Coach In The Spotlight - Marli Netterberg

I first came across coaching back when I was still working as a specialist in Orthopaedic rehabilitation in South Africa. I am a passionate person and I loved that my job was helping people. I worked closely with people ranging from injury related and fitness too general health. Setting goals with them, really listening to them, helping them through their high and low days together with motivating them to reach their goals made me realize I wanted to do more; I wanted to help them even more. That’s how I came across coaching for the first time. Sadly, although I looked into coaching at that point, I never had the opportunity to follow up on it.

A few years later we moved to England and I decided it’s a great time to work on my own personal development. I studied to become a Baby Massage teacher; and it was during that time that I came across The Coaching Academy’s (TCA) free 2-day course and knew this was a chance I could not pass up on. I told my husband I really wanted to look into coaching. I even convinced him to join me for the 2 days. I can honestly say we both found those two days very insightful and motivating! But the best for me was when my husband turned to me and said “This is something I can really see you do!” I wanted to jump right in, but financially, it was a big investment for us at the time. After discussing this with TCA, I signed up for their Rapid Results Diploma Programme in the Life Coaching Diploma.

I loved that I had all the material at my fingertips and I set myself a goal of qualifying within a year. That meant I had to get cracking. Now studying on your own can be very lonely, and the fact that I wasn’t attending any Accelerator days (as part of the Rapid Result programme) was a bit daunting in the beginning, but through TCA’s online group, I connected with some great coaches and built up a fantastic support network.

I found the sections about values & beliefs, and changing our language the most interesting. Seeing how in simply changing how we thought about and talked about or described things could dramatically change our perception. By taking stock of what you value compared to what you actually believe of yourself could greatly affect your life and the direction you are heading.

The most rewarding part of my journey so far is not only that I could put all that I learned into practice in my own life (setting goals for myself, beginning to really listen to what people say (and not say) and re-evaluating my own values and beliefs); but also receiving the positive feedback from my clients and seeing the positive results coaching has had in their lives are amazing.

I finished my diploma within my goal of 1 year, and decided on my niche. Truth be told, I couldn’t just decide on one – but three! I am currently only focussing on one niche at the moment, which is Life Balance. I have found that it’s something close to my heart especially working with parents in my Baby Massage business. I mainly work with mothers in adjusting to their new life balance of having a baby, looking at going back to work or are back at work and how to balance work, housework, family time and very importantly, time for themselves!

I plan to expand into my other 2 niche areas in the future: Relocating/ Expat coaching (As I know all too well about packing up your whole life in a suitcase and starting anew in a different country – twice!) and Health & Well-being coaching (my Orthopaedic rehabilitation and fitness background I want to add more value to it; not just physical, but emotional value too).

The best thing that could happen now would be to grow as a business woman in all of my areas of expertise. I want to become a specialist where I can combine or draw upon all my expertise as needed. For example, teaching parents how to massage their wonderful babies and from there coach the mothers on their life’s balance; combining that with training the new moms back to pre-pregnancy fitness.

One of my favourite questions to ask is “What are you prepared to sacrifice to achieve this?” It is a very powerful question and it definitely depends on the client whether or not I can ask this question. It really makes the client stop and realise how important their goal really is to them; and if not what they should be focussing on.

If there is anybody that is curious about coaching or is thinking about training as a coach, then I would highly endorse The Coaching Academy’s 2-day free course! Apart from it being free; it’s a great introduction to what coaching is, and believe me, you will go away with some valuable skills just from those 2 days. To those who have already committed to any of the diplomas; I would highly recommend the following:

• Get a coach yourself and be coached! It’s a great eye-opening experience and a perfect way to set goals for yourself through-out your studies.

• Build a support system with like-minded people (e.g. join a coaching group, have supportive co-coaches, etc.) as these are the people you will draw encouragement from and shape your development with during and after your studies.

• Don’t leave your practical assessments until the end. I know that first assessment can be scary, but doing it early on will only aid you in your own development into becoming a great coach!

For coaches about to qualify, I would say: Congratulations! Look at how far you have come! I know it took hard work and dedication, and soon it will pay off for you.

To those coaches that are qualified, don’t forget what motivated you to become a coach! Remember to keep up with your own self-development. There is always something new that we can learn; and even pass on to our clients to help them become the better person they strive for.