work. I’m doing so many things out of work. So there is definitely a time constraint or, like a fear. I felt like that was a little bit of an obstacle. I had to, like I said, make time. I had a scheduled time. I had to make sure that I prioritize it and met it, especially because I was spending money right on it.

Angie

And then I did. It was really my own, I think, mentality, because I wanted a sense of guarantee, but I I don’t have that satisfaction guaranteed stamp on coaching. I was really, like, thinking, if I’m going to open up, then I’m going to be vulnerable about what’s going on and my downfalls and try to work on them with somebody else. Like, really open up and be honest. Then I had the sense of better work. I didn’t want it to fail. And then I’m coming out feeling like I just opened myself up to somebody it’s very vulnerable to.

Angie

It can be embarrassing sometimes to realize that I’ve been doing this all wrong and then come out not any better. So it was definitely on my mind. If I’m going to do this, is it guaranteed that I’m going to be better for it? Because, yeah, I didn’t want to live with myself after if it wasn’t very I don’t know. I don’t like, I don’t like to be vulnerable. I feel like, hey.

Melissa

Did you have the money at the time? You have belief in the process, like belief in yourself. So how did you overcome all of those obstacles to say yes, you’re going to do this?

Angie

Well, like I said, I did career coaching before. Well, my company sent me through, and it wasn’t everything that I had hoped it would be. So what thought this time was okay? This is my money. This is my time. This is my investment. Like I said, my husband was very supportive. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to be very open to it. I’m going to truly invest in myself. And I don’t know. I think I just had to shift my mind to make sure that I was true to the process so I could so I could get the most out of it.

Melissa

It sounds like even that had a positive impact on you just to shift from just my mindset and myself. Yeah, it’s true. And so why did you choose to work with me as a coach?

Angie

So I think in our initial in our initial consultation call, I mean, I hadn’t worked. I had never hired a personal coach before. Life coach. So obviously, I saw your stuff around Facebook. I liked everything. I liked the free stuff. I liked the post. I felt like you were seriously like you had taken me and just been like, let me write this post about Andrew. It was all me. I chose to have the consultation call, and you understood my position. You understood my husband, and then you were able to push me.

Angie

But I didn’t feel like I was being judged. I didn’t feel like it was like you were telling me to do something or there was going to be this massive judgment. You were saying it was a forceful push, but it was definitely like a friendly like.

Angie

You should do this.

Angie

This is the right thing to do. You got this kind of thing. I remember you saying in the consultation call, like, it’s totally up to you. You don’t have to make a decision today. You don’t even have to make a decision week. Let me know whenever you’re comfortable making it. And at one point, you were like, if you could go to the store and pick it off a shelf, would you do that? I was like, well, yeah, I would do that. I would spend money and go buy it.

Angie

And I and I told you that really stuck with me because I thought, this is what I’m doing. I am going and buying something.

Melissa

You’re buying your results. You just have to believe in the results you haven’t created yet. Right.

Angie

I chose to work with you because you understood me. You understood that part, and you helped me. You make a decision for myself. It was the right decision. I know that now. I need that immediately, right?

Melissa

No, but that’s good. That that even just that first call, because I think people sometimes get I think this will be helpful for people to hear because scheduling a first call, like, the free consultation calls are like, what do I expect?

Melissa

What is going to be like?

Melissa

So to hear that value that you got from it before we even exchanged money or started really coaching, it was just really in that initial, I think is really cool to hear.

Angie

Yeah. And it’s not like it’s a free call, but I’m going to hook you, it’s like, well, it’s really your decision. This is what I can do for you. And if you want, it great. If you don’t right now, that’s fine. If you want to come back later, that’s great, too. But, you know, this is what I do. And this is what I’m here for. And if you will get some kind of, you know, results out of this or some kind of improvement in your life, this is how I can make this is what I can do for you.

Angie

Yeah.

Melissa

Now if we fast forward. I think we have a good understanding of where you are and kind of what led to this decision. Now take me all the way through the end of the six months. What is your career and your life like now?

Angie

Well, we ended our six months right before Christmas. It was like literally the week of Christmas. Obviously, I was lucky enough to have some time off between Christmas and new years and spend time downtime. And then I came back to work. And within my first week back, I found out that I was recently promoted. So it takes effect this week, actually. So right away in the beginning of the year, yeah, I know. New title, more money. It’s still what I love to do. So I think a lot of that had to do with displaying confidence and knowing you.

Angie

And I think it didn’t take very long. It didn’t take the full six months. I know we talked about a lot, but it probably took about three months. What do you think? Maybe four. Before I figured out my next path, you really challenged me. And you were like, what about this? And tried to change my mind on it not tried to change, but you challenged me. Why are you in this industry? Why would I hurt you in this Department? I think ruling out some of the things that I knew I didn’t want to do helped at first.

Angie

And then when I finally decided this is the job I want, and, hey, it’s available at my company. But it’s a couple levels up. You know, I started letting my boss know that. And I put some goals in my development plan around how to get there. So I displayed the confidence. I talked about it. I knew it. I started being empowered to make decisions to help me get there. And then I just was recently, like I said, promoted last week. So now I’m only one step away from that goal.

Angie

So it’s kind of funny. It took me years to try to get this. Then it took me three or four months with working with you to actually build a goal. And I’m literally halfway there, right. It’s great to that ultimate career goal. I don’t know what I’ll do after only coaching again, right.

Melissa

Just even hearing you talk about it, you have such a lightness and happiness about it. And you said when you started, I’m doing what I love to do. And even that was something that you were like, I don’t know. Like, when we went through the exploration process together, remember, we’re exploring your childhood dreams, like, Marian going to another company, like, everything was on the table. That is really cool. And I don’t want to see it’s unique, but I think special about your situation is that going through that process, everything is on the table.

Melissa

Like, you know, we mapped your career like you as a person, not like, your resume to your career to go through that process holistically. And then for you to come out and be like, I actually love my job. And this is actually they want to work for and to find a job that you didn’t even know was available. And then to have your manager buy into that, I got promoted here one step closer to it like that. That’s just really cool. That transformation that occurs.

Angie

I know it really is. I could not have planned this better.

Angie

You know what I mean?

Angie

But obviously, it’s I don’t know. My boss said to me, I don’t know, maybe November, October, November. I don’t know what you’re doing, but keep doing it. I would walk in and I have a plan, and I’d say, this is what we’re doing. This is where I want to be. And this is what I want for my team. And this is what I want for myself. And this is what I think you should do, or this is where you can help me more. Now it was no more, like going in and saying, like, what can I do for you?

Angie

Boss is more like, this is what I need. And this is what you can do. And it worked. And I really when I bought into that, I mean, I tried it a couple of times. It’s a little bit uncomfortable, but now that’s what I do, like all the time.

Angie

You know what I mean?

Angie

And it really was not that hard. I had that anyway, somewhere deep inside me. And it was really just displaying the confidence, you know, and and building that, you know, network that I think I called it a change coalition with my team, like my peers, rather than just trying to be loan Wolf, just trying to be, like, this person who flows through and tries to get it done. And then at the end, it fails because, you know, I don’t have any buying from people and buying for my boss.

Angie

Now my boss comes to me and says, hey, I got this idea. What do you think about it? I’m just, like, love this.

Angie

You know what I mean? I love it

Melissa

Created that partnership.

Melissa

To tell me about the because I remember the way that you were making decisions was changing, and you would come and say that you went, like, kind of like, what you’re saying now you advocated for your team, you went and made decisions. You made suggestions, like you were much more certain than what you wanted for yourself and for your team. So can you tell me more about that?

Angie

Yeah. So, I mean, I don’t know. Like I said, I think it was there. I would be very sure about something that I knew. But when it came to I want this or I need this, or I think this is the right thing to do again. It went back to kind of a guarantee thing, you know, I knew what worked, but if I was unsure, I was more hesitant to put myself out there. I think I’m a pretty smart risk taker. I think I take risks, but I don’t think I take them all the time, especially if I don’t know what the outcomes like.

Angie

So building the confidence Like I said, I’m building the empowerment and having even through our weekly calls, just having the assurance that, yes, this is the job that I want. This is the job that I like. And I know my company is great, so they’re not going to fire me or punish me for making a wrong decision as long as it’s a well informed, you, well thought out decision, it’s the right thing to do. So I just I don’t know. I built that confidence in myself.

Angie

And I said, this is what I need, and this is what my team needs. And I was able to actually, I know I’m not a coach, but as a people manager, I was able to have these conversations with people who report to me and say, you can make this decision. You’re empowered. And I don’t know, I hope they knew that. But I think me saying that built a lot of trust because people would say, like, I appreciate that.

Angie

You know, and then.

Angie

You know, they were making this. They were better decision makers, which allowed me to do my job and be a better decision maker. And everybody all around, I think, you know, benefited. Actually, it’s funny that I’m the one who went through coaching, but I think my team really benefited from it as well. My direct reports and my peers, even because, like I said, I became a better co worker, someone who was in it for buying and not someone who was just trying to drive the thing that would make me look good.

Angie

It was more like this is something I think we should do. I don’t know if it’ll work, tell me what you think, but I think this makes sense. And I had that confidence to put myself out there.

Melissa

And you trusted yourself to make decisions and that you could really handle anything. Like you said, like, if you made a mistake, I’d be Kay because you trusted to make an informed decision on what you wanted to do.

Angie

Yeah, exactly. And get the buy in up front and get the challenge, too. So I was able to find these are some things that might go wrong. These are some concerns, but overall, I think, you know, it’s riskier to not do anything. So I was making better informed decisions at actually all levels, even like, I think above my current level. At the time, I was going to my boss and telling him things that I thought it was outside of my area of ownership. I do think that helps position me for that promotion that I just recently got.

Angie

Yeah.

Melissa

What else would you say? Are you doing differently? Either thinking differently or behaving differently?

Angie

Yes, I definitely have more. So one of the things I was thinking about was some benefits from coaching. So obviously, like I said, there’s confidence, and I think I’ve built, you know, more empowerment than I had. I also really realized that I built, like, a personal awareness of myself going through the notes and just our six months. You challenge me, really, on the expectations that I set for myself. You know, I had a lot of expectations for myself. I had a lot of expectations of others that were unset.

Angie

I had these thoughts that led to the way I acted that led to my emotions and the spinning episodes that I would have sometimes and go home and just talk and talk and talk and get nowhere. I think that’s definitely calm down. I don’t think I’ve talked about work more than five minutes at home, probably since I don’t know, midway through our coaching session. I mean, I just felt like I said, once I got more confident at work, and once I started being more confident in myself and my decision making, and it carried over to my whole life like, I was better at home.

Angie

I was better at work. I was better, you know, I was less stressed. I could tell my thoughts led to better emotional health. You know, my actions were better. I was not spinning and drinking, and I would have more fun. I’d have more time. I started playing Solitaire more. I had more free time. It was really funny how much, like, time freed up that I wasn’t sitting around and thinking or talking about work. It is really funny, too, right?

Melissa

Because one of your objections was, what do I have enough time, but coaching an hour, we actually create more time.

Angie

That’s true. You’re right. That is a good point.

Melissa

Yeah, that’s true. So what about how you are with your co workers in your team? Like those relationships, how have those changed?

Angie

I mean, I feel like they’ve all been benefited. They’ve all benefited from this as well. So, like I said, like, I I want to be able to make decisions for my peers or for my boss. And so I give that empowerment that I take for that level. Give that or I don’t know if I should say give that, but I let people have that as well. I have a team of high performers. They have that empowerment already. They have that decision making authority already, but I don’t know that I said it or created the space as a manager and someone who allocates resources to projects or whatever.

Angie

It’s like, hey, boss, who can be on this part? I don’t I said, I don’t know. What do you think? I’ve really open ended. I think my questions a lot and push back and said, what do you think?

Angie

Who do you think’s right?

Angie

Who has the right skill? Can you do it or can you delegate to somebody? It doesn’t have to come to me, people, at least my direct reports and my peers. I don’t think I’m so in control, which is good cause coming into this whole thing, I thought, man, I’m a really controlling person, but I don’t want to be in control all the time. I just felt like I had to be. So I think giving up some of that control and being more strategic and forward looking and what I want and taking control of moving myself for my team forward is where I want to focus like everything else somebody else can deal with, and that’s good for them too.

Angie

So I think it’s been a win win win, you know, really, for my peers and for my direct reports. I think I’ve benefited and in turn the people around me and my marriage too. Like to be totally honest, my husband as well, because I’ve allowed I am a controlling person, or at least I think I am. He is able to make these decisions now, and I didn’t realize how much control I took over stupid things or things that just didn’t. Like I said things that didn’t matter and I wasn’t even sure anyway, it’s just like I had to take it because I didn’t see him actively taking control.

Angie

But this has been I think it’s spilled over into my personal life and it’s been very beneficial for him in the fact that he doesn’t have to feel like he’s making a wrong decision because I already got something in my mind. If I don’t care, I say, I don’t care if I do. I say what I’m thinking. It’s a much better, more open, you know, what I’m feeling or what I’m thinking. I’ll say, and it’s just been much better there too, you know? Yeah.

Melissa

And it’s funny because I was going to ask you about the ripple effects of coaching. I think you talked about a lot of them like you initially came for. I want to know what my next step in my career is. I’m not sure what I want to do next, but then really, we spent all this time talking about the growth you’ve had in your relationships and your colleagues and your growth as a manager and your emotional help that you actually have more time now to actually benefit for that.

Melissa

Are those intangibles that you are wondering if you would get. So is there anything else that we didn’t talk about? That was a ripple effect for you?

Angie

I mean, like I said, I think just having that goal setting and having that personal awareness and the confidence one thing that made it really funny, just as a note is I came in with a very clear goal for us to work on, to have you help me with, which is what I’ve been trying the whole time with books and everything. I want to know what my goal in my career is.

Angie

You know what I mean?

Angie

And that was really my main focus, because I want to know what I want out of my career. It wasn’t so much like my personal life or being a mom or whatever it was. What do I want for my career? But we week to week would talk about me, which at first I didn’t see the connection. Right. Okay. I know me. I don’t see this connection between me exploring me. What does this have to do with where I need to go in my career? But you were like, let’s talk about you.

Angie

Let’s talk about you as a kid and your childhood dreams, and let’s talk about your expectations. And let’s talk about how you compare to other we talked about me, and I had to, like I said, be vulnerable, but really dig deep and say, like, what do I do that hold myself back or set unrealistic expectations? So we got a lot of that out of the way in the first couple of months, and I knew me better, which was funny because I didn’t think I didn’t know me.

Angie

And once I did that, it was it was easy to talk about career. And then the ripple effects came because I saw what I was doing to myself and the people around me. And it wasn’t just about my career but was actually able to fulfill that goal and come up with something. But it was obvious at that point because I just looked at like, what do I like? What are the things I want out of my job? And then what job meets that? It wasn’t any harder than that, actually, which is kind of funny.

Melissa

Yeah. I love that you mentioned that because I think sometimes I talk to people, too. They’ll be like, well, I need to know my next step in my career. And they’re like, I don’t have a confidence problem. I don’t have a problem with their I know what I like.

Melissa

Right?

Melissa

And then we get so we start and sometimes people are like, okay, but what are we going to get to my career plan? Like, they’re expecting, like, what you’d get from an HR Department or something, like, let’s look at your resume and let’s figure out your career path. And here’s an assessment. And then it’s funny because even though I explained, we’re going to holistically look at you as a person so that we know, your decisions are aligned with you people. You don’t get it until you experience it until the end.

Angie

And you’re like, oh, my gosh. I really actually needed that. That’s what I didn’t get from the books. That’s what I didn’t get from the training. You know what I mean? I had no me first before I knew where I fit or what I wanted or the characteristics of the job that I wanted, or it was it’s awesome. Looking back, it’s very funny to remember my thought process. I did. I thought I had confidence. I thought I knew myself. I thought I didn’t have any problem there.

Angie

I just need you to look at what job my company hasn’t. Tell me what’s my next step. Just do that. Tell me what to do. But really, it took a lot of self exploration for me to be like, well, actually, there’s this job that fits right along with what I want, you know?

Melissa

And yeah, so really.

Angie

I needed to know me first. And then, like I said, everything else is really easy, which is awesome to even think about.

Melissa

And then all those things set you up to to advocate for what you wanted.

Angie

Like, you’ve done. Right.

Melissa

So if it was just here.

Melissa

This is what I think would align with your qualifications. You wouldn’t have had that same experience for that same outcome.

Angie

That’s true. Yeah, that’s true.

Melissa

So what was your favorite part of the coaching process? Or maybe that was your favorite part?

Angie

Definitely. Looking back, that was my favorite part is seeing the full picture, but during it, I think it was taking time to coach.

Angie

You know what I mean?

Angie

Like, I’m not going to lie. I thought it would be a big I thought it would be a big investment of time. And once a week, weeks came quick, and there were weeks that you would be like, hey, by next week, think about this or do this. And there are weeks that came. And I was like, I didn’t get to that. Like, my week has been crazy, or this slipped my mind, or I forgot to do it. But having that check in every single week, it really was my favorite.

Angie

Because even if I didn’t do the pre work or homework or whatever, we’d spend time and we talk about it. Is there anything else I want to talk about? So I liked the fact that it was frequent enough to hold me accountable and that I could build on the progress I was making, and I didn’t have to walk away for six months and then come back six months later and be like, oh, well, I tried to read this one book, and it took me six months, and I still haven’t passed chapter two.

Angie

So I think my favorite part was the weekly check ins. And then realizing, like I said, I really did get a lot of self personal awareness out of this. So realizing every week eventually, like, oh, my gosh, that was I just called myself stupid. I just compared myself to something. It was checking myself. I told you a couple of times I was really excited to tell you some of the times that I would do that to myself. And I said, oh, my God, I did not realize how many times I did this, like, in a day before.

Angie

I don’t know how many times I would put myself down and, you know, for stupid things. And I started realizing it. And so once I realized it, I stopped that I consciously tried to stop that. And that was really great. Like I said, building. I think my favorite part was that self realization of being able to build on the things that I learned that would have taken me multiple different books to read in real time and and then spend my time reading them, making time to read them, rather than saying I have a meeting at 03:00, I have to jump on a call, you know what I mean?

Angie

And doing it and prioritizing it and building the time, scheduling the time it worked for me, it worked for me.

Melissa

So what would you say to someone who isn’t familiar with coaching or hasn’t invested in their own development before? And they’re like, I don’t know if that’s for me. What would you tell them?

Angie

I would say, like I said, I didn’t invest before. I did the same thing with my company. Yes, they did it before, which I think only opened the my mind the fact that it’s out there at lower levels. So I think if you’re unsure about it, if you do the consult call and whenever I don’t think you have to have a specific goal. So I don’t want to say you have to have, like, a cover, your goal or a life goal. I think if you want to make an investment in yourself, even if you don’t know where that benefit will be seen in your career or your personal life, it’s at least worth the consultation call.

Angie

I don’t know if you can do three months or six months, but the six months really worked for me. I mean, I think I had enough time with enough frequency to build good habits and change my lifestyle, my mindset that I don’t see the need. I mean, coaching is great, and I’ll do it again. But the week, like, I’ve built these habits, I’ve changed my behavior. So I think I would tell anybody if they want to make a change and they’re not sure how to do it.

Angie

It’s definitely worth it when they go to the grocery store and buy it off a shelf. Yeah, it really is that simple.

Melissa

And I think you hit on a lot of really good points and thoughts that people have around the time, because I think we work together six months and some people will hear six months. I just want to solve this problem. I just want to do this, and they don’t see how it actually is creating lasting change by coaching there for that long. So it’s not something where you just read a book and put it on a shelf and move on. And you’re like, that was helpful, but it doesn’t actually become part of your lifestyle.

Angie

Exactly.

Melissa

Is there anything else that you would want to mention about coaching or your experience? We covered a lot, but I wanted to give you a chance if there was anything we did change.

Angie

No, I came into coaching with an expectation of coming up with a career goal. And we did that. And like I said, the self exploration was really great. I cannot say enough good things about how this impacted. Like I said, the other parts of my life. So, I mean, I’m just really thankful for making that decision for myself, making that investment in myself and for your coaching. I mean, it’s been a really fast and huge growth year, six months. So I’m just very thankful because that’s exactly what I wanted for myself for a long time.

Angie

And we did it in six months. I know.

Melissa

Well, thank you so much for taking the time today to share that I love coaching you, and I’m so happy for your promotion. Thank you as you continue to grow. And I’m sure that the people listening are really getting a lot of value from hearing your experience. Thank you for sharing it.

Angie

Thank you for everything. Alright, bye.