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 Cleopatra Jade. Cleopatra is an Intuitive Counselor and Relationship Coach based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
NCA: Can you describe your coaching practice and the kinds of clients you typically work with?
Cleopatra: I mainly work with women who are getting caught in bad relationships. By bad relationships, I mean toxic relationships, dating narcissists, etc. They’re transitioning out of those relationships and trying to better themselves and be ready to date again at some point. A lot of times, they do transition into dating and meeting new people and I help them with that process as well.
NCA: What got you interested in this career path originally? What were some of the motivating factors that led you to become a coach in this niche?
Cleopatra: It’s interesting because since I was younger, I’ve helped people. I know that sounds weird, but I always had answers and I didn’t know where they came from. The adults in my family would be going through things and I always had an answer for everything. I would tell them, “Oh no, that’s not going to work out” and I would have been right about it.
Not to sound cocky, because it sounds kind of cocky, but it has led me to go into school for psychology and getting certified as a coach years later. It’s something that I really do enjoy and it’s something that I’ve been good at. It just comes naturally to me. It’s an intuition that I’ve always had.
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?
Cleopatra: The most rewarding thing is seeing my clients look back at the progress that they’ve made in the time that we spent together. In the times that they’ve gotten out of those bad relationships, it’s seeing how strong that they really are and seeing their potential. That’s honestly the most rewarding thing: when I look at clients and how they progress.
The most challenging thing would be when clients try to transition into a dating situation and expect the new person to be just like their ex. In other words, they’re not getting certain cues from them so they think that something is wrong or they’re so afraid of this going wrong because they’ve been through bad situations that they start sabotaging it. That’s a little frustrating. I help them along the way, but it’s still a frustrating thing to see.
NCA: Can you think of someone in the personal development space who has had the most influence on your career?
Cleopatra: Somebody in the field who’s not a coach but is inspirational to me is Gary Vaynerchuk. I love him. Honestly, he’s my catharticism. I listen to him all the time. Especially when I feel like I might be stuck, I’ll go watch his videos and it really helps me.
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?
Cleopatra: I’ve worked with a lot of people who deal with that and I’ve dealt with that myself in the beginning. The way to really work past that is to look at what you’ve accomplished in your life. Nobody gets to coaching if they haven’t made accomplishments in their life. You had to do the work yourself in order to get there. You have to look at all of your achievements that you’ve done to build yourself up to be the person that you are that wants to help other people.
You’re just a human being and we have flaws. We make mistakes. It’s okay to make mistakes, but you can’t beat yourself up about those things. You have to look at it like this person is coming to you because you have the expertise and knowledge to help them through their process. You can’t make it personal and you can’t make it about yourself. You can’t make it about, “Oh my God, this person is going to think I’m a failure or I’m a loser.” Look at all of the accomplishments and use that as a way to build your confidence up so that you can go for it.
You have to get out of your own head. You can’t make this about you. You can’t make this about, “Oh, what if I sound stupid?” This is coming from somebody who has those types of issues, who’s had to build themselves up. It’s an everyday process.
All coaches have self-doubt about themselves. Again, you’re human. You can’t help but have that creep in every now and then. We just happen to have the tools that we need in order to get through that process. We might have better coping skills than most people, and that’s why they’re coming to us. It gets easier, but it never 100% goes away.