By Katrin Prentice (Bulgaria)
So What Exactly is Life Coaching Again?
Last Christmas I attended a networking event of a professional LinkedIn group I am a member of. That very day however we had an extreme blizzard, and about a metre of snow covered the ground. Traffic froze, our car would not start, public transportation was minimal, and the taxi service would not pick up the phone. It was very tempting for me to just stay back and forget about it. I decided though that since I had made a commitment I would keep it, so I walked to the street-corner and flagged down a taxi to get to the appointment.
It was supposed to be a gathering with many people, and probably under normal circumstances it would have been. Under the snow and blizzard conditions, however, we turned out to be only 4 of us die-hards who showed up. But we had a blast – after the traditional exchange of business-cards, we ended up talking and laughing and appreciating the fact we had a dry cosy restaurant to get away from the blizzard and enjoy a drink with friends.
Since it was only four of us we decided to take a turn and each would explain what we did for a living. One was a sales manager for a liquor company, another was the managing director of an IT company, the third was a professor at a university. When it came to my turn and I introduced myself as a Life Coach, they all put down their drink, looked at me and one of them piped up “I understand what us three do for a living; I do not really need to hear anything from them. But what on earth do you do? I think you should have the floor”, he said while the others nodded in agreement.
Source: iCN Issue 3 (Life Coaching); pages 52-54
About Katrin Prentice
Katrin Prentice, Accredited Senior Coach (IIC), DipNMC
Managing Director Palitri International Ltd. t / a Noble Manhattan Bulgaria
Katrin is the first Bulgarian Senior Coach accredited by the International Institute of Coaching, with over 940 hours of experience working with individual clients. As a coach she mainly specializes in the area of life dynamics and helps clients with cases related to work / life balance, relationships with others, career challenges,time management, success at work, spiritual and physical wellbeing, making important decisions, etc.
Katrin’s background includes eight years as an internal coach, trainer and mentor to team leaders in the non-profit sector, as well as internal and external communications and PR. She has lived 7 years in Hungary and 12 years in Romania. Having travelled to and participated in projects in 22 countries around the world gives her a unique and wide cultural experience to draw from in her coaching practice. She has participated in the organization and facilitationof training programs in several countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Albania, Germany, Ukraine and others, on topics related to internal coaching, spiritual counseling, personal development, PR, and team management of nonprofit entities. Besides a Life and Executive Coach, Katrin is also one of the mentor-coaches and certified trainers on the Noble Manhattan Coaching faculty.