Marcia Walker, Step by Step Coaching

Your Name: Marcia Walker

Name of Business: Step by Step Coaching

Type of business: Life and business coach

What does your business do? I work with individuals, couples and groups who want more connection with themselves, with others and with Spirit.  I love to work with couples who are putting together a stepfamily (one or both of them have children already). I do custom-designed workshops and presentations, coach individuals, couples and groups, and teach courses about self-esteem, purposefulness, and communication

Why did you start the biz and when did your business open? After years and years of working with people, I discovered that the particular way that I listen and ask evoking questions, and help
people see themselves and their options in a new light is actually called coaching! I wanted to focus on solutions rather than problems, on creating rather than fixing, so I took the plunge, left my steady job and opened Step by Step Coaching in the spring of 2004

How many people in your company?  Just me!

What's your office location like?  My office is officially a front room in my home, where I can look out of the window as I write or talk on the phone.  The office travels with me when I pick up my phone or my computer and wander to different parts of the house that suit me at the moment A favorite is in the back yard which looks over a field that is home to our neighbor's horses.  Since I often work with clients on the phone, I can work also work anywhere I have a cell signal.  It's part of what I love about my business.

What's the toughest part of running your biz?   The learning curve of using the web, blogging, e-books, etc. is pretty steep for me! Actually, defining and articulating what I do is a challenge for me, so that makes it tough to do much with my website, for example. When someone is in front of me or on the phone, I am in my element.  It flows naturally and effortlessly through me.  But translating that into words and images for a website or brochure can be mind-boggling!

What's the most fun part?  Being present when someone has an "ah-ha!" moment is such a joy for me, but watching how they put it into practice is the best.  I love hearing from people about how they are moving forward, making subtle or even huge changes based on a new freedom or a new perspective.  I've just loved getting to hear a client's demo CD, attend a dance my client choreographed, or see the pictures of a stepfamily couple's new baby.    Ahhh!!  It is exhilarating and fills me with gratitude!

Anything you would have done differently?  There have been several times that I've pulled back from my business to invest more time in family and other big projects. I would find ways to keep
more going and planning the ramping back up better to avoid that sense of starting over again

Explain what's next on the horizon for you and your business?  I want to develop some information products and maybe an online community that can serve more people than I can ever serve in
person

How do you use OnlineBizU.com to help with your biz or sanity?  Wow! There is so much information on this site and so many opportunities.  I am reading something new every few days and
following links to all kinds of amazing services and tools that are out there.  It's like being in school.  This first phase for me is learning what there is to learn.  Next phase will be actually learning it and putting it into action.  This is a gold-mine!

Personal Info:

School

I got my BS in Psychology in 1978 from Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, AL, then headed off to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill for graduate study in Counseling Psychology.   In 2004, I completed the Coach Training Alliance Certified Coach program.

Prior jobs or business?

I have been the director of two domestic violence shelter programs, and on staff at a sexual assault crisis center, all of which required direct services for clients as well as the administrative, PR and fundraising tasks.  After several years in victim services, and a stint as a behavioral health educator for a weight management program, I became the director for the local center of an international personal development program.  I worked in different capacities for that program for seven years, and still teach through the program some five years later. My career hasn't all been about trauma and challenging personal issues, though I found out that I am not cut out to sell long-distance service or nutritional supplements or Avon (which I sold as a teenager and bought as much as I sold!).

Favorite food?  My husband's red velvet cake.

What are your pets' names? I have an empty nest now that the kids have moved out and the pets went with them! I'm always glad to see the cats, Samson and Tiger, but have to admit that I
don't miss Clio the snake

Do any of these pets help with your biz? No, but I do appreciate the company of the horses in the field out back and the llamas I see on my morning walks

What person or event in your life led you to go into business for yourself?

When I developed chronic fatigue, I wanted to work on my own terms and by the time I got well, I was hooked! I also have a close friend who started her coaching business about 5 years before I did .Watching her business grow inspired me --and still does!

Website URL:

http://www.StepbyStepCoaching.biz.  Be sure to click for more information and the client area to see more about me and my coaching practice.
http://www.beingyoubeingus.blogspot.com/ Being You, Being Us Blog

 

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