We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Camila Coddou. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Camila below.
Alright, Camila thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
Yes, it’s true that I experience anxiety. But what is also true is that I am a high-risk high-reward person, and this is something I am just starting to understand about myself.
Skydiving was actually the thing that brought this high-risk high-reward thing into focus for me. The experience of skydiving contained everything- abject fear, heightened anxiety, and also surrender, indescribable beauty, and a new level of self- trust.
I think in some ways, it was surprising to me and some of my closest people that I was so interested in skydiving. But when I started to reflect on some of the ways I’ve chosen to live life (solo world travel, an affinity for tattoos, non-monogomy) I started to see in those choices one undeniable truth: sometimes to get to the highest reward, you’ve got to incur a little risk.
Of all the risks and high rewards I’ve taken and achieved so far in life, probably the biggest and most withstanding one is starting my own Life Coaching business.
After spending more than a decade working in management in the coffee industry, I decided to change career paths at the start of the Pandemic. I took what I had learned in the service industry, got a coaching certification, and started taking on clients. I had absolutely zero idea what it took to run my own business, I barely had a website, and I was flying by the seat of my pants. But guess what- I have been working as a life coach ever since and have worked with dozens upon dozens of clients, helping them actualize goals and find alignment in their lives.
There are so many lessons that I learn on the daily about running my own business, about working sustainably, about client acquisition- and the truth is, sometimes I feel like it’s so hard that I want to quit. BUT I always come back to realizing this is my path, working with the people I get to coach is an absolute gift, and I love what I do.
Starting my own business on my own, and continuing to run it solo, is definitely risky, but it’s been the most rewarding experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a Healing-Centered Alignment Life Coach, working in support of people who want to live in deep connection with themselves, their inner voice, and their process. I work with clients one on one and I also facilitate several group workshops where participants get to learn from one another’s healing and process as they grow and evolve together.
Most of my work is centered around the practices of slowing down, gentle noticing, using self-care to enact change and reach goals, and shifting and letting go of narratives, perspectives and stories that no longer serve us.
I started coaching because it’s deeply aligned with my innate skillset; I am a deep listener, a compassionate guide, and most of all I believe in reflecting back to people what they already know as their wisest self, deep inside.
My longest running workshop is called The Pause Project Workshop- its about to enter its third year- and I like to joke that it’s a space that no one can really describe but that everyone really needs. It’s a month long group workshop about slowing down, paying attention to your process, and focusing on one thing at a time week by week, every week of the month. I have run this workshop for dozens of people, and my favorite thing about it is the unique magic that is created by each unique cohort during each session. What people are working on, their process, always seems to mirror or reflect or being in deep alignment with the other people in the group, and the magic of this is an honor to witness and facilitate.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
My coaching practice, in large part, is built on and bolstered by my own story and experience learning to understand my process. The lesson, or rather story, that I had to unlearn is the lesson of speed and scarcity, in exchange for a deep respect of my own natural pace and the abundance of slowness.
We all have stories and lessons about ourselves that we pick up along the way to understand ourselves and our world. Some of these stories help us- I think of myself as a creative person- and some of these narratives keep us stuck and unable to connect with our inner voice.
One of my longest standing personal narratives: I am LAZY.
This story of laziness has made me feel bad about myself, has hindered my self trust and was a miserable experience of myself for a long time.
I came of age in a world that was rich with art, culture and the immigrant struggle, and also the urgency and pace needed to survive capitalism. From a young age I was acutely aware that I was getting places later than others- not physically speaking but in terms of self-knowing and determination.
I tried really hard to believe in myself, to push myself, to be taken along in the swell of society and my parent’s hopes and dreams for me. I tried to think my way towards speed by creating deadlines and structure. I tried to bully myself towards making choices by berating and punishing myself. I used jealousy, shame, guilt- I tried to force myself to be different, believing that the problem was with how I am.
The thing that finally shifted everything for me was stopping to consider that there was something for me to learn about myself, something behind the narrative of laziness, that I could explore and give attention to, and it wasn’t that I was bad or wrong or even lazy.
What I learned was that my pace is naturally slow and steady and that I get where I need to be when I am ready to get there.
Finally allowing myself to lean into my natural pace has been a gift. My life and goals have context within my new framework and understanding of myself, and it’s from this space that I run my coaching practice.
Have you ever had to pivot?
My career background is in specialty coffee and the service industry. After more than a decade working in management, behind the bar, and in training, hiring, and leadership, I decided I needed a change. I started working on learning more about my industry by starting a project about uplifting the stories of coffee workers all around the US called Barista Behind the Bar.
I raised funds, bought a camper van, and drove around the country meeting coffee professionals, hearing their stories, making friends, and engaging in coffee community. When that project wrapped up, I started working in consulting in the coffee industry, helping employers learn practices for creating supportive work environments.
I always thought that I would continue working in coffee in some capacity- in management, or in consulting- but after getting a few consulting clients both in and out of the coffee world, I started realizing that what I was actually doing for my clients was coaching them. I was holding space for their emotions, their concerns, the fears, their hopes and dreams- and I was providing guidance and support towards deeper understanding of themselves and how to do their work sustainably.
And so I decided to pivot away from business consulting and towards healing-centered coaching. That was three years ago and it was the most aligned work decision I have ever made.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sistersundown.com
- Instagram: sister_sundown
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camila-coddou-coach/