From survival to sovereignty: My Coaching Journey

From lived experience to the call for change

My journey into coaching did not begin as a career decision; it began as a moment of recognition. Like many coaches, I was first a curious seeker. An ambitious woman, an immigrant, a single mother, and someone with lived experience of toxic relationships and workplace bullying, I reached a point where “coping” was no longer enough. Staying as I was had become more painful than the risk of change. I chose transformation, not only for myself, but so that others would not have to walk the same path alone.

Before I trained as a coach, I was already working in senior HR leadership and organisational development roles, supporting large-scale change, workforce transformation, and cultural renewal. On paper and in the eyes of others, I was successful. Inside, I felt a persistent pull towards something deeper. I was fascinated by human behaviour, resilience, and the invisible belief systems that keep capable people, particularly women, LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent individuals, playing small, staying quiet, and remaining unseen.

Choosing The Coaching Academy

When I began searching for the right coaching provider, The Coaching Academy's free Introduction to Life Coaching event made the decision unmistakably clear. Choosing The Coaching Academy became one of the most defining professional choices I have made. I was looking for training that was rigorous, ethical, and profoundly human, a place that honoured both the science and the soul of coaching. The Coaching Academy delivered exactly that.

I completed their full Protégé Programme that enabled me to take all of The Coaching Academy's coaching diplomas, taken with intention and commitment. What drew me in and what sustained my engagement throughout was the quality of the learning and its immediate relevance to real life. The programmes fitted seamlessly around a demanding senior leadership role and personal responsibilities. Workshops were practical and reflective, and tutors and mentors consistently modelled coaching excellence with integrity and depth.

Experiencing coaching, not just learning it

I did not merely learn coaching at The Coaching Academy; I experienced it. Many of the relationships formed during that time remain among my closest professional and personal connections, a reminder that growth is shaped by the people with whom we choose to walk.

From the outset, my understanding of coaching fundamentally shifted. Coaching was not advice-giving or problem-solving; it was liberation. It was about unlocking awareness, agency, and self-trust. The greatest shift I experienced personally was clarity, clarity of values, boundaries, and purpose. Coaching did not simply change how I worked; it changed how I lived, and who I became.

One of the most powerful lessons I learned early on was this. People, myself included, already have what they need. The role of the coach is not to rescue or fix, but to create a courageous, compassionate, and validating space in which truth can surface, and transformation can take root.

From ‘survival’ to ‘sovereignty’

The defining moment during my training happened when everything aligned. I realised that my lived experience, once something I had tried to compartmentalise, was, in fact, my greatest professional asset. Coaching allowed me to reframe my story from ‘survival’ to ‘sovereignty’, and that insight continues to inform my work every day.

In the spirit of Stephen Covey’s seventh habit, Sharpen the Saw, I remain deeply committed to continual learning and professional refinement. I am currently undertaking the ILM Level 7 Executive Coaching and Mentoring Diploma, a step that feels both like a natural evolution of my work and a powerful return to the foundations laid during my time with The Coaching Academy. Returning to structured study has reignited the same curiosity, humility, and intellectual rigour that shaped my early development as a coach.  It is not about redefining my coaching identity; it is about polishing and strengthening it. It is deepening my executive presence, expanding my systemic lens, and further enhancing the quality of thinking I bring to senior leaders and complex environments. It reinforces what was forged at The Coaching Academy while stretching me into the next chapter of mastery. Coaching is not a destination; it is a disciplined practice and a lifelong journey.

Building a trauma-informed coaching practice

Today, I run Flying High Coaching, where I work with highly sensitive, conscious women, LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent individuals who are ready to heal, rise, and lead, in life, career, and community. My work is trauma-informed, compassionate, and unapologetically empowering. I integrate coaching and positive psychology, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), leadership insight, and somatic awareness to support transformation at the level of identity and purpose, not merely behaviour.

Clients often arrive feeling burnt out, silenced, or disconnected from themselves; they leave with clarity, confidence, and renewed agency. Some of the most meaningful moments in my practice are quiet ones: a softened breath, a sudden insight (what I call a Christmas lights effect), a client realising they can trust themselves again. Many clients experience in minutes ‘shifts’ that they had been seeking for years.

Adding NLP to my coaching toolkit was transformative, as it allows us to work at an unconscious level, reshaping beliefs, emotional responses, and internal narratives with precision and care. The NLP Practitioner Diploma through The Coaching Academy gave me both the ethical grounding and technical skills to facilitate change that is not only rapid but sustainable. Following coaching with NLP intervention, clients often describe a sense of lightness and freedom, a feeling of coming home to themselves.

Alongside this, I am currently studying for a Clinical Hypnotherapy Diploma, deepening my understanding of human programming and consciousness, and further enhancing my ability to support clients in releasing what no longer serves them and reclaiming their sovereignty.

Looking ahead and advice for future coaches

Looking ahead, I see my coaching career continuing to evolve in both depth and influence. I am particularly drawn to working with leaders and organisations who recognise that healing, inclusion, and high performance are not competing priorities, but mutually reinforcing forces. My definition of success is not scale for its own sake, but ripple. One leader reclaiming their voice can change teams, families, and systems.

If you are considering enrolling with The Coaching Academy, my advice is simple: Trust your calling. Come with curiosity, courage, and a willingness to be changed. You will not simply gain a qualification; you will gain a new way of being. The Coaching Academy did not just train me as a coach, it helped me remember who I truly am. And that is a gift that continues to unfold.

Thank you coach Aneta Sanders for sharing your inspiring coaching journey with us.