Featured Expert:
Heather Edmondson is an independent coach and the founder of Northern Lights Coaching, a brand new life coaching business located in northern Virginia that started this May. She said, "I currently have four steady clients who are working on various issues (stress management, relationships, meaning & life purpose, work/life balance). Edmondson is passionate about people and personal growth. She loves helping people discover "their best selves" and seeing the joy they radiate once they reach their goals.
Through her own personal growth, Edmondson realized that she is a people person. "My relationship with a computer, while still important in today's society, is not fulfilling. I need to be interacting with individuals to be happy." Once Edmondson knew what she didn't want out of a career, she began exploring.
She said, "I got really really curious. Deepak Chopra, in his book "The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire", talks about the importance of knowing exactly what your desires are. He recommends writing a list of what your desires are in several areas of your life (relationships, material, self-fulfillment, etc.) So I started writing lists. Adding to them and in meditation asking myself ‘What do I want?’, I started getting really aware of what nourishes me and what makes me feel drained or unsatisfied. The list helped a ton because it helped me get clear on my big picture goals. I still look back on it and cross off or add to it."
Edmondson poured time and dedication into building an independent business, but had to remember to take care of herself during the process. Along the way she had to acknowledge her limitations and wait until she was ready to focus. Now that she has established Northern Lights Coaching, there are still challenges to face. "Life coaching is a very new profession and often people work independently of each other, so it is a harder field to market because people still aren't really sure what it is or how it could benefit them or their company."
In five to ten years, Edmondson hopes to have developed her practice into a "strong community of growth in which people can feel supported by each other and themselves." In 2014, she hopes to run workshops for teens and adults to develop self-confidence and begin building that community." In the more distant future, she may collaborate "with other professionals with various skills and gifts to form a larger community and a wellness center in the NOVA area where all of these great things can be accessed."
In a world in which women have taken the work force by storm while managing their households, stress is often a given and burnouts can occur frequently. Edmondson said, "My main goal is to help women develop a deeper level of self love and care. We have a lot of give to the world, and it begins with loving ourselves so we can better give that love to others."
Edmondson loves watching inner transformations take place. She said, "Since I am in the field of self-growth I get to constantly be amazed at the ways in which we as human beings strive to better ourselves or align ourselves with something greater than our person (dreams, values, relationships). I am also learning a lot about celebrating small successes, and how everyone grows and processes life at their own rate and in their own way. It’s humbling to watch."
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