We were lucky to catch up with Daniela Dohnert recently and have shared our conversation below.

Daniela, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory of how you established your own practice.

When I decided to create my own practice I just took a leap, I was very idealistic as to what I could achieve on my own; registered my company and expected clients to start falling from the sky, I had no experience owning or running a business and believed the just wanting things to flow would allow them to do so. I have discovered that it takes a lot more and that having some training in running a business per se plus a support group of like minded people is essential. My business is still growing but I can see more clearly how it will evolve and what not to invest my time or money on. In hindsight I would have researched more and reached out to the organizations tat help small businesses earlier.

Daniela, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a visual artist and worked teaching arts and selling my artwork in my home country, once I moved to the USA I found that the art market in my area was looking for works in a different medium than what I was practicing, after reaching out to different galleries and shops I got frustrated and started feeling very isolated mostly due to the fact that my artwork is created by me alone in my studio. I am a person that needs human contact and conversation often and felt that speaking mostly to my children was not enough. During the pandemic I decided to train myself in something that would require me to have more meaningful contact with people and that is when I decided to train as a life coach. I get satisfaction form helping teenagers build their self confidence and helping parents of teenagers improve their family relationships. I often use art in my sessions as a way of getting people to access certain thoughts and emotions that are hidden from plain sight. What I am most proud of is the expression on my client’s faces when they view their inner critic drawing for the first time.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

What I think is most helpful to succeed in my field is the willingness to put yourself out there and be rejected.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been networking in many different environments

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.daniealdcoaching.com
• Instagram: @life_coach_ddm
• Facebook: @Daniela Dohnert Coaching
• Linkedin: Daniela D Coaching
• Youtube: Creating Communication with Teens
• Other: substack
  @danieladohnert