Non-Traditional Learning Tools Enable First Coast Entrepreneur to Bloom
by Sandra Miles , PhD
I am an accidental entrepreneur . I call it an accident because I truly had no plan to start a business until I did . In fact , I had been known to say things like , “ if everyone owns their own business , who is going to work at the wholesale club when I want to buy in bulk ?” However , after 17 months working ( in-person ) in higher education during a pandemic , I hired an executive coach . My goal was to be more satisfied at work , but during our first conversation , she asked me to define my purpose . That was probably the beginning of the end of my former career because I couldn ’ t remember . I had been a successful administrator for 16 years , and when asked why I was going to work every day - I could think of many reasons I didn ’ t want to be there , but not one reason ( initially ) why I did . Four weeks later , I called her and told her I was going to need a different type of coaching .
Outlined below are examples of the non-traditional learning tools that helped me start and manage my consulting business focused on Diversity / Equity / Inclusion ( DEI ) trainings , executive coaching and wholistic leadership as a “ solopreneur .”
Coaches
The first asset I had was the amazing leadership / life coach who asked me my purpose . Through intentional conversations and assessments , she was able to help me combine my intellect , expertise , motivation and skill to redefine my purpose . I was also gifted a second coach who had a number of resources available specific to entrepreneurship once I decided this was the route I wanted to take . Utilizing both coaches simultaneously really helped me to gain clarity at almost warp speed . Executive Coaches can be costly , so if these types of services are not in your budget at the moment , you can also utilize time with a therapist to talk through career transition , personal purpose and / or the struggles of business development . Most therapists are covered by health insurance or at dramatically lower rates than coaches . Different types of leadership assessments
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