School is nearly done (my certificate in Integrative Health & Wellness Coaching) and it is time to get out into the world and serve as a genuine, health coach to actual, private-pay clients! It is kinda scary (truth be told) but it is also very exhilarating! I’ve been wondering just what to say to people who might ask what I’m up to, beyond my elevator speech that sounds like this. . .
“I’m Paula, a retired RN and newly-minted Health and Wellness Coach. My business is called Co-Create 4 Life and it serves the needs of caregivers, especially family caregivers. I am a family caregiver myself, so I deeply understand the stresses, emotional turmoil and demands that anyone in a similar role naturally feels. I’m also a researcher, so I know the literature on caregiving which reminds me that one in five of us, caring for loved ones with degenerative neurologic disorders, like Alzheimer’s disease, will die before our loved one does. It is the stress that kills caregivers! Knowing this, and so much more about the challenges of the role, I’m committed to serving the needs of family caregivers and even professionals who may need my help. My business focuses on teaching self-care, in keeping with my recent book, Self-Care Strategies for Family Caregivers. I offer one-on-one sessions, group coaching and even a course that follows the key elements of the book available through on-line learning. (as I hand out my card) Know anyone who needs my services?”
What else do I do to launch? Everything imaginable! Anything visible, useful, helpful, and honest. I’m writing this blog, I’m recording Zoom presentations for several audiences, I’m seeking out other speaking engagements (for the in-person future), I’m sharing my tools on coping with COVID-19, and I’m blasting a celebration e-mail to everyone I know. I’m also unabashedly asking my friends for referrals and thanking them profusely when they send someone my way! I’m volunteering my services where the opportunity presents itself and I’m asking for help wherever friends seem to have information or ideas.
It is a special time and it is happening at a very weird slice of American experience, our stay-at-home, isolated from everyone, curious, chaotic time in our shared history. I wish my coaching launch was not concurrent with this uncomfortable time of life, but it is, which tells me it is also the PERFECT time, destined by the Universe to occur right now.
Sometimes, when the timing seems wrong, the circumstances seem stacked against you, the obstacles loom large and the “yes-buts” are plentiful, it is actually the exact time to stand up, be seen, have courage and do what the Universe has called you to do. I invite you to stand with me!
