“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.”  ― Francis Bacon

Over the next few weeks I’ll have the privilege of working with 3 successful professionals from 3 different career paths:  motivational speaking, blogging/authorship and life coaching. Coincidentally, these are all career paths that I plan to pursue at some point. The funny thing is, this time last year, none of these individuals were on my radar! Take a look at the story below on how I got connected.

Where on Earth can I find a free life-coach?

It was the winter of 2011 and I felt as if I was on the verge of a quarter- life crisis ( not quite a quarter, I was 22, but you get the point :))

  • I  just moved to a new state and I’m away from my family, friends and my support system.
  • And to top that off, I don’t know anyone in the area.
  • I just started grad school and I’m having serious second thoughts about my major.
  • Last but not least, I also just got out of an emotionally draining relationship! Needless to say, I’m depressed.
  • Oh and I forget to add, I’m also broke as hell!

The Situation

My career path is blurry, I’m lonely, I’ve totally lost touch with my passion and where I want to go in life and I’m broke! That’s when I started searching the internet for a mentor/ life coach ( among a few other things… a therapist, a love doctor, you name it!) I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for but I knew that I needed to connect with someone who could help me get out of this gloomy rut. I lie to you not, I searched the internet for about 5 hours, day after day Googling free mentors and free life coaches.

I didn’t find much free help but I jotted down a few names anyway.

I Caught A Break

 After I complied a list of prospective coaches and mentors, I started making phone calls. One person that stuck out to me was a lady from Atlanta, GA. She was a successful speaker and life coach. I looked over her website and some of the work that she has done and I was thoroughly impressed!

The mission for her business aligned somewhat with my personal values and morals and overall, I felt really good about this lady( let’s call her Ms. Atlanta.) I shot Ms. Atlanta an email introducing myself, informing her of my predicament, attached  my bio, shared with her my desire to possibly enter into a mentor/mentee relationship with her and crossed my fingers.

Mind you, this Ms. Atlanta is a professional with a business and from the looks of her website she doesn’t offer free coaching or mentoring BUT you never know until you ask!

Her response to my email was very pleasant. She scheduled a “phone interview” to learn more about me and the kind of service I was seeking. Once she determined that her and I were a good fit she said she’d be excited to be my mentor. I was so relieved and excited! Ms. Atlanta and I spoke every two weeks and our mentor/mentee relationship helped me regain the confidence that I needed to succeed. In addition, our biweekly conversations positioned me to achieve a few personal goals.

Moral of the Story

  1. Don’t wait for opportunities to come your way- This sounds kinda cliche but seriously, look for opportunities and if you can’t find them, create them! As for the situation with the motivational speaker and the successful blogger, I reached out to them to inquire about their services and opportunities for my involvement. 
  2. The answer is always “No” unless you ask- I could have very well assumed that Ms. Atlanta wouldn’t offer me her services because on her site she clearly states her prices and mentions nothing about free services. However, when I asked, I was surprised to see that she decided to make an exception.
  3. Don’t be discouraged- Just because one opportunity doesn’t work out doesn’t mean the next will be an epic fail. Try, try, try again!

At some point I’ll share with you the other two stories about how I got in contact with the motivational speaker and blogger, it’s pretty bizarre but until then, seize the opportunities before you or create your own 🙂

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