From academia to data science to coaching: Expanding into a new phase of growth and fulfillment

Special announcement! I am now officially a certified coach and I'm open for coaching!

By me

Following my love of learning through academia and data science

When I was asked as a kid what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would always say, “a teacher”. Even in elementary school, I knew I loved learning and I loved sharing what I learned. Despite everyone telling me I should be a doctor, I felt drawn to teaching.

And so, in the first phase of my career, I became both. When I worked on my PhD at Stanford, my main job was to conduct research, but I spent much of my time teaching classes (more than was required), advising undergrads, and mentoring other graduate students.

When I decided to leave academia and go into industry, I still gravitated toward teaching - my first job was leading programs to train PhDs and postdocs to transition to data science roles in industry. In my subsequent roles, I was a people manager, so my official role included guiding team members and their work.

Several years ago, I became a manager of a new group, and the transition was rocky. At the same time, I joined a group coaching circle based on Conscious Leadership. I also worked on an individual basis with a career coach, and she helped me navigate difficult work situations that challenged me in a way work hadn’t before.

I’m not exaggerating when I say I feel like these coaching experiences changed my life.

Expanding into coaching

Coaching is different from other similar services like therapy, counseling, consulting, or mentorship, which all feature giving some form of advice.

Coaching instead is “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize [...] their potential” (ICF definition). This is a different relationship than one I have experienced before, which is what has allowed me to make changes in my behaviors and thought patterns that I hadn’t been able to do before (despite my best efforts).

As people, it’s easy for us to get caught up in swirling and repetitive stories, our interpretations of the situations around us. Sometimes no matter how hard we try, it can be hard to consider new ways of thinking when a difficult situation has us in its clutches.

I see the coach as providing an open non-judgemental presence. Their role is to ask powerful questions that help the client reframe their experience and consider possibilities instead of exploring drivers of undesired behaviors (sometimes helpful and cathartic, not always helpful for making a change). Clients almost always have answers when asked the right questions.

Another role that coaches play is to help people define action steps and make concrete plans for how to achieve their goals. It feels good to make breakthroughs; it feels even better when those breakthroughs convert to actual change.

This has been my experience with coaching. I learned how to change the way I relate to myself, which has helped me change how I relate to other people - my coworkers, my bosses, and most importantly to my family and my kids. I am better able to observe and become more aware of when I am feeling frustration, depression, or anxiety. I am able to pause in those moments and reground myself so that I can act with intention instead of reactiveness.

As I learned more about these practices myself, my learning and teaching self immediately wanted to find ways to share them with others. The more I was coached, the more I wanted to become a coach myself.

Becoming a coach

In my post last week, I wrote about my experience being laid off from Meta a little over two years ago. Among my many reactions, I mentioned excitement for what could come next. What I didn’t mention was - the main thing I was excited about was becoming a coach!

After spending a few months exploring what it could look like to become a coach, I decided to put that dream on pause and go back into full-time corporate life. I found a job that I loved (and still love) working with amazing coworkers on impactful business and technical problems that benefited from my unique expertise. Yet, I would frequently think about how I could work toward my coaching goal. Between being a full-time worker and a mom of two girls, however, those thoughts didn’t venture too far past my forehead.

Then, at the beginning of last year, I started working with my own leadership coach. I had two clear goals:

1. to work on slowing down and having more presence; and

2. to find and register for a coaching program.

On the first goal, I wanted not only to feel more confident at work, but I wanted to be more of an anchor for my kids than crashing reactive waves. On the second goal, I knew with some accountability, I would be able to turn my coaching dream into a reality.

And I did it! With my coach’s support, I researched coaching programs and narrowed my options down to two - one focused on holistic coaching and one focused on executive coaching. While I was drawn to learning practical techniques around helping executives and senior folks like me navigate workplace challenges, I decided to register for the holistic program. Learning how to be fully present with another person and to listen with openness and curiosity without constant self-chatter were a set of skills that didn’t come naturally to me. My gut told me that I wanted a program where the main focus would be on learning exactly what I had the least experience with.

It was the best decision I could make to grow into the kind of coach I wanted to be. I love walking with another person as a partner and sometimes guide as they work through their own process and uncover their own answers to the challenges they are experiencing. I truly believe that every person has their answers inside of them; it’s just hard sometimes to pull out of entrenched thoughts and behaviors by one’s self.

And so, after six months of 75 hours of training featuring weekly 7am live sessions and hours of practice coaching sessions and mentorship sessions that included directed feedback, I’m proud to say I completed the program and am now officially a certified coach!

What now?

It’s been several months since I completed the holistic coaching program. I am now working toward earning a globally recognized coaching certification (ICF-ACC), which requires at least 100 coaching hours. While I work on gathering those hours, I decided to also register for the executive coaching program I had previously been considering. It’s been a blast learning about coaching from a different angle and more focused on my target clientele.

I’m open for coaching!

Most importantly, I’m open for coaching! As a leadership coach, I partner with individuals seeking personal and professional balance and fulfillment, and my goal is to create spaces where people can explore how to live their best lives. Because I have a unique blend of expertises across psychology, data science, and leadership, I am able to help my clients achieve their goals by strengthening their growth and resilience, especially in today’s changing environments. It has been such a gratifying experience to get to work alongside amazing individuals who are committed to thriving on their own journeys.

If you are interested in working with me or learning more about coaching, I am taking on a few more clients. You can send me a note by clicking the button below. I would love to connect and talk about how we could work together!