My interview with Deanna Cowling was very interesting and informative. Cowling is presently a holistic career and life coach in Chicago, Illinois. She assists her clients with managing their work life, especially those military personnel and their families who are transitioning back to the United States. She was originally born in South Carolina and spent her former years in Guam, so to her, that is her home, as well. She is a military child and former dependent of a retired navy veteran. She received her bachelor’s degree from DePaul University and is currently working on her doctorate degree.
Cowling defines holistic as taking into consideration the whole. In an interview, she explained that when people come to her with resumes, they are looking to pursue jobs. “I believe that as a career coach, jobs are a part of our lives. They affect our personal life and what’s important is that you take into consideration everything when working with the client and not just that resume or that job transition that their going through from one
job to the next. It’s not just about the job transition or transitioning to higher education, but taking into consideration whether or not the transition is going to affect your family. We’re talking about from every aspect; your health, spirituality, physical wellness, every aspect,” explains Cowlings. As a career coach, she wants to make sure her clients are transitioning to a better place.
Cowling’s specialty is working with military personnel, when they are transitioning from the military into the civilian sector. She helps military personnel who are military active-duty, reservists and retired veterans to understand what they need in the transition to the civilian world or whatever sector they fall into, whether it is via federal sector or state. She helps them with their resume; how to get them out, how to fill in the gaps. They talk about what they did in the military and she helps them to understand what they talked about and to build them up
Cowling says her biggest challenge was getting started. Some of the client’s questions were: How do you coach me on life? Do you just sit on the sidelines and tell me what to do? “When you think about a coach, you think about yelling, directing or something to that effect. It’s a different concept. People were feeling so uncomfortable. It was just foreign. It took a lot of building up my brand,” cited Cowlings.
I asked Cowling to talk about a positive result, from her coaching, that she was pleased with and she spoke on one of her client’s struggles a few semesters ago; however the client is now on the Dean’s List. Her main goal as a career and life coach is to assist her clients on their journey with the various transitions in their lives, to achieve a meaningful and manageable work-life balance. She takes a holistic approach to helping individuals manage difficult life situations with an open world view and non-judgmental outlook.
“I invite you to set up a free session — every journey begins with the first step!” ~Deanna Cowling
Contact Information:
Work: (847) 423-8276
Email: [email protected]
Deanna Cowling: Holistic Career and Life Coach