Today we’d like to introduce you to Asha Phillips.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Asha. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As a little girl, I had my entire life planned out. I took school seriously and laid out very specific steps. Like I would, I graduated high school and immediately go to college. While there, I would meet my future husband. I’d go on to a great medical school and focus in a discipline that allowed me to balance career and family. A family that I would start having exactly two years after being married at 25.
As life comes at us fast, things started deviating during college. I did meet who I thought would be my husband but that medical school never happened. Mainly because I finally accepted the calling I’d been tapering down since grade school: becoming an educator. While studying for the MCAT, I took on a part-time job as a middle and high school tutor. Instead of just being a job that paid the bills it became a sign that I could not ignore. I was getting so much joy from tutoring that I never got while shadowing at hospitals and interning in research labs. It was not so much the tutoring that grabbed my attention as it was the guiding and supporting I got to do. And just like that, I stopped preparing for medical school and started a teacher certification program.
Following my heart and making this abrupt career change was scary. It also put a magnifying glass to other areas like my relationship. I stopped ignoring all the red flags that said we weren’t right for each other and finally ended the relationship. Suddenly, I wasn’t just surviving. I was thriving and it was one of the best times of my life. Until it wasn’t anymore.
I became desperately unhappy as I began to settle into my new circumstances. My life was nowhere near what I thought it would be, at this point. I dreamt of being a personal development coach and yoga teacher but discouraged myself from “dreaming too big.” I spent my days on autopilot and just went through the motions. It felt like time was wasting away fast. I was stuck and felt powerless to do anything about it. I tried to ignore it but the pain became too great to leave things as they were. I said enough was enough. Life is too short not to be in the pursuit of happiness. I made a promise to myself that it was time for another change but only after I discovered exactly what I wanted and what it was going to take to make it happen.
I set my intention on taking the time to really understand who I was. Over the next four years, I made sure to experience as many new experiences as I could. I traveled, awkwardly attended tons of networking events, earned my Masters in Counseling, and rediscovered yoga. Those four years taught me how to honor myself and create a fulfilling life. I stopped finding reasons to say no and instead found reasons to say yes. I said yes to becoming a coach and founding my personal development coaching practice, AK Coaching Collective. I said yes to becoming a registered yoga teacher and will complete training at the end of this year.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’d love to meet the entrepreneur that’s had a smooth road because I can learn a lot from them. My biggest struggle was me standing in my way. I dealt with massive imposter syndrome as I questioned if I was worthy of creating a business. It made me a champion at coming up with all the excuses of why I should not follow my dreams.
Now, my biggest challenge is balancing my full-time job with running and growing a business. Time management is my words of the day, every day. There are nights with little sleep and tons of invitations I decline. I have to work really hard to take time for myself to avoid burnout. Knowing that every minute I spend working on AK Coaching Collective is an investment in my dream keeps me going.
For all the young and young-at-heart women new to their journey: just go for it! There’s never going to be the exact right time, there will be tons of sleepless nights, and you will always have something new to figure out. But you will never feel more alive than when you’re watching your dreams come to fruition. Don’t let anything and/or anyone make you think that you do not deserve everything you want out of your career. As women, we are so quick to decide why we should not go for the promotion, downplay an accomplishment, or apologize when we have not done anything wrong. Push all of that aside and go after your goals. It might be messy and an uphill climb but it is worth it, just like you are.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into AK Coaching Collective story. Tell us more about the business.
I am a personal development coach that specializes in helping young women with their quarter-life crisis. Most do not know it as a quarter life crisis. They usually describe it as feelings of doubt, frustration, confusion, and fear from not maxing out life’s potential in career, relationships, and purpose. I join them in this journey and help them work past the growing pains of adulthood. It’s a journey of figuring out who you are, identifying what you truly want, and redesigning your life around those goals.
I am excited to announce that I will be adding yoga services, starting in January 2019, to further support the personal development path.
For good reason, society often focuses more on the problems rather than the opportunities that exist, because the problems need to be solved. However, we’d probably also benefit from looking for and recognizing the opportunities that women are better positioned to capitalize on. Have you discovered such opportunities?
I feel women are well positioned for creating and leading our own businesses. We do not sit around and wait for the opportunity to find us. Our ingenuity is strong. In the face of adversity, we rise above the challenge and create the opportunity. Millions of women are on the same page as we own around 11 million US businesses, in all areas, and show no signs of slowing down.
Contact Info:
- Website: akcoachingcollective.com
- Email: hello@akcoachingcollective.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_akcoachingcollective_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/akcoachingcollective/
Image Credit:
Bennie Phillips Photography
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