We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Schutz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.

Lauren, appreciate you joining us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

A year and a half ago, I was feeling stuck, unfulfilled, and knew in my bones that I was not living the life I was meant to be living. I was overworked, underpaid, and had spent so long ignoring my needs that I finally looked around and didn’t even know what I wanted anymore or recognize the life I had built for myself! I knew something had to give, so to challenge myself, I flew cross-country to California for a 7 day solo-trip in order to remove the outside distractions and reconnect with who I was at my core.

After a few days, all of that alone time made me realize that I had been unconsciously (yet purposely) avoiding this downtime and time alone for years in order to avoid vulnerability; and by avoiding vulnerability, I was also avoiding authenticity in my life. I realized, “It’s no wonder I hate my life: it’s completely devoid of authenticity and (therefore) passion!” It hit me like a ton of bricks that at 27 years old I had been a passenger in the plans for my life rather than an active participant, and that if I was going to turn things around, I’d have to do some serious soul-searching and be vulnerable and honest enough with myself to learn what I truly did and did not want out of my life.

That experience led to a chaotic year of therapy, ego-death, and more self-help books than I can name, all to come out on the other side of it by consciously prioritizing passion and fulfillment in my life. I quit my stressful job and got a new one that I love, and I enrolled in a Life Coaching program in the hopes of helping other young adults figure out what’s truly important to them in their life and actively choose that joy and fulfillment every day.

Life is short and there’s no instruction manual for living a fulfilling life that aligns with what YOU want rather than the expectations of others, but I hope to become something even a little close to that as time goes on.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi everyone! My name is Lauren and I’m 28 year old software engineer, “therapist-friend”, and Certified Life Coach who focuses on building authenticity and fulfillment in your relationships, career, and life. After a life-changing quarter-life crisis and pursuing (and receiving) an ICF-accredited certification from the Coach Training Alliance, I began my own coaching practice to help other young adults become an active participant in their life and answer questions like “What do I want out of life?” or even “How can I feasibly start monetizing my passion project(s)?”

It’s my personal belief that our society was not built to encourage passion, authenticity, or independent creativity, and it’s no surprise that after 18+ years of schooling, choosing your career as a teenager, and getting a couple years of experience in the real world, many people in their mid-20’s and onward often look up and realize that the life that was endorsed to them isn’t actually the life they want for themselves. It’s a beautiful and life-changing realization, but it’s also a daunting one that brings everything you thought you wanted into question — and that’s where I aim to help.

Life is too short to waste time living the wrong life, and I want to help others assess what they truly want out of life and prioritize how to make that happen. Through my remote coaching sessions, my hope is that my clients gain the confidence and insight to discover what they want, the self-awareness and bravery to step out of their own way, and the resilience and authenticity to start living THEIR life ON purpose and WITH intention. Because we owe it to ourselves to see what’s possible for our life and to enjoy the life that we know (deep down) we truly want; sometimes all we need is a helping hand, a different perspective, and an encouraging listener.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

In order to be a great life coach, I think you have to be well-balanced in a lot of ways. You have to be empathetic yet impartial, optimistic yet realistic, and supportive yet challenging. We’re all human and nobody is perfect, but in a life-coaching session it’s so important as a coach to put your day aside, strive to be your best, and above all, support the growth of your client; not to mention investing in your own personal (and continued) growth outside of your sessions. In the end, connecting with your client and becoming a trusted source of input is the ultimate goal, because after all, a great coach is merely a mirror for their client — we simply reflect back and encourage the potential we see that they may not see in themselves (yet).

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Referrals have been a game-changer for me personally when it comes to gaining life-coaching clients, and it makes sense: think about the trust you have to give to a stranger to not only give them your money and business, but to also be fully vulnerable and transparent with them, as life-coaching sessions require. It’s a lot like shopping around for any other personal service, whether it’s a hair colorist or a medical specialist, in that the referral of a trusted friend feels like a referral that can be trusted. It’s important to build that connection with your clients but also within your community in general, so that your character and your business’s results can lead to a trusted referral and (hopefully) a trusting new client. So whether you’re making connections in real life, on Instagram, or on a networking site like LinkedIn, advocate for your services and your values, and hopefully your community will too. Going that next step of thanking and rewarding your community or clients for referrals will also leave a lasting impression.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ctacoaches.com/lifewithcoachlauren
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifewithcoachlauren
• Other: [email protected]