Why I Coach

I coach because I want to add some more good in the world. I coach because I want to help people think differently about themselves. I want to help people get out of any negative thinking that keeps them stuck or makes them feel like they can’t change something about themselves.

I coach because growing up and throughout my career, I would have made more conscious choices and built better habits if I had the right information and a coach supporting me earlier on and keeping me accountable. Here are some of the reasons my inner critic took over my mind for years.

I grew up in a dysfunctional family environment.

Like most of us, my family was dysfunctional. My parents weren’t a great love match. Both immigrants from Poland, they struggled with navigating American culture but mostly struggled with each other. My dad had a battle with mental well-being that he didn’t deal with because it wasn’t something people did at the time.

My mom tried to keep the peace but was stressed all the time and worried about the next argument my sister and I would have to witness.

I inherited the “keep the peace” gene and tried to please everyone to make everything better. The people pleasing gene is great for keeping everyone around you calm but you tend to lose yourself.

I’ve struggled with confidence.

I remember one of my bosses in one of my first jobs told me, “Hey, you’ve got great ideas, but you just need to work on your confidence.” That stung but I knew deep down she was right. The lack of confidence was in thoughts consistently.

My inner critic is super annoying. She is conscious of the fact that her name is different (Kasia is Katie in Polish). She worries that her family’s struggles with money growing up could continue with her. She worries about things unnecessarily in her head. She wants to support her family but also be present for her children. She wants to be helpful and hardworking, but not at the expense of her well-being. She wants to be a great mom but she also wants to have time to herself.

She often forgets, though, that she is not alone. Many people and especially, mothers, struggle with balance, an inner critic that stresses them out, thoughts that keep them stuck, and bad habits that are hard to break, but having support and helpful information can make all the difference.

I am an emotional eater.

In college, I gained the freshman 15. And this began my tumultuous journey with food and emotional eating. Not playing sports in college, attending a university with 30,000 people (coming from a tiny high school), and not understanding how food and exercise dramatically affect your well-being made me feel a little lost. I remember my friend and I would go to our dorm cafeteria and binge on tater tots to relieve stress, without recognizing that we were full. I would block my feelings of fullness because food was a comfort.

I’ve struggled with stress management and balance.

As a working parent, I have always struggled with balancing work and life and finding the type of career that can allow me to challenge myself, use my passions and talents, support my family, and allow me to be present for my children.

What I’ve learned is that you can ALWAYS find something that works if you take the time to learn more about yourself. And it can be done more efficiently with support.

Through life and work experiences, getting coached myself, and going through a health and life coaching certification, I’ve learned the ins and outs of habit change, reframing thoughts, reclaiming your strength and confidence, managing stress, and navigating change.

Coaching helped me change my perspective many times and pushed me forward to make changes that helped me grow. And it just makes me giddy to think I can help someone else achieve these things and change their lives for the better!

If this resonates with you and you need coaching support, I would love to help! Schedule a complimentary discovery session here.