All things happen for a reason
My good friend, Susan, had been an internal coach for a while and had also done a lot of training and development work. One day she said to me, “Lara, I think I should get a coaching accreditation. I’m very interested in the neuroscience behind coaching and I think it would be good to have an accreditation since I have now been coaching for more than 5 years.” I told her that a lady I knew called Jean Balfour, had recently received accreditation from the International Coaching Federation to provide training for ACC and PCC level coaches. I asked Susan if she would like to meet Jean.
One day I took Susan to meet Jean and discuss her course offering. I was merely there to introduce Susan and for her to find out about the course. I ended up listening and thinking that the course sounded really interesting. I had not known what coaching really was. I then decided that having a coaching qualification might be a useful additional skill to add to my repertoire in my role as the Head of Business Development for an international law firm. I told Jead that I would join the next cohort. Susan did not end up doing the course after all.
Whilst waiting for the course to start, I received an unexpected diagnosis of break cancer. It was triple negative, which is the most aggresive type. I literally had to drop everything and go into immediate chemotherapy treatment. I therefore had to postpone joining the course but I did join the following cohort, which started in February 2020. Fortuenatly for me, it was a virtual classroom setting and I was able to join from home. I attended for 3 hours every Monday evening 6:00-9:00pm.
The course gave me a welcome distraction and I was able to make new friends in my cohort with fellow coaches from all walks of life. It was an international group with students from Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong. The course was 6 months and we finished at the end of June 2020.
I finished chemo in March 2020, had surgery in April, and then radiotherapy for the month of June. I oficially finished treatment on 16 June 2020. By then I had undertaken 42 hours of training, 24 hours of mentor coaching, a written exam, 100 hours of coaching, submitted an essay, and a recording of my coaching. I was the first in my class to receive my ACC accreditation on 1 October 2020.
I returned to work part time in June 2020 and continued to coach on the side. I realised that I needed to prioritise my health and make some lifestyle changes. After receieving a lot of coaching myself, I decided to quit my job and launch my own boutique consultancy. It was a leap of faith but an exciting prospect to be my own boss and put my business development skills to the test. Thus Lara Q Associates was born and I became an entrepreneur again.
One of the most motivating factors behind my decision was the urgent feeling I had that I needed to help people live their best lives now. Having stared death squarely in the face and then been given a second chance at life, I wanted to make the most of my time to help others live their best lives. I honestly felt that if I could get cancer like that, anyone could, and if that were the case, then I wanted to help ensure that others have no regrets were they to face the same situation.
