Meet Chloe Mackey | Life & Leadership Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chloe Mackey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chloe, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
Deciding to work with a life coach was one of the most transformative decisions of my life, but it was because I had an amazing coach who underwent in-depth training and had a clear understanding of what it means to be a professional coach.

Most people don’t realize that professional coaching – especially life coaching – is an unregulated industry. For this reason, you’ll encounter a lot of “life coaches” who simply took a three-hour webinar one weekend before deciding to charge a premium for “professional advice.” These folks typically do more harm than good in the mental health industry due to the amount of confusion and misinformation they spread.

Most people outside of respected coaching entities and organizations don’t know that professional coaching is supposed to be very different from therapy, teaching, mentoring, consulting, and other forms of advising. A properly trained life coach knows how to assess if their client is a good fit for coaching or if they require more intensive support such as therapy or counseling.

Life coaching isn’t focused on giving advice or instructions. A good life coach doesn’t hand you answers – they empower you to find your own best answers by helping you reconnect with how amazingly capable, skilled, and powerful you are as an individual.

Coaching uses a process of powerful inquiry and personal discovery to help clients define and achieve personal and professional goals faster and with more ease.

As one of my clients once said, working with a coach is “like having a GPS for your brain” – a properly trained coach helps you obtain conclusions and solutions that are customized to your life and your personal values. Coaches help you “get unstuck” when the way forward seems unclear.

With the industry being unregulated, if you want to find a properly trained coach, make sure to look into the credentials of any coach you’ll potentially hire! Ask about their approach and coaching philosophy.

Personally, I only work with life coaches who’ve graduated from ICF-Accredited training programs. Most coaches I’ve worked with also received further coaching credentials through the ICF itself. The ICF, or International Coaching Federation, was founded in 1995. The ICF defined professional coaching and outlined a strict code of ethics and competencies for their coaches to uphold, making it one of the most trusted entities within the coaching industry. Most major corporations and universities currently working with executive coaches seek professionals who have ICF credentials. I currently hold an ACC credential from the ICF and am working to obtain my PCC.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business was born from my own life experiences. Life & leadership coaching is actually my third career; I started off as a first grade school teacher and then spent several years in corporate learning and development before becoming a life & leadership coach. I’ve always been passionate about helping people grow into successful, happy versions of themselves.

Despite having all of the passion in the world, living life as a stressed out, overachieving, people-pleaser caused me to rapidly burn out of my first two careers (both of which I loved initially). I was seeing success in my life, but powerful feelings of pressure, dread and overwhelm proceeding each achievement detracted from my wins. It felt like every ounce of fulfillment was draining out of my life even though I was “successfully climbing the ladder.”

Upon realizing there was a huge lack of mental and emotional support in the professional space, I decided to obtain the support I deserved by hiring my very own life coach. Thanks to my coach, I began to evolve and transform in unimaginable ways. Plus, I was getting promoted like crazy and making more money! Working with a pro had life-changing impacts on my personal and professional wellbeing. For me, becoming a coach to help others unlock the same goodness in their own lives felt like a no-brainer!

I got certified to coach while I was still working my full time corporate job. I began coaching after hours and on weekends as a side hustle. I worked with donation-based clients to enhance my coaching skills in hopes of convincing my department (HR, more specifically learning and development) to take full advantage of my certification.

Initially HR leaders expressed interest in my new cerification, but as time went on, it became clear that my company was not developing at the same rapid rate that I was. I had to make a scary choice: hold out for an extra 2 or 3 years in hopes of “one day” professionally coaching at that company, OR make “one day” today by building a business so that I could coach full time on my own.

As a person who values leading by example, I chose to take a massive leap of faith and trust that my own skills and talents would lead me to success. A business coach helped me improve my business model so that I could scale. I went from simply working with donation-based clients to offering a variety of paid programs. I generated a plan that allowed me to consistently meet people who were the perfect fit for my programs, and soon enough, I submitted my two weeks notice!

The first few months on my own weren’t easy – every day I battled self-doubt and Imposter Syndrome like so many other professionals and entrepreneurs. To be honest, it wasn’t long before I fell into a funk and had to rely on the support of my friends and fellow coaches to keep going. But as time went on, the amount of trust I had in myself and my own capabilities grew. I had learned how to accept help from others and more importantly I learned how to powerfully help and care for myself. As my self-awareness and self-image continued to expand, my confidence soared and my business began hitting new milestones with ease and flow.

Today I offer short and long term coaching programs to high achievers who want to kiss stress and overwhelmed goodbye and say hello to authentically fulfilling lives. If you have a deep inner knowing that says you’re capable of more than what you’re doing right now – you’re right. If you want a raise, a promotion, or to hit that next level of success, it’s about time you took the lead in life and actively started working towards your dreams.

Walking the path to success, especially if you’re struggling to be kind and compassionate with yourself, is so much easier with extra support and guidance. If anyone has made you feel unworthy of support, please know that you absolutely deserve help when it comes to pursuing of that life you’re dreaming of. Everyone deserves to have a trustworthy person in their corner who provides unconditional support, wisdom, and encouragement. Do you have a person like this in your life yet?

If someone is looking to get unstuck and back on track, or looking to evolve into the leading version of themselves by doing deep inner work, I am ready to help! Every time a client comes back to me saying, “I got the promotion!” Or “I found the perfect job!” Or “Things at home are better than ever!” I simply beam with pride. It’s amazing to see what people accomplish after they learn to harness their beliefs and talents in new, powerful ways.

If you’ve ever been told you’re too big, too loud, too extra, too silly, too energetic, too unconventional, too different, too young, too old, too idealistic, too naive, too whatever… to do what you want to do… I was told the same thing. I didn’t let those opinions stop me from being successful. As a life and leadership coach, I help ensure those silly words don’t stop other people from achieving greatness, either.

You are more than capable of hitting the next level, making more money, and feeling way happier than you do now – it’s just a matter of figuring out your own best way forward (and not being afraid to seek support when you’re struggling).

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m currently in the West Palm Beach area, but have lived here for less than a year. Having to manage my autoimmune disease and Covid precautions at the same time, it’s taken me a bit longer than usual to learn my way around town. That being said, I’m a native Floridian, so I’d definitely be quick to take my friends to the beautiful beaches in my area. The scenery is hard to beat! We’d probably also consider driving out west for some more exotic Florida adventures, such as Everglades tours or visits to Lake Okeechobee. Additionally, amazing bands often tour and stop at our Amphitheater in West Palm, so my friends and I would be checking to see if any fun artists were in town. Some of the performers I’ve seen at the amphitheater in the past include Rebelution, Foo Fighters, and Jack Johnson to name a few. As far as food goes, while I love eating all sorts of things, I really love seafood. Being close to the ocean and fishing locations, we would definitely be enjoying some of the delicious seafood places around town. I’m also a southern girl so I’m sure we’d squeeze in some traditional southern dishes, too!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’ve been blessed to know many powerful women in my life, but I dedicate this shoutout to my first life coach, Joanna. I worked with Joanna after hastily completing some healing work with therapists and counselors. She used questions that practically melted my brain to bring out the best in me… I had never experienced anything like it before. While working with Joanna, I was able to obtain 5 promotions within 4 years in the corporate world. The huge personal and professional leaps I made while working with her inspired me to become a certified coach myself. Being able to unlock the same levels of radical change and capability in others has been nothing short of an honor for me; Joanna has been my mentor every step of the way, and I’m always hoping to make her proud.

Website: www.coachingbychloe.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chlothecoach/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloe-b-mackey

Image Credits
Hailey Scott