Susie thought that a BA would only ever be stepping stone to more education – a Master’s degree or Law school – so she never expected that her BA alone would land her a great job.
Susie graduated from UBC with a BA in Psychology in 1995 with a wide variety of interests in life, but with no specific idea of what she wanted to do with her degree.
During her four years at university, she worked as a barber apprentice at her mother’s barbershop and joined Phrateries (a club for women), which provided her with a stronger sense of community.
After graduating, she considered applying to a law or counselling program because she thought that a degree in psychology would be a good springboard for either career. After conducting several informational interviews with professionals in both fields, she realized that they were not as appealing as she had imagined.
Instead, she decided to take time off and travel to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. Both her barbershop and travelling experiences helped her to clarify her career goals and get to know herself better.
When she returned from abroad, she completed a Diploma of Technology program in Marketing and Communications at BCIT, which launched her into a career as an Advertising Account Executive.
Despite the perks that this job offered, ultimately she found it to be unfulfilling work. After hiring a coach to help further clarify what she really wanted out of life and work, Susie finally found work that was meaningful to her.
She experienced such incredible personal and professional value from her coach that she decided she wanted to provide such a service for others. She is now a Certified Professional Coach working with people to discover and achieve what they really want in life.
If you are interested in this line of work, she suggests researching it, hiring your own coach, and reading everything you can get your hands on!
What is your current job title?
Certified Professional Coach
What were your job titles leading up to this one?
Licensed Barber, Advertising Account Executive
How did you find and land your current job?
While I was in advertising I began feeling that my job really didn’t matter in the big picture of life, in spite of being promoted three times and making pretty good money.
I found it all pretty empty and unfulfilling. So I hired myself a professional coach to help me pinpoint what it was I really wanted, and that’s how I discovered coaching as a meaningful profession.
I had started at the ad agency in 1998 and left in 2001, although I actually started coaching clients in 2000 part-time. Actually, it was my coach who challenged me to ask the CEO of my ad agency to pay for an introductory coaching course, which I did. He surprised me by saying ‘yes’, so I was fortunate enough to explore the training without having to invest my own money, and I loved it.
At that point, I thought I’d continue the training more to develop myself as a person – I wasn’t looking at it as a business thing, so I paid for all the remaining courses myself. Eventually, it became my full-time occupation and I’m now the sole proprietor of a company of one.
What is your job description?
I help people:
- Get clear on what it is they really want;
- Uncover the obstacles and self-imposed limitations that stand in their way to achieving what it is they really want and feeling the way they really want to feel, and;
- Get into action to start to create the results they are seeking.
Essentially, coaching is about helping people get out of their own way to get what they most want: achievement, fulfillment, and peace of mind.
What are your day-to-day tasks?
I answer email, change my phone message, get organized for client sessions, (which are usually between one and five per day – I typically spend half an hour on the phone with each client or if it’s a new client it will be two hours in person), marketing and networking activities, reading, educating myself, and administrative work such as invoicing and maintaining my website information.
In a nutshell, it’s two main things: work with clients and self-educate.
What aspects of your job are most important and satisfying to you?
The one-on-one work with people; expanding human potential is my passion. I love talking, connecting, and helping people to get what they really want out of life.
What aspects are least satisfying to you?
Marketing myself/ self-promoting. I dislike having to get clients, although I can sell anything that isn’t the point – a client’s got to really want to change and be prepared to do the work it takes to change.
Some people mistakenly believe coaching is cheerleading. Currently, there are many people out there who are now calling themselves coaches, which is creating some misunderstandings in the market place.
If there’s anything you could change about your job, what would it be?
I’d like to continually have clients; be more stable, more consistent. It’s a slow process – people will hire me when they believe that what I do will bring substantial value to their businesses and lives.
Therefore my number one job right now is to build my reputation so that it precedes me and so my “brand” stands for trust, integrity, and providing outstanding client value.
Before you started did you know what the job what it would be like?
Yes. As a result of having worked with a coach for approx. 1.5 years prior to becoming one, as well as through my courses and formal training, I knew what was basically involved in this career choice.
I was familiar also with being my own boss, because in my advertising job I didn’t have anyone watching me or telling me what to do each day. I am pretty self-motivated and actually prefer to run my own show.
How did you do your research?
The Coaches Training Institute set me up pretty well to not expect an overnight ‘business boom’ – as with any business, it generally takes between three to five years to get established.
From my previous experience of working with a coach, I knew about the lifestyle, and from my background in advertising I knew the importance of having a website and effective promotion. In other words, I knew what needed to be done, which is entrepreneurship.
For me, it’s always been apparent what I need to do to make something work once I’m clear on what I want. I believe that’s true for everyone – the clearer we are, the more successful we are, because we can then effectively harness our time and energy.
What salary range could most BA graduates expect in this field?
That totally depends on what you put into it. The rates range from $50.00 per hour to $350.00 + per hour, but again, it depends on how hard you work, your target niche, and whether your client base is corporate/senior management or private individuals and students.
Also, it depends on your reputation, how people find out about you, and your networking contacts and affiliates. The range can really be anywhere from $20,000 to $300,000 per year.
What would you recommend that students interested in this field do while they’re in school to better their chances of finding work in this field?
Research it and hire your own coach because there’s nothing like direct experience to find out where you want to go.
Also, don’t do it just for money – do it because you love human nature and believe in the potential of people. Read everything you can get your hands on.
Also, check out the Coaches Training Institute (CTI) community. It meets the third Thursday of every month at the Centre for Peace in Vancouver. Also, the International Coaches Federation (ICF), which is our regulatory body, meets the last Thursday of every month and we bring in speakers, talk about obstacles, our work with clients, and so on.
Why did you choose UBC?
Because of the prestige and recognition a degree from UBC afforded career-opportunity-wise. UBC is a reputable university that I thought would help me to springboard into the next career/educational step.
I also wanted to stay in Vancouver because I had a good job working with my mom in her barbershop in West Vancouver and I needed to work while I was studying.
When did you start your post-secondary education?
I entered UBC’s Faculty of Arts directly after finishing high school in 1991.
When did you graduate from UBC?
1995. I went straight through, taking the summers off to work so that I could pay for school. I also spent one summer on exchange at Laval University in Quebec to learn French.
Did you ever change your mind about your major?
Yes, I really had no idea what I wanted to do. In first and second year I took anything I was interested in: biology, political science, philosophy, psychology.
I spoke to a counsellor at UBC at one point too, who suggested I do a General BA because my interests were so broad and I wanted to maximize my opportunities.
However, because psychology and the study of human nature was the only subject that really held my interest, I decided in third year to major in it.
Did you have an idea of what to do career-wise after graduation?
I thought I’d apply to go into law or counselling. I thought that a BA in psychology would be useful as a springboard into law, especially as I had taken more general courses in history and political science as well. And, it would also allow me the option of pursuing a master’s in counselling.
What were your non-academic interests in high school and university?
I danced for years until Grade 11. I even went to a special school in Grade 10 that allowed me to attend school from 8:00 to 11:00 am so that I spent the rest of the day dancing, but I realized that I didn’t want to pursue it further into a career.
Otherwise, working, going to the gym/exercising, and spending time with family and friends were what I did when I wasn’t studying.
My mom trained me as a barber apprentice while I was still in Grade 12. It saved me from having to get student loans as I had a job to work at every Saturday during the school year and then each summer for the entire four months.
Working in my mom’s barbershop was where I learned a lot about business; effective communication skills as well as what is required to create and maintain great relationships with people.
I believe that I learned more about business and building great relationships from the time I spent working in my mom’s barbershop than I did in all my years of schooling.
What extracurricular activities were you involved in while at UBC?
For my first and second year I had no feeling of community at UBC, so I joined Phrateres, which is a club for women, for my third and fourth year.
I had been feeling lonely and like I was missing out on university life, so I took the steps to change this by getting involved with this club. We focused on event planning and raising money, which I enjoyed. And of course, we partied, which I really enjoyed!
Did your involvement help you to gain experience or skills transferable to your current job?
Yes, but I wish I had gotten more involved. Networking and getting to know people is the basis of business.
I still run into some of the people I met at Phrateries. I wish I had gotten to know more people while I was at UBC.
Were you ever worried or afraid about what kind of work was available after graduating with a BA?
Yes, definitely. I worked in my mom’s barbershop after I completed my degree, as I was still unsure of what I was meant to do with my life.
However, at the same time, I knew that a BA would only ever be a stepping stone to more education, a Master’s degree or Law school, so I never expected that my BA alone would land me a great job.
What steps brought you to your current career?
In my fourth year I spoke to several female lawyers, most of whom were not practicing for various reasons, and also to counsellors and realized that I did not want to do this profession.
As I mentioned previously, I worked in my mom’s barbershop throughout my university degree and continued for a year after graduation to save money to travel.
I ended up going to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. But prior to leaving on my trip, I had applied to BCIT to enroll in the Diploma of Technology program in Marketing and Communications.
Both the barbershop experience and travelling helped me to know myself and to focus on some more specific career directions.
Did you plan to be where you are now career-wise?
No, not at all. When I returned home from travelling I wanted to work for an advertising agency because I thought it sounded “cool” and so that’s what I did after I finished my diploma in marketing at BCIT.
I felt I had a natural eye for what works and what doesn’t work in advertising, and I liked the idea of working in a fast-paced environment with young people, so it seemed like a good fit.
After being in it for a while, I realized it wasn’t ultimately rewarding, and that realization helped me get to the career I’m in now.
How important were your grades in terms of landing your current job?
Not important. I had around a C+ or a B average. BCIT was really competitive, but I didn’t really care about competing for A’s. I focused more on how to market myself and land the internship I wanted and that paid off much better for me.
What is the worst thing a student could do with respect to working in this field?
Go in it solely to make lots of money.
Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently while at UBC?
I would definitely have gotten more involved, been more social, taken it easy, relaxed, not been so hard on myself, enjoyed the experience, and definitely not worried so much about ‘having it all figured out.’
Any advice to current students?
Spend time really getting to know yourself; read; take courses you’re interested in, both academic and non-academic; find out what you’re most passionate about, what you most care about in this world, or what you believe matters at the end of the day … and let the rest fall away.
Choose to do what you love, find out what you really care about and go for it: For example, if you really love playing video games, ask yourself “Why do I love video games so much?” and break it down into the finer points. Is it the excitement, the colours, the solitude, the adrenaline, the drive to win, to beat your last record, and/or the focus it takes? Whatever it is, there’s a job for you that fits what you most love. And if you can’t find a job that does, create it for yourself!
Design your life, don’t follow or settle for what you think you can get or from only the options you currently see in front of you. Also, rather than thinking in terms of ‘What am I going to do with the rest of my life?’ – rather, think in terms of “what do I want to do next?” And most of all, have fun! You are young and the world is yours!
