This is my story of how I became a Certified Professional Coach.
It begins back when I was a senior in high school trying to decide where to go
to college, and what to study.
I was always very good at math and many of my classmates who
enjoyed math as much as I did planned to study engineering. After some
investigation, I decided that I could enjoy engineering if it meant continuing to
apply my math skills. When I received my acceptance letter to the University of
New Hampshire my parents were a bit surprised because they actually didn’t know
I had applied to the engineering school. They assumed I had applied to the
business school. We talked about it and simply agreed that I could do anything I wanted with an engineering degree after college.
So I started my college career as an undecided engineering
student. After a year I decided that Mechanical Engineering would be my major
because it seemed to be the most encompassing engineering field. It wasn’t until
a couple of years later that I realized that I didn’t really like engineering.
However, since I really didn’t know what I wanted to do I thought the most
important thing was to get a degree. I finished my college career and began
looking for other career paths. I did, however, interview with a couple of engineering
companies as a safety net.
I had two job offers out of college. One was as a mechanical
engineer and the other in the finance industry. I decided that after all of my
hard work I should at least give my engineering degree a chance. I think you know
what happened next…I didn’t like it.
I spent less than two years at my first job as a mechanical
engineer. Next, I found a nice job
working alongside chemical engineers.
This job lasted six years, until I wanted to start a family. I decided
to leave for a job that did not require the travel I was doing. I moved into
the environmental engineering industry, which is where I am currently making my
living and supporting my family. The goal was to find a company where I could
spend my career. While with my current employer, I have been contacted by several
recruiters. Each time I would listen to the prospect, always keeping an open
mind. After turning them all down, I realized that moving to another job in
engineering wasn’t the answer. I am good at what I do; I enjoy what I do; and I
work at a good company with some very good people. I didn’t need something different,
I needed something more. Something I could put my passion into.
When my son turned five years old and started T-ball I
decided to coach his team. I loved it. It was then that I started looking further
into what kind of coaching opportunities may be out there. I had always thought
of coaching a local high school football team, but I could never figure out how
to make that work with a full-time job. My research led me to something I had
never heard of before; it was Life Coaching.
I immediately loved the idea of life coaching but could not
sell myself on it. After speaking with a graduate from the Institute of
Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) for a second time, I decided to take
a leap of faith. I enrolled in an eight month training program to become certified
as a life coach.
Wow, it was simply an amazing experience! The training
consisted of over 350 hours of training, including four, three day weekends. It
was the very first weekend when I decided who I wanted to coach. After getting
certified I would coach students to help them discover what they want to do
after graduation. It took me far too long to find something I could be
passionate about. As a coach, I could help others figure out where they want
their lives to lead and to coach them in discovering their passion. Why should
people spend years of their lives looking for something they can be passionate
about? The value of finding a way to increase fulfillment, happiness, and
passion in my life was immeasurable. I wish I had someone to coach me when I
was younger. Now, I can be that person for someone else.
Coach Randal Suozzo, CPC, ELI-MP
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