Coach Confession: A Year To Unpack...

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Coach Confession: A Year To Unpack...

After a little over a year in business, I finally unpacked my office.

Beyond the easy excuses of a recent move, new baby, family loss, and the general craziness of launching a new business and life as a working parent, I have to admit there was a deeper reason to why the boxes stayed shut and the office felt like a constant state of chaos

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Fridays with Luca… Why We Take Fridays Away

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Client: I’m free on Fridays, can we schedule time then?

Me: No, I take Fridays to be with Luca

When I explore working with new clients, one of the first items that I share is that I take Fridays to be with Luca. Who is Luca, you ask? Well, he is the previously mentioned radical spark that inspired me to launch Radical Spark Coaching and also the patient happy second child that is all too often a part of the many adventures of his precocious three-year-old sister. In addition to serving as a day for bonding and pure enjoyment of his little kind spirit, Fridays are an opportunity for me to reconnect with being in this time of parenthood. It is a set time for me to strive to be… be in the beautiful, humbling, messy, and crazy parts of life that are easily lost when in the daily grind of work and life.

Don’t get me wrong, actively taking a day away from work is not easy. Do note, I do not call it taking a day “off” because as a parent there are no days off.  In fact, is some ways it is tougher to take the Friday away from work as a business owner than previously when I was working 80% for my previous employer. As an entrepreneur, when I don’t work there is no money technically earned but at this moment in my life, my family is where I value placing my time. For a while, I was nervous to share my self-imposed boundary of guarding my Fridays. I worried that I would miss out on potential clients or limit my business growth. However, that nervousness soon faded as I began sharing my no Fridays policy with my primarily female leader clientele. It wasn’t a big deal and in fact, it was a great embodiment of me walking the walk with them. I also embraced the fact that if a client was not supportive of my weekly schedule, then it was a pretty good indicator that I was not the right coach for them as well. 

I wish I could wrap this up with a happily ever after ending, tied in a beautiful literary bow. But as I write this the saboteurs and critical voices begin to sneak out from their dark corners to say that I am far from perfect at keeping every Friday work free. Life happens and there are days where I have an unavoidable meeting or need to take a few hours to work on a project. However, instead of beating myself up, I actively do my best to practice grace for myself and remember the majority of times that I do meet my goal of Fridays with Luca. Self-bashing is an all too familiar dysfunctional friend that is best combatted by reconnecting with why I am taking this time, why it matters, and how it nourishes both my connection to my son and my connection to my stage in life. So for now, if you are ever wondering where I am on Friday, you can bet that it involves the sweet snuggles of Luca and potentially some chocolate.

Worth re-sharing... Missing the Me before the mom...

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After returning from my first maternity leave, I struggled.  It was fairly soul crushing for me to feel so out of control and frustrated with being a new mother, working, and trying to figure out this new reality.  I wrote a blog for MayBrooks - now Apres about my journey to realizing the power of honoring the grieving process and embracing both my new professional and person identities as a mother.  To read it visit: https://apresgroup.com/missing-the-me-before-the-mom/  This is one of the many reasons that Radical Spack Coaching works with new parents and working parents to support them through the transition into and embracing new professional and personal identities.