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 Felicity Doyle. Felicity is a Life Purpose Coach and Spiritual Counselor based in Eugene, Oregon.
NCA: Can you describe your coaching practice and the kinds of clients you typically work with?
Felicity: In my practice I work with people who are somewhere along their spiritual path, and I assist them through their spiritual development. It doesn’t matter if you just started, or you’ve been on your journey for some time now. I help people to realize that their life purpose has been calling to them, from inside of them (not “out there”) the entire time. They just needed to know where to look within. Additionally I help people tap into their inner guidance system as well as their higher self, so that once they do, they can be guided by the greater part of themselves towards their purpose. I also help people develop their communication pathways with their higher selves. You would know these as the clairs (clairvoyance, clairaudience, etc). Consider me as a “Spiritual Sherpa” helping guide clients along the terrain of their spiritual journey. It’s my greatest joy to empower people to find their own truths.
NCA: What initially got you interested in this career path and what kind of degree or certifications did you need to complete, if any?
Felicity: My whole life I have been passionate about the spiritual/healing arts. But it wasn’t until my life-altering accident in ‘89 (when I was 19), where I almost lost my life, that I became extremely and deeply driven to follow this path. It was at this point I felt my path was to be a healer and went to study Acupuncture. After a year of intense training I realized that Acupuncture was not the right path for me. So then I went on to study under a mentor for many years, intensively learning Reflexology, Massage, Herbalism, and Energy Healing. I was working from 8am-8pm every day with only brief breaks for meals, for many years. I learned a great deal and enjoyed the experience, but eventually I felt it was time to move on.
A few years after I left, I started running a weekly group on lucid dreaming and astral projection (something I’ve been able to do since I was very young). During that time I learned that dreams are our higher self’s way of speaking to us and guiding us.
It was around this time that I had a vision of myself helping people to heal their subconscious wounds by entering their dreams. Shortly after, I was directed to study Hypnotherapy, and while immersed in the course, I saw that it was exactly like the vision I’d had.
I worked as a Hypnotherapist for several years before I stepped away to become a mom. However, once my daughter was old enough, I felt the call to start working again, but this time the drive was different. I wanted to help people on their spiritual path, but I wasn’t quite sure what form this would take. I was still running a bi-monthly lucid dreaming and astral projection group, but now I felt I wanted to help people to find their purpose.
As I looked around me and in the greater society, I saw so many people suffering and miserable because they were working 9-5 in jobs that made them unhappy and unfulfilled. It frustrated me that I was keenly aware that each person had a greater purpose, and that if they chose to walk the path of this purpose, that they would live in a greater state of joy and fulfillment. I wanted to do something about this! I wanted to help people to step outside of their suffering and imposed obligation, and instead move towards a life that brought them deep joy and fulfillment.
I realized then that my whole life and all my experiences and training were building up to this, giving me all the tools along the way. My purpose had finally coalesced and was clear to me: it was to help others to find their purpose. Too many people on this planet ignore the passions that are deep within their soul, and instead work out of obligation or necessity. I wanted to help people to realize that they are here to follow their deep heart-felt passions.
I’m also an avid learner, so I’ve taken many certificate courses on the holistic and spiritual arts over the years. I also been trained in Reiki, though I never felt called to do energy work exactly in that way. Instead, I felt a strong need to completely break down and simplify all the holistic and spiritual arts so that any layperson could understand them. I wanted each client (or student) I worked with to have a deep personal understanding and experience of the work. I didn’t want them to take my word for it, but instead learn it from their own proprioception. I enjoy helping people to tap into their own wisdom.
Currently I am a certified Holistic Health Practitioner through the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. As well as I’m a certified Spiritual Counselor through The American Institute of Heath Care Professionals, Inc. I also have about 15+ certificates on various holistic and spiritual arts. I absolutely enjoy learning!
If your desire is to be a coach, then trust in that and know that when you get into alignment with your passion, roads and opportunities will open up for you. Doubt and fear will always try to surface, but remain strong in the faith in your purpose and your connection to Spirit.
NCA: What is the most rewarding part of your career and on the flip side, what is the most challenging aspect of the work that you do?
Felicity: I get a huge thrill from helping people to see that they actually already have access to their purpose, when they know where to look within themselves. I also enjoy showing them that they’ve always been tuned into their Higher Self and have been receiving messages their whole lives, but didn’t realize that the messages were from Spirit. Once they realize they have all the tools they need, they begin to soar! And to me, that’s the very best! I love seeing people living from their joy and in the flow.
It’s absolutely my job to work myself out of a job. And to me that’s the greatest gift when people are empowered to have their own connection to Spirit and have the guidance they need to move forward towards their greater purpose.
The most challenging part is that you can’t help people who do not want to be helped. Nor can you help those who are so embedded in the fear of life, that they are unwilling to take a chance on having faith in themselves. I wish that I could help everyone to live life from their Soul’s Purpose. I wish I could help everyone realize that if they had faith in themselves and their purpose, that they could actually live a fulfilling, abundant, and successful life, by following their heart. It saddens me when people are so caught up in their fear-story that they don’t trust in their purpose.
Another challenge is that it brings up for me many of my own fears and insecurities. Will I be able to help this person? Will I be able to connect with them in a way that helps them to get the tools that they need. But these fears that come up are only the fears of my ego-self. Then I remind myself that the work doesn’t come from me. But instead I’m a conduit for the information. Much of what I share with clients/students when I work with them, comes from my connection to Spirit. I just say what I’m guided to say for them. Each client’s process is different because of this.
NCA: Can you think of a mentor who was most vital to your success as a coach? In what ways did this mentor help you to thrive in your career?
Felicity: There have been more people and coaches that have been instrumental to me and to my process than I can count. But I would say the strongest was cultivating my relationship with Spirit. This caused me to develop great faith in myself and others. I also worked with a coach while I was developing my own coaching career. She helped to push me and show me that I was far more skilled and adept than I led myself to believe.
NCA: Finally, what advice would you give someone looking to get started in the career path that you chose?
Felicity: Have faith that the desires within you are meant to be fulfilled. Otherwise they wouldn’t be there. If your desire is to be a coach, then trust in that and know that when you get into alignment with your passion, roads and opportunities will open up for you. Doubt and fear will always try to surface, but remain strong in the faith in your purpose and your connection to Spirit. Also don’t worry about there being “too many coaches.” Each coach’s voice will speak to a different client, so you will have your own people that will come to you because your message speaks loudly to them. Trust in that.
