Clicky

Coach Interview Series: Danielle Laura

by Brandon

Danielle Laura

Relational Leadership Coach

www.danielle-laura.com

Our main objective here at the National Coach Academy is to enable aspiring coaches to reach their full professional potential. One of the most effective ways to educate students about the world of coaching is by offering them a window into the world of real, practicing coaches and showing them all the different ways coaches make a difference in the lives of their clients.

We hope today’s interview adds another insightful glimpse into the dynamic world of coaching.

Today we are interviewing Danielle Laura. Danielle is a Personal Development & Leadership, Life, & Relationship Coach and Spiritual Mentor.

NCA: Can you describe your coaching practice and the kinds of clients you typically work with?

Danielle: People call me an embodiment coach. I work with other conscious leaders like coaches, healers, and other service-based business owners. They are people who are experts at what they do and we work on helping them become experts at who they are. Really embodying the work that they do and what they teach people into their lives, so they’re actually feeling that level of fulfillment on a real scale.

We do a lot of work around self-mastery and understanding everything that makes up who they really are at their core. That comes along the lines of their innate gifting, their spiritual gifting, their talents, their education, their life experience, and how all of that plays such a huge role into their zones of genius and how they’re operating in this world, not to mention how they’re helping their clients, as well.

What I noticed in doing this work with people is that every single client that I was working with was having a lot of relationship issues because they were very focused on helping the world. They have this huge mission and their partners do, too. As a result, they’re really disconnected in their romantic relationships.

A huge part of what I do is couples coaching, which is deep-level love and relationship coaching for power couples — people who are out there, the movers and shakers, who are doing a lot in this world, but they know that the connection to themselves and their partner is what’s going to really help them get to the next level of their lives.

NCA: In working with your clients, what would you say is the most rewarding part of that process and on the flip side of that, what is the most challenging aspect of the work that you do?

Danielle: The most rewarding aspect of what I do with my clients is helping them transform into the people they know they’re truly meant to be — their highest version of themselves. This includes making super courageous decisions of leaving behind things that no longer serve them and stepping into all that is really meant for them. There’s this beautiful sovereignty and inner power that comes from that which is so beautiful to witness.

The most challenging thing is knowing that things get really hard for people in that transition. When you commit to going all in on becoming the highest version of you for yourself and for others, you’ve got to face the inner work. You’ve got to get honest, open, and transparent with yourself, and face things you may have never faced before. That process can feel really messy and overwhelming.

Knowing that people are heading into that can be challenging because I think as heart-centered people and coaches, we want to help them not have to make the same mistakes we did. We want to help people avoid pain, but it’s typically the pain that people face that leads to their greatest level of transformation.

We tend to massively underrate our own knowing and how much we’ve been through and the experience that we have. When you [write it down and] are able to see it on paper, black and white in front of you, it pops out of the paper at you and you’re like, “Oh. I’ve been doing this my whole life! I have so much of my entire life experience around this.”

NCA: Can you think of a mentor or a coach in your own career who was the most vital to your success and in what ways did this mentor help you thrive in your career?

Danielle: I can think of several. I’ve worked with many coaches, all of whom are phenomenal. I think the common theme in coaches and mentors who are doing a huge service in the world is that they’re able to mirror back to you all of the things that you can’t see for yourself and hold the space for you to grow into that person that you know you really are. This means holding space for the belief changes and the conditionings and the stretching of your own faith and expansion and that whole entire process.

I think it’s powerful when you can have someone to witness that for you and help guide you through that without judgment and instead feeling empowered through that process.

NCA: One of the most common challenges new coaches face is self-doubt. Some coaches call it Imposter Syndrome, where early on they feel somehow inadequate to take on the role of coach. What is one piece of advice that you would give to somebody who is in the beginning stage of their coaching career and dealing with these doubts in their mind?

Danielle: I definitely have gone through that. I think every single person, at some point or another and especially in the beginning, is wondering, “Can I really serve people at this level? Am I even qualified?”

Something that I did was literally write down on paper the patterns in my life and experiences that I’ve gone through. We tend to massively underrate our own knowing and how much we’ve been through and the experience that we have. When you are able to see it on paper, black and white in front of you, it pops out of the paper at you and you’re like, “Oh. I’ve been doing this my whole life! I have so much of my entire life experience around this.” You might even have educational experience around it as well. So you combine all of that life experience plus your education plus your innate gifting that people have always come to you for.

The big question I’d ask people is, “What is something that people have always come to you for and you’ve been known for your whole life?” That’s a huge A-ha moment for a lot of people because it’s so intrinsic to who we are that we don’t even recognize it as special or a gift at all. We might just tell ourselves, “Oh, that’s just my personality.” But really, it’s a huge gift and we don’t even recognize it sometimes because it is so intrinsic to who we are.

I think peeling back those layers and asking deeper questions of yourself as well can really be catalyzing in eliminating that imposter syndrome.

Previous post:

Next post: