We were lucky to catch up with Chenda Lor recently and have shared our conversation below.
Chenda, appreciate you joining us today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?
I believe it is good for productivity and innovation to take a vacation in addition to being good for your personal well-being. As a business owner, solo practitioner, I need to step away from the day-to-day work responsibilities occasionally to clear my mind and look at the direction the business is going from a distance to make the best decisions as to how to move forward. Taking the time to self-access, revisit goals, and to prioritize next actions is so important for corporate and personal growth. I highly recommend taking a weekend retreat, staycation, or a vacation at least every 6-12 months or more frequently in addition to the daily self-care routine of exercising, meditation, and journaling to sustain and grow your business. Especially in my area of work, I try to set a good example of healthy living and working for my life coaching clients.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The Coaching Studio Approach
Life is a creative process. Creating the life you want requires the imagination to envision something new, the playfulness to explore, and a commitment to practicing change daily. That’s why Lor Coaching Studio integrates art and life coaching to help people, organizations, and communities grow with intention.
I believe each client walks in with the means to achieve their goals.
Bringing a vision into reality from the raw materials of our lives takes time, space, and tools. With trusted techniques, strategies, and supportive space, I help you cultivate awareness, structure, and confidence. We identify roadblocks – internal or external – and work through them until your path is clear both inside and out. Sometimes making our most empowered choices takes a shift in perspective and someone in our corner. Together, let’s explore your field of possibilities and work with what we have to achieve the success you want.
In my coaching practice I combine proven coaching methods and industry knowledge with the wisdom of lived experience. I draw on decades of success navigating the joys and challenges of life and leadership. I am a single mother of four thriving young adults, a surfer, an artist, a Rotarian, a builder, an entrepreneur, and the former Executive Director of the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden.
I come from a family of refugees of the Cambodian Genocide, and as an adult I survived domestic abuse. I have survived a lot, but I am not just a survivor. I have dealt with difficult relationships, sexism, and racism with grace and persistence both at work and in my personal life. Having traveled extensively and lived in many places throughout the world and the United States, I know how to adapt to change and create stability for myself and others in the midst of uncertainty. From early academic success at Bates College in Maine, to establishing a family and thriving construction business as a newcomer to San Luis Obispo, to re-building my life and career after abuse and divorce, I have repeatedly found ways to create abundance with limited resources in challenging circumstances.
I am mostly proud of the calculated risks I have taken to grow my investment portfolio enough to feel comfortable to invest more into my passions as an artist, educator, and nonprofit volunteer. Through Lor Coaching Studio, I offer art and life coaching classes, seminars, and workshops to at risk communities at affordable prices. I gave myself time to figure out what niches the community needs in terms of what I can offer in the coaching and art spaces. I’ve narrowed my scope and messaging to focus on helping people build their art skills with classes like drawing, watercolor, and art history. And we are building community also, especially in my art life coaching sessions where we make art and process life transitions and emotions as a group. I also offer personal life coaching sessions on topics like divorce and career transitions and also specific art lessons depending on what the clients need. With more narrowed messaging, I’m able to attract and serve more clientele of all ages.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
So, how did a crier – my Cambodian name – A Gna- means literally – “the crier” get here today?
I was born in Cambodia. The Khmer rouge marched into Phnom Pehn on my first birthday and my family and I left our nice home in the city and forced into concentration camps. My dad worked for the government leading crews around the countryside digging community wells. My mother took care of the house and children with help, until that day. They erased their identities to stay alive. I am fortunate to be spared those memories.
I immigrated to the Chicago area with my mom, four older sisters, one older brother, and one baby sister 45 years ago. My brother-in-law and cousin made the journey with us. My dad died one month before we were due to leave at the age of 40 years old of an injury induced stroke. His is an amazing story of perseverance and determination to get his family safely to a refugee camp. His death is why I’m here today and not in France where his family settled. After his passing, my mom rerouted us to Chicago, where her family waited.
The rest of his legacy landed on January 10th, 1980 in the middle of winter with tire sandals, shorts, t-shirts, and not much else. 3 families sponsored us. They brought us warm clothes, set us up with a place to live, got us started in our new lives. They became our teachers, friends, and family. They are also responsible for me being here.
I lived a sheltered childhood. I grew up in a small suburb of Chicago – Mundelein, Illinois. We visited the Chicago Botanical Garden often. I attended Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, Carl Sandburg Junior High, and Mundelein High School. All were within blocks of my home on Hammond Street. I use to walk uphill one block to school and down hill across the street to a park with a playground, ball fields, and basketball and tennis courts. I loved sports, my friends, and my family. It was also where I found Rotary in high school as an Interact officer It was the perfect place to grow up. I was surrounded by a white community that I thrived in despite the prejudices and resistance we sometimes got from our neighbors, classmates and teachers, I was a good student and excelled in most things. I assimilated well.
I learned to pivot my life when I blew my ACL playing soccer my sophomore year in high school. I kept playing basketball and volleyball for another season. After ACL reconstruction my junior year, I joined the water polo team to save my knees. It was my senior year and I fell in love with the water. After the polo team took 2nd in State, I had earned my 3rd varsity letter and became a pretty good swimmer.
I was confident and independent. My best friend and I explored colleges out east. Drove about 3000 miles to visit colleges in my mom’s old Chevy Cavalier. We were 17 year old high school seniors adventuring to New York, Vermont, Maine, and Montreal by ourselves for 7 days. I left the Midwest to attend Bates College in Lewiston, Maine in the fall and Kristin ended up at Hamilton. I graduated with a BA in Biology, Honors in Geology, minor in Studio Art and a husband. We met on the first day of senior year and had eloped during spring break.
We settled on Bainbridge Island, Washington for 4.5 years before moving to San Luis Obispo, CA on New Year’s Day 2002. We’ve made four beautiful kiddos, My husband ferried across the sound to his actuarial job in Seattle several times a week, while I had babies and worked on the house. We bought and sold, design/built/and/or remodeled more properties than I can count; coached many youth sports teams together; and traveled to many countries in our 19 years together. Our rollercoaster, intense and abusive marriage had to end to save my life. In retrospect, my children and I are resilient because of him, and I am grateful for the lessons of divorce and having to rebuild my life and identity in all the ways. We all know now what healthy relationships look like and have learned to thrive on our separate journeys.
Have you ever had to pivot?
My most recent pivot in my career happened after the atmospheric storms in California. I left my position as executive director at the local public garden to reduce their overhead costs and to pursue a career as a life coach, the career I put on hold to take the ED position 4.5 years earlier. There were other factors that lead to my departure, but mostly, I needed to remove myself from the toxic work environment and continue my growth as a life coach and return to designing and building houses. I missed working in my art studio and traveling to visit friends and family. So, I’m doing all that now and have expanded my building portfolio to doing remodels, color consultations, and got my divorce and art life coach certifications to be able to help more people. I also have increased my volunteerism with the local chambers of commerce and other nonprofits all of which I was not able to fit in at the garden. Last year, I opened Lor Coaching Studio & Gallery to practice my art and art coaching out of while also giving retail space for local art sales. It’s turned into a wonderful space to share with the community to create and educate about life and art. I feel truly blessed to have this life I’ve created when I decided to leave a job that wasn’t serving me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lorcoachingservices.com/about
- Instagram: @chendalor
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/login/identify/?ctx=recover&from_login_screen=0
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chendalorrolph/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lor-coaching-studio-morro-bay
