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 Ashaki Ali. Ashaki is a Holistic Health Coach, Writer, and Poet based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
NCA: Can you describe your coaching practice and the kinds of clients you typically work with?
Ashaki: My coaching practice is actually a spiritual guidance-based practice. Most of the clients that come to me are women, though I have worked with men. They’re usually seeking guidance in areas such as spiritual growth, relationships, even finances. I’ve had clients that have particular ideas about their relationship with money. I focus on helping them be in power to not depend on someone else to give them the answers, to learn to tap into their own intuition, to begin to make their own choices because only they know what’s going to be best for them.
It’s really me leading from the back and helping them find their way and navigate and I just provide them with the tools and resources, affirmations, meditation. I’m a Reiki master as well, so some of what I do is help them to overcome particular traumas that may be holding them back from having a healthy relationship. It’s multi-faceted and it’s all individual-based, so whatever the issue, situation, or problem that they come to me for, we do an intake and then we go from there.
NCA: What initially got you interested in this career path and what kind of degree or certifications did you need to complete, if any?
Ashaki: Actually, my path began as mostly health based. I’ve been a nurse for 20 years this coming June. But because of my own personal spiritual practices, I had people began to ask me questions about what I was doing because they saw shifts in my life. They were seeing the results but they didn’t know what I was into. They’re like, “What are you into? What are you doing?” [laughing] “You don’t seem to get too shaken up about anything. You always are joyful for the most part. What is it that you’re doing? What’s the secret? What’s the secret sauce?” So I started sharing with them “Well, I meditate every day and I’m an active yogi. I’m in the gym. I do affirmations” and all of these things. My business began to shift based off of my own personal practices and then people just started seeking me out for things.
That’s my most rewarding thing — really seeing the effects of what I do. Being a positive in someone else’s life and helping them shift into their most purposeful life.
I haven’t really personally done any certifications, however I did take a course to become a Reiki master. I’m also an herbalist because some of what I do sometimes, they want more tangible things to take. I’ve taken the certification to become an herbalist but as far as what I do, that’s just my destiny. I’ve been taking classes to improve my intuitive and empathic abilities. I listen to my own guidance. I do have spiritual teachers that have given me more tools to get me to the level that I am now, but it really worked on natural progression.
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?
Ashaki: The most rewarding is when people come back to me after some time had passed. Truthfully, you work with so many people you may not remember each and every person right away. But I recently had a lady reach out to me. She began a business where she sells crystals. She said, “Do you remember when you gave me two things to help me ground myself when I was feeling so much anxiety?” At first, I had to pause for a minute and then I remembered when she said, “You know, that changed my life. I had stopped smoking and all these things because of what you gave me.” That’s my most rewarding thing — really seeing the effects of what I do. Being a positive in someone else’s life and helping them shift into their most purposeful life.
The most challenging for me is being able to consistently work with clients. It’s kind of touch and go for me currently. I do have some new offerings that I’m rolling out in the New Year and a new marketing strategy. That’s the challenge. It’s trying to stay ahead of things and trying to maintain work-life balance.
I have six children but one of them is an adult and he’s on his own, but I still have 5 children that are school aged at home and I’m a single mother. I’m trying to make sure I’m doing that. I’m divorced. I’m in a new relationship but trying to make sure that I’m not burning out–that I can give the people that I love the most the best of me–that’s my challenge. To make sure I’m hitting the marks and not feeling guilty when I had to decline servicing is my challenge.
A lot of coaches struggle with thinking they’re not good enough because […] they feel like their story isn’t important or maybe ‘I can’t do this’, but someone somewhere needs to hear your perspective and the way that you approach life and the way that you navigate. There’s room and space for everyone.
NCA: Can you think of mentor who was most vital to your success as a coach? In what ways did this mentor help you to thrive in your career?
Ashaki: Iyalosa Akalatunde. I practice African traditional religion and before I even knew her, she had taken me under her wings and she didn’t even know it. She was on YouTube and she was speaking in a way that I had never heard anyone speak about being this woman in this life and what you are capable of doing, but it transformed the way I was seeing myself at the time. This was 5 years ago before I even thought about any of this. I would occasionally go on her page and I would just watch a video here and there.
I eventually had the money where I could take her class. It’s just been a steady progression to the point now that I’m a part of her spiritual family. Never would have thought in a million years I’d be in this woman’s house, eating at her table, embraced by her, and being guided by her at this point in my life, but it’s been a progression for about 5 years. She has been an integral part of what I’m doing because she helped me to see that I always knew what my destiny was.
She teaches us to make sure that our actions are purposeful in fulfilling our destiny, but she has no idea how important she is to where I am. I get choked up thinking about who I was back then and who I am now, because I would not be functioning the way I’m functioning at this point and so comfortable in pursuing what I’m pursuing and doing what I’m doing and helping other people find their destiny too and their purpose in life it it weren’t for her.
It was absolutely put in place by the Divine. That’s the only way I can describe it. This is someone I’ve admired for my business and it really went from me watching her videos then eventually taking a class to eventually ending up on her friend’s list on Facebook — I don’t know how I did that — and then I’m in her house. I’m her goddaughter now. In our tradition, we have godmothers. She’s a mother to us all. To have her pray for me and do all these things that she does and support us through everything and our children — she has six children of her own. All of them are grown except for two. She’s just an amazing person. She has definitely been one of the most important teachers that I’ve ever had.
NCA: Finally, what advice would you give someone looking to get started in the career path that you chose?
Ashaki: The first thing I would do is for them to tap into the fact that they can do whatever they choose to do. I think a lot of coaches struggle with thinking they’re not good enough because they’re not the big name or they feel like their story isn’t important or maybe ‘I can’t do this’, but someone somewhere needs to hear your perspective and the way that you approach life and the way that you navigate. There’s room and space for everyone.
