Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ilana Labourene. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ilana , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s talk about innovation. What’s the most innovative thing you’ve done in your career?

I’ve had many careers over my young life, and no matter what I have been working on I have always gone back to performing. It is my heart and soul, the thing that motivates me each day! Despite being plagued with performance anxiety, I became a full-time performer, but I knew I wanted to make a real impact on people’s lives. I became a certified health coach and fell IN LOVE with coaching. Health coaching was interesting, but what I really connected with in coaching were my client’s pain points, their negative thought patterns, their lack of self esteem and lack of motivation.

I decided to move away from Health Coaching and more towards this idea of “performance coaching”. It doesn’t always mean literal performance, but more of performing in one’s daily life. I started to create this niche for my clients’ needs to be a better, stronger, more powerful presence in their own lives and work, and I am able to get them there using my unique performance background. As someone who has suffered from poor self esteem and performance anxiety, I understand my clients’ pain, and I have applicable tools that WORK to get them through their feeling of “stuckness” and fear.

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

I grew up in the world of music and stage performance thanks to my parents. But as much as I LOVED performing, I struggled with performance anxiety and poor self esteem. I was afraid of speaking my opinion, fearing I would upset the status quo or sound stupid. While I went to college in NYC for an unrelated field, I knew performing was the love and passion that needed to be pursued, but learning how to cope with my anxiety was a challenge I had not expected to be so difficult! Through years of therapy, acting, improvisational, and coaching training, I was able to develop tools that worked to help me conquer my fears and become the outspoken and courageous person I knew I could be–not only on stage, but in LIFE.

I now coach those who struggle with poor self confidence and self image, executive presence, and performance anxiety–people who desire to command a room, to embody the best versions of themselves, and shine in their life and work.
Do you find yourself anxious when you need to speak up at work or stand in front of a room of people? Do you feel at a loss for words or hold back what you want to say? Do you feel like you have so much more to offer, but you dont know how to express it?
You have a light inside that is waiting to shine through, an authentic voice ready to be heard! You have everything you need and want inside, but you need the right tools to break through and access your inner magic. Past failures, traumas, and lack of practice are all factors that could be holding you back from reaching your greatest potential.

This is where my coaching comes in. “Sparklight Coaching” is all about lighting the spark within: rediscovering and honoring your authentic self, developing a performance skillset, and sparking inspiration, motivation, and inner strength. We start by creating self awareness and learn to be comfortable with expressing your truth. We take that truth and put it into action! . Together we’ll tackle the things that have you doubting yourself. My clients always leave their sessions feeling excited, motivated, and confident!

I spent much of my life suffering from poor self confidence and performance anxiety, but I turned it all around using tangible tools. Not only am I a certified Executive Coach, I am also a Wellness Coach certified in Motivational Interviewing, and a lifelong performer of stage, screen and improvisation, providing me with a unique skillset to offer my coaching clients.
I aim to light the fire within others, to ignite creativity and inspire action. I am passionate about helping individuals rediscover their inner strength and find success in life, business, relationships, and beyond.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I have loved following the practice of Nikki Rausch: Sales Maven. She has a podcast that is amazing, and a website platform with courses you can take that really helps to define what sales really is and how to do it in a way that is simple and authentic. When I started in business, anytime someone mentioned “sales” I would cringe and shut down. Nikki explains sales in a way that I didn’t know existed, and has helped me shift the way I understand sales and business.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I feel like I am constantly reinventing myself. I am a creative risk taker that doesn’t always look before she leaps! I have elaborate ideas and then execute them without really thinking about how it would work in a business space or how potential clients would responds or interact. My experience has been 1. taking the leap 2. seeing the outcome 3. learning what I should have done differently 4. implement the tools needed to make that a functional or profitable part of the business.

I would not recommend this workflow haha! I know I have wasted a lot of time, energy, and money on campaigns etc. that weren’t planned well, I have learned from my mistakes, and now I am much more thoughtful before I make big moves!

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilana-labourene-982890180/
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/C4X175VSDKk
• Other: https://www.noomii.com/users/ilana-labourene https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn5Qw7QxvQbEZf-4aRz7yyQ