Today we’d like to introduce you to Craig Tennant.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I founded Engaging Breakthroughs to train and support corporate professionals to flourish and get paid. I help them create new, more fulfilling work lives. It’s a privilege to combine my consulting and coaching experiences to make a difference for others, and I’m proud to say I’m doing what I really love. However, it wasn’t always this way.
For over three decades in the corporate world, I consulted with finance and technology executives in software services. I climbed the ladder while showing up powerfully as a consultant, leading both our internal teams and our clients toward valuable solutions. I was successful, and our projects went very well. Clients were happy!
One strength that enabled me to thrive in the consulting world was my persistence in developing my ability to connect with people. In fact, I actively worked on this skill all the time. While managing the hustle and bustle of my demanding consulting career, I also spent the past seventeen years facilitating workshops to further my interpersonal skills and help others connect to their deeper purpose.
I facilitated individual and group sessions where attendees learned to embrace deeper truth. I experienced joy in helping others break through barriers that prevented them from having the experiences they really wanted from life. While I relished my fulfilling part-time work, I started to see that I wasn’t really enjoying software services consulting.
I felt a knot in my stomach on Sunday afternoons as I contemplated the work week ahead. Monday morning came, the alarm clock sounded at four o’clock, and I boarded my usual six o’clock flight. After working four days in any number of cities with my clients, the knot stayed put. I’d come home on Thursdays and spend my weekends supporting personal development trainings.
The knot unraveled effortlessly during these events. I was discovering what I really loved to do! Over time, the gap between the work that I was doing and the work that I loved to do began to widen. I knew something bigger was calling me, but I just couldn’t figure out how I was going to leave the software services job. Corporate consulting was paying my bills.
Then one day, my phone rang. It was a Wednesday night at seven o’clock, and it was my brother Billy calling me. I loved Billy. The problem was that Billy wasn’t reaching out to me very much. Usually, I would initiate communication. He hadn’t called me in nearly a year. I answered the phone with concern. On the other line was Billy’s partner. He told me that Billy had died a couple of hours earlier.
I was devastated. The first thing I had to do after hearing the news was to call our sister and let her know that Billy had passed away. I was scheduled to attend an eight-day workshop to learn how to facilitate breakthrough coaching in a different style. It was important to me, so with Billy’s death still heavy on my heart, I went.
In that workshop, a couple of things became clear to me. First was my mortality. I was fifty-one, and Billy was only one year older than me. I was reminded that none of us know when our time runs out on earth. The other takeaway was discovering the underlying risks that kept me from taking steps to do what I really loved.
I learned strategies to lessen the risks and lessen the fear, and that was the moment I made the decision: I was going to leave my corporate job and do the work that called me. I didn’t know how long it would take, but I stuck a stake in the ground. I came back from that training, met with the CEO of our company, and told him about my plan.
Four years later, free of the corporate machine, I now get to spend every day doing the work that I truly love. I’m training and supporting successful corporate professionals to get out of the rat race and make more than enough money doing what they really love.
This is my story, and it’s possible for anyone, especially if they’re getting that nudge right now — something bigger awaits. I help my clients listen to the call to their hero’s journeys.
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?
First, I found it to be very challenging to leap from a situation where I knew my role, and everything was prescribed for me, to a new role where I had to start everything from scratch. I’d been a Solution Architect for so long that I could almost do it in my sleep.
The biggest questions I asked myself when I started were, “How am I doing to do this?” and, “What does this look like on a daily basis?”
Another obstacle was that I bumped into my own personal dragons that were telling me I couldn’t do it. Thankfully, I had high quality support along the way, and those individuals helped me through the battles. These mentors and coaches who had been through it offered to support that was critical on my journey.
Ultimately, overcoming this obstacle resulted in huge advancements in healing and growth both in my personal life and in my business.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
At Engaging Breakthroughs, I train and support corporate professionals to get out of the rat race and to make more than enough money doing what they REALLY love. I work with people who believe that there’s something bigger for their careers and want to do what they REALLY love instead of suffering the typical 9 to 5. I’ve put my skills as a Solution Architect to work in a different way to help these people transform their careers and their lives. Thus, I refer to myself as a Transformation Architect and Breakthrough Coach.
When I say the term “breakthrough coach,” I often get the reaction, “That sounds really interesting! But what does it mean?” Typically people try to relate it to something more familiar, such as therapy or career mentoring. These types of guidance are closely related to what I do. However, my approach has a unique element when it comes to achieving “breakthroughs.”
In my in-person and online breakthrough coaching, I facilitate the “breaking through” of internal barriers that prevent my clients from taking the necessary steps to flourish and make more than enough money doing what they really love. It’s a challenging and rewarding journey. Our flagship program, “Flourish and Get Paid,” combines online private coaching with online group sessions, plus a face-to-face Engaging Breakthrough weekend in Dallas. By leveraging video technology, we’re able to serve people all over the world…
In working with my clients, I observe subtle shifts in their perspectives that are opening up new possibilities in their careers and their personal lives. These small changes build upon each other, resulting in transformative experiences. There’s something about the look in their eyes, the jump in their steps, and the excitement in their voices that resonates deeply for me. That’s what Engaging Breakthroughs is all about.
What were you like growing up?
I was an introverted, quiet kid growing up in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts in the ’60s and ’70s. I grew up the youngest of five children. My dad died a week shy of my 4th birthday. I enjoyed music and played the clarinet starting in the 4th grade. I was involved in bands and orchestras through high school and excelled in academics. I also enjoyed recreational street hockey, ice hockey, baseball, basketball, and tennis. I was never the best athlete, but I was a really good athlete. I still fill in for teams as an ice hockey goalie at age 56!
In my early teen years, I developed an interest in herpetology, specifically snakes. At one point, my older brother and I had a 10-foot python, an 8-foot boa constrictor, and a 3-foot boa constrictor. In my early adulthood, I had a career in fine dining until I realized it was a dead end for me. At that point, I transitioned into software services. I’m on my third big career transition!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.engagingbreakthroughs.com
- Phone: 469-831-3571
- Email: craig@engagingbreakthroughs.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EngagingBreakthroughs
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