July – Success
Judy Zimmer of Coachology and VirtualOffiCenters client at Park is our Success feature for July. Judy started her own coaching company nearly 10 years ago while also working a full time job with a staffing firm. She used that opportunity to learn and grow personally and at the same time saw her company expanding. She recently made the decision to work exclusively on her passions of coaching, branding and public speaking and rebranded her business to Coachology.us. Read on to find out more about Judy’s success.
Every business has a story, tell us yours. Like many college students, I was challenged to find a major that fit all of the criteria I was looking for. (In other words, I was “undecided on a major for 4 years!) Thanks to the terrific career counselors at College of St. Benedict, I found that a major in Liberal Studies fit exactly where my career would take me.
My coaching, branding and speaking career started shortly after leaving St. Ben’s. Even though I had just graduated, people gravitated to me for career advice including interviewing preparation and career goal setting. At the prompting of business colleagues, I decided to obtain my first coaching certification and started my coaching company (nearly 10 years ago) while working a full time job.
Shortly thereafter, I had an opportunity to join a successful staffing firm in Minneapolis as a career coach/consultant advocate to senior level finance and accounting professionals. This role gave me the opportunity to work with senior level professionals on coaching, personal branding, LinkedIn branding, goal setting, career advice and I was able to speak in front of 200+ companies on the topic of LinkedIn. It was an amazing opportunity to learn and grow. At the same time, my coaching and branding practice was expanding and I was working with more business owners and entrepreneurs. I began referring business out to other coaches in order to keep up with demand. In 2013, I made the decision to work exclusively on my coaching/branding/speaking practice, and rebranded my business into Coachology.us.
You were chosen as this month’s Success Client. Tell us about your most recent Success. One of my favorite types of clients to work with is the person who wants more out of life and a career! I show my clients, through my proven Coachology Coaching System, how to create goals and dreams, focus on what gives them energy and to create multiple streams of income.
For example, I had the privilege of with a highly successful finance client who was referred to me. A glance at her career history indicated that she had done it all—tremendous career success, academic achievement in the form of two Ph.D.’s, authored books and publications and received accolades for her work. When she came to me she asked “what’s next?” Through our coaching process, she is creating a career path that has never been done before that is taking her into unchartered territory. It’s incredible to be a part inventing an entirely new career path for someone.
No one likes to brag about their business, but if you HAD TO . . . I would say that few people in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market have coached more senior level finance and accounting professionals than me. I love working with these individuals as they make their way through creative options for earning a living, including—freelance work, consulting, contract and being a solo-prenuer. My coaching system is able to show high achievers who may feel beaten down by layoffs or lack of opportunities how to rebuild their brand and create multiple streams of income.
I consider myself to be very blessed. I have never been without a job in my career, I have been married for 26+ years and no one is a bigger supporter of my practice than my husband and I get to do what I love—coaching, personal branding and speaking.
We learn from our mistakes, especially in business. Give us some words of wisdom. I’ve made plenty of mistakes and continue to celebrate even more as my business goes through enormous growth. One mistake that I laugh at today is the belief that I could build my own website. (What was I thinking?)
Share the best advice you ever received. I have three I would like to share:
- Eliminate the word “busy.” A master coach taught me this advice and it has served me well. My work (and life) is either engaging or not engaging. I STOP doing it if it is not engaging.
- Create multiple streams of income. More income options means less worry.
- Instead of looking at situations as an “either/or,” I challenge myself and clients to consider “and” as a possibility.
Describe your perfect day off. I would start with a walk around Lake of the Isles, followed with a great cup of coffee, meditation, dinner with friends and dancing.
What might someone be surprised to know about you? I am an artist and gourmet cook. I paint on fabric and challenged myself to exhibit my work in 2012 with a group of artists. Mission accomplished! It was scary and exciting all at the same time.
Together we are stronger. Tell us something you like about being our client. Being able to find professional office space is critical to the success of my business. I love that fact that Lori Spiess created this business 33 years ago and that I can work out of five office locations. What I love about the model is that the staff is amazing, my fellow business owners are committed to sharing best practices, the space is gorgeous and they are as committed to the growth of my business as I am. I received 3 referrals in my first two months in the space.
If you could work anywhere under the sun, where would you choose? I love being in Minnesota in the summer and in Arizona the other 10 months of the year!
How can people CONNECT with you? To learn more about my coaching, personal branding or speaking practice, go to my website at www.Coachology.us or contact me at judy@coachology.us or 612-396-7574. I have only met about 50 of the businesses at OffiCenters, so I look forward to connecting with the other 850 of you!
