Today we’d like to introduce you to Elena Armijo

Hi Elena, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?

I grew up in Las Cruces, NM with my parents and two younger brothers. Music has always been a part of our lives and NM is an incredible place that supports and nurtures music throughout the community. This included solo and ensemble in middle school, show choir and A Cappella groups in high school all leading to New Mexico State University where I received a Bachelor of Music in Education. In order to support expenses for college, my father put all three kids through real estate appraisal courses where we started a family business and all became real estate appraisers at eighteen years old. I credit this education and early training as an entrepreneur as part of my success today. My father taught me how to be a business owner. I never intended to sing professionally, and all roads kept leading to performance. Both my Undergraduate degree and my Masters degree in Music from the University of Washington were funded through scholarships. I started my professional opera career in Seattle and found my way to NY in 2007. I sang professionally for ten years and all of the skills I learned in my first businesses supported my entrepreneurship in opera. There was a point where I was traveling ten months out of the year for four years straight and I was exhausted. I was working long hours, missing important family and friend events and was lonely. Through my burnout I realized something needed to shift as I wasn’t going to make it the next twenty years in this career from this view point. I hired a coach and begin to do some very deep work around myself and learned quickly I had built an entire career from proving my worth to the world. I decided to take a coach training program for more healing and transformation and quickly fell in love with coaching. I loved supporting people and found I was good at the business side of coaching as well, as this was the third business I had started. That was ten years ago and I have loved every minute since. In 2021 I launched The C-Suite Collective®, which is a group of exceptional coaches and trainers that support organizations and clients in transformation, diversity of thought and shifting cultures.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

Not at all. The struggles along the way have included limiting beliefs about myself, questioning if I was making a “right” or “wrong” move and having many people tell me along the way that it wasn’t going to work. As a real estate appraiser I was too young, shouldn’t be involved in “grown up” conversations about homes and should have not gotten a license. As an opera singer I was out of line when I had an original thought or pushed back on systems that felt unfair or restricted artistry. I was told by many people that it was a pipe dream and I should give up as I would never make a living in the arts. As a coach I was told that this industry is fake, people will never pay for it and that the industry is full of fraudsters. As the Founder of The C-Suite Collective® I was told it wouldn’t work, that coaches could never own their own company and that clients wouldn’t be interested in shifting culture. People have never been shy with their opinions and one of the things I have learned is to listen and evaluate opinions for what resonates with me and allows me to learn, while staying steadfast in my vision and goals.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?

I am an Executive and Leadership Coach that loves supporting high performers that are up to big things in the world. I have worked with top leaders in research and economics, founders and entrepreneurs of startups, celebrities and politicians. All of them know me to be the kind of coach that is bold while bringing a lot of love. I specialize in possibility. Clients come to me to remember that they can achieve their wild, crazy dreams and having a partner along the journey to stand for them when it gets rough is imperative. I am proud that my clients refer me out to others. My entire business for ten years has been built on referrals and that, to me, is the highest compliment. To have people trust and value the work, say it has changed their lives and to speak freely with others about it is an honor. Organic growth has always been the way I choose to grow my business and when people come to me we have a conversation to see if we are a good match. If I am not the one, I know hundreds of other coaches that I refer to as well. What I want readers to know is I am the coach to come to when you are ready to dig deep and have transformation in your life. I am not the coach who is going to convince you to do anything – instead I work with people who are ready.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?

I love the space, sunshine and access to nature. It is a beautiful place to ground in nature when you need it and has access to all sorts of places on the coast. I love the beach and ability to change scenery within an hour! I dislike how guarded people appear to be in Los Angeles. My experience is people in LA are nice but not always kind. I imagine this is because the city has so much space and allows people to stay in their own worlds instead of forming deep community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ElenaArmijo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elena.armijo/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachingwithelena
• Other: https://www.thec-suitecollective.com/

Image Credits

Sean Flint Blair