Life/Career Coaching in your 20s: Is it worth it?
Hi there, Has anyone done life or career coaching in their late 20s, or as a manager-level professional? I could use dedicated guidance for my career beyond the therapist I see regularly for personal issues.I know it's common for executives, and when I've done some browsing, it appears the hourly rates can be hefty for what I can afford out of pocket, but maybe I'm not looking in the right places, and that's more for c-suite. Nothing wrong with those rates btw, just not affordable for me personally to pay $350+ an hour! Any advice and/or recos for virtual coaches that are affordable for manager-level are very welcomed, thank you!
I haven't done this personally, but there's a site called Career Contessa that has a coaching partnership. I believe someone here on Elpha actually mentioned recently that she was a CC coach, but unfortunately I don't remember who. It looks like there are various mentors in different industries and career stages who could be helpful.https://www.careercontessa.com/hire-a-mentor/browse/
Iynna·Jun 09, 2021Iynna·Jun 09, 2021I believe the member you are referring to is @alongcamekatrina she may be of help to OP!
Thank you!!
ekuacant·Jun 10, 2021ekuacant·Jun 10, 2021Yes, go for it! Having a coach at this stage in your career will be beneficial. Having someone to consider your career options, help you grow and plan how to progress your career is worth the investment. Keep searching, I'm sure there are coaching options that would be able to suit your budget. There have already been some great suggestions on where to expand your search further.Wishing you career success!
Thank you so much!
Hi Willetta! I'm Rachel, the CEO/Founder and head Coach at WOKEN (iamwoken.com). My mission is to make sure effective career coaching is accessible and affordable to all :) I would love to chat and see how I can help you! (We offer a free call here -- calendly.com/woken/demo).
Wow, that's sounds like a great opportunity! Setting up a session now :D
Don't forget to set up a coaching session! :)
Thank you so much!
It's definitely worth it! In fact, I wish I started working with a coach way sooner. I partner with founders, entrepreneurs, and executives however I'd love to learn more about you and how I can help you. Send me a DM and let's set up a time to have a deeper conversation. Lx
Yes! I get this feedback when I'm interviewing guests on my podcast, that they wish they even knew that something like this was available to them or that it was available years ago.
Hi Willetta24! Coaching in your late 20s (new manager/ pre-exec) is an excellent time to invest in yourself and set a strong leadership foundation. I am a career/leadership coach for this stage of career. I also work full time and actively manage managers and senior managers. Let me know if you're up for a complimentary half hour to learn more about what your looking. I have a profile on a platform called HireClub with some client reviews https://hireclub.com/coaches/kelly-ling. And you can learn more about me on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyling
Thank you!!!
I am 29 and I also got life / work coaching in my 20s - a time of flux feels like the best time for it! When we're learning and changing so much.There's definately more afford able people out there. I went to Iacob Bacian https://www.iacobrbaciancoaching.com/ found it really helpful with goal setting, space to talk about goals.
Thank you!
Hi Willetta. I am a former HR executive for technology organizations, and currently an ICF certified executive and leadership coach. Having run HR departments, I have extensive experience developing employees. One of my specialities is working with women. Your late 20's is an excellent time to start coaching. You can develop the growth mindset and skills that you will need for later career success. Here are a few questions to consider: What are your goals for coaching? What would make coaching a success for you? What is one of the most important challenges you are facing now? Send me a DM if you would like to talk further and learn more. I am flexible with my rates.
Thank you for your post!
Hi! I 100% recommend coaching. I am a part time life coach and a full time Head of Sales at a tech company. I started working with a coach myself years ago and it was the best investment I ever made and I truly think it helped me SO much in my tech career. I love working with women in in their 20s (i'm 31) and find it so rewarding to mentor clients especially in the tech space who are taking a similar path that I did. You're right that the hourly rates can be all over the place. Mine is $125 but I NEVER want price to be a reason someone can't work with me, so am very flexible and am grateful to be able to do that.Feel free to reach out anytime even if you have questions about what its like to work with a coach :)JessieJessicabuongiorno.com
Thank you!!
Being a career success coach, I'm obviously biased, so don't take my word (LOL!)but I'm working with all kinds of people from graduating college students to executives and they are very happy and satisfied with the progress they make. We're all facing some challenges in different stages of our professional life. Gaining clarity in terms of where you are and where you want to be in 1-3-5 years is extremely important. You can check my website at www.juditlovas.com. And feel free to reach out if you have any questions about career coaching. Cheers! Judit
Thank you!!!
Heck yes, it's worth it! I've been working with my coach for over 3 years now and it's honestly the best decision I've ever made - working with a coach from my late-20s onwards has completely changed my life and it's worth the investment!Some coaches are willing to be flexible with rates if you explain your situation -- or try reaching out to your manager or HR department at work to see if the company would be willing to sponsor your coaching as leadership/professional development!Full disclosure, I work in the coaching industry and my startup specializes in bringing executive coaching into companies as part of their employee L&D benefits, so that's where my advice and experience comes from.
Thank you!!
I would check with the ICF. There are potentially newly trained coaches that need coaching hours and can do pro bono or low fees. I am part of a coaching collective. We have about 30+ coaches and maybe one of them has lower fees. My question to you would be why coaching? What is the specific goal you have? Is it clarity on your career direction, how to climb the ladder, specific behavioral skills that are holding you back from promotions, branding, work/life balance, personal growth that directly affects your professional success? Then determine your budget. There are many great coaches out there. Reach out if you need support!
Thank you!!!
I think it depends on what youāre looking to accomplish with career coaching. If any of these apply, then it may be worth the investment:-Youāre in a state of transition and want guidance beyond your family & friends. The coach can serve as an industry mentor to provide options as well as dive into what matters for you. (Eg. Many people I coach are in product, eng, sales, design and I understand what theyāre going through having worked through it for 22 years as a design leader)- Youāre not sure whatās next for you. You suspect where youāre at is not right but donāt know what to do. Many people ignore this feeling until they hit their 30s and 40s and finally are forced to deal with it- You need some help getting out of your own way. Perhaps help with confidence expressing your opinions, communicating up to leaders, or addressing specific feedback youāve received.If you have some specific ideas of what youād like to work on and why, then it could be extremely valuable to get advice. Also, I would recommend that you ādateā many coaches. It will give you a sense of whatās right for you. This is a post I wrote on how to find the right coach and goes deeper into possible challenges you might be facing. https://link.medium.com/Iz0nSQLDYgbFinally, price should not be the blocker.Thereās many affordable options already on this thread and even if you find a coach you love whoās out of your price range, coaches know other coaches and can help direct you to the right support you need. Many coaches, myself included, also have more affordable group programs where you learn with like-minded people.Good luck and enjoy this journey!
Thank you very much, reading your article right now!!!
As others on the thread have suggested, absolutely YES it's a great investment in your late 20s. I worked in corporate 15 years before starting my coaching and consulting business and I wish I had a coach to support my growth during my 20s. It would have provided so much clarity and held me accountable in ways I wasn't able to do on my own given ALL that was going on with me at work and in life. I suggest you reach out to a couple of career coaches and ask questions about their experience, their process and find one that is a right fit for you! I'm glad you got some great references in this thread! I'm a leadership/business coach, so if you have any questions on coaching overall or how to find the right coach for you, feel free to reach out.
I found the book 'the defining decade' to be helpful if it's life stuff and making plans.Plato might be something your company could look into as a benefit - it's a bit steep personally. I don't mentor for them anymore because I no longer wanted to do unpaid labor for someone else to get paid. But I did help many people and I assume they still have good mentors in their ranks.
Here to +1 all of the feedback supporting career growth and seeking out a Career Coach. I host a podcast called Next Level Leaders and it's centered around womxn who are looking to grow in their careers as well as potentially looking for something new, so I do a little bit of both depending on where you're at. I also offer inexpensive coaching as I want to help more womxn to promote into leadership roles and would be happy to chat with you further if there is an interest. You've got plenty of options! Here's my link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/next-level-leaders/id1473967238
Hi! I did not get coaching in my 20s, but I am a coach now, and I have coached many people in their 20s. I definitely think there's a lot to gain for people at every level of their career (and it also helps with life stuff, too). If you're looking for something super affordable, my mentor's program is a group membership, so the cost is much lower than 1:1 ($97/month). It's a wonderful community called The Clutch and the woman who runs it is Kara Loewentheil. She also has a podcast called Unf*ck Your Brain. It's not work-specific. I also have a coaching podcast that is work-specific called Love Your Job Before You Leave It. I'm also happy to chat more with you if you want to DM me. Take care!
I'm a transformational coach - working with folks on personal development, mental wellbeing, career transition, leadership & more. I believe coaching is really valuable regardless of age, and different coaches can serve different purposes and help you achieve your goals, overcome limiting beliefs, help you uncover your values, etc. I'm based in Europe and offer more affordable coaching programs - if you're interested in a commitment-free chat, to explore whether coaching is right for you, please feel free to reach out through my website https://andranuta.com/.
I did some executive coaching when I was maybe 31, but I was in a first-time manager/leadership role. The start-up I was working for at the time had provided me with a learning and development budget, so I used that. I absolutely think it was worth it, as I had been struggling to find my leadership style and was feeling a bit of impostor syndrome (I was the head of product, but Iām very user centric and not very business or growth centric, and was struggling to meet the expectations my superiors had of me to be all metrics-driven and wanting millions of users etc). My coach helped me to understand some of my limiting beliefs, communication styles, helped me to develop some language to use with different stakeholders, and different frameworks to think about conversations or projects. Overall though, the most valuable thing I got from it was developing my āpersonal brandā, as much as I kind of hate that term. It really made me feel confident about who I am as an individual, my values, what Iām good at, what I stand up for, how I want to show up, and also whatās NOT important to me and what I shouldnāt try to force. Ironically, my company paid for me to have an executive coach and the main thing it taught me was that I didnāt want to work for that company anymore - I left a few months after my coaching finished. You made me more confident that what I bring to my work has unique value, and that not everybody does the same role in the same way and thatās okay! Happy to chat more about it if itās helpful.
Set a budget and clear intentions for what you want to get out of it.Make both clear : ) Good coaches will frequently offer a "is this a fit" short chat for free because they want to help (and be appropriately compensated). (If they don't that might be a red flag.)Coaches are like Therapists and investing in the way that the earlier you start the bigger the gain. Also like therapists and investing in the way that it only works well if there is a good fit. Coaching typically can be more spaced out in time (monthly / bi-monthly instead of weekly) and span a shorter duration overall (a few months instead of years).So be ready to talk to a few, find the right coach, then go for it.
I wish I'd done it earlier - in my early 20s. Having a coach is such an amazing gift. I just wish it was more accessible.I'm working with my coach for the past 2 years now. We meet twice a month. It helped me silence my inner critic, identify when I was getting in my way and have someone to support me while I was making all the big life decisions that came up during the late 20s. It definitely reduced my stress, and all the negative self-talk that was always blocking me is now fading away. I found my coach on Sphere - http://sphere.guide/ - her name is Louise. Sphere makes coaching much more affordable and accessible, for example, 1 hour of coaching is $149, and there are a lot of coaches to choose from.
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