Hi, I am Vanessa! I am a professional leadership development coach certified through the International Coach Foundation (ICF). My calling is to get you from surviving to thriving personally and professionally so that you lead and grow your teams well. I partner with clients and organizations who are ready to make a bigger impact and live out their potential and core values.
I bring a unique set of modalities to my leadership coaching practice. I am ICF certified and maintain my certification with continuing education, mentorship/supervision hours, and a continual refresh of ethics in coaching. I am a graduate of Tara Mohr’s Playing Big Facilitator’s Training, Shirzad Charmine’s Positive Intelligence Program, and a graduate of The Center for Deep Intelligence‘s program, Deep Coaching Mastery Program: Coaching the Subconscious Mind which is a combination of somatic work, generative trance/hypnosis, internal family systems, and embodied relational skills. I am a believer that long-lasting change is from the inside out.
How do I do this with my clients or organizations?
I believe every human is amazing and unique and has their own blue print for leadership. I focus on your core values, critical needs, and strengths. I empower you to know who you are so that they can take on life and your organization with vision, clarity, and confidence. I will guide you to know and trust your inner compass for impactful decision making that aligns with who you are. The ripple effect is truly amazing to witness. Your leadership will become more impactful, and life is fuller and meaningful.
I have coached one-on-one with creatives, teachers, business owners, therapists, physicians, engineers, managers, and executives. I have been blessed to have an array of clients who are all truly amazing humans. Right now, I am focusing my coaching work with those in leadership and executive roles who want to strengthen their teams and grow their organizations.
I am a wife to my best-friend; we’ve been married for 21+ years. I have 3 children whom I love spending time with in Austin, TX. I studied elementary and middle school education at the University of Texas at Austin. Afterwards, I spent 8 years mentoring and coaching college women through a faith-based non-profit, guiding them along their life’s journey: their personal development, their relationships, and their college experience. I learned in those years that I love people, their stories, and most importantly, witnessing their growth in different areas of their life. I then transitioned to administration, event planning, and grant management in the university sector for the next 9 years. In those years, I found the most value and enjoyment in my relationships with my managers, co-workers, and the graduate students and post-doc fellows. I loved hearing their stories and found myself always giving them a listening ear. I noticed that “my thing” was listening to others, giving them space to open and share, and they wanting to hear what I had to say. It was then that I realized I needed to figure out a way to do what I love all the time—listening to others!
How did I end up a coach?
Little did I know that a surprise pregnancy at 40 years of age would initiate the journey of becoming a leadership coach. I quit my job at the university as a grant administrator of a 1 million dollar alcohol addiction grant, became a stay-at-home mom to care for my new baby and my two big kids. I found myself lost, unhappy, questioning the timing of things. I was grieving my “old life” and freedom. This is when I decided to hire a coach to help me figure out how to get “unstuck.” My coach guided me along the way, showing me that I already had the answers within, and that I needed to spend ample time “unpacking” all the emotions, the roadblocks, the fears, my dreams, my desires, and my own goals in life. She never once told me what to do, she never offered her sage advice. Rather, she asked thought-provoking questions, gave me space to share and explore without judgment or opinions. She provided me a safe and loving environment to dig deep and realize that I had a great deal to say about my life, my dreams, my aspirations, my challenges, my disappointments. Then the growth started happening. I realized I was in full control of my choices. This is when I knew I needed to be a coach, enabling others to move forward to achieve their goals, their dreams, and be who they were called to be.
I know the impact coaching has on leaders who are ready for change, ready to play outside the box, ready to play big. I invite you to partner with me to design your leadership and organization in alignment with what you truly value. Imagine leading yourself, your organization and your teams with your authentic, brilliant leadership style. Let’s get exploring!
Warmly,
Vanessa Yu