Challenging

Eye-opening

Supportive

Joyful

Scary – pushed out of my comfort zone

Affirming

Exceptional

All these and more describe the feelings that come up for me when I look back at my experience in the Coaching Guild. Becoming a coach had been a far-off (maybe someday) fantasy for me until this program came into my life. Before the Coaching Guild, I knew I didn’t feel inspired to look into any available programs, but I couldn’t have explained why.

Now I realize it was because none of the ones I knew about openly addressed the disparities in the field of coaching, or an intention to address it as a cornerstone of their program. The Coaching Guild is designed to be a space where ethnicity, religious background/beliefs, sexual orientation, race, etc. are not just acknowledged as necessary for the field to succeed, they are represented within the instructors of the program.

Adding to that, the program has set course materials, but it also grows organically as needed. Meaning, as new and relevant information becomes available regarding any marginalized group or subject it gets incorporated into the curriculum. All of this is vital, but the cherry on top for me was the people who made up the program; both the instructors and my cohort classmates.

Although we were all virtual, there was a closeness and sense of belonging that got established early on and it enabled me to feel safe being open, vulnerable, and my whole self in ways that before now have been rare for me with people I don’t personally know.