Welcome back to How I Made It, Metro.co.uk’s weekly career journey series.

This week we’re chatting to Genna Clark, founder and career development coach at Create Results Coaching.

The 49-year-old was made redundant a few years ago, and while it was an awful thing to experience, it forced her to chase the job she’d always wanted – but hadn’t been quite ready to take the leap for.

Left with a sense that she had nothing to lose, Genna decided to finally work full-time as a career development coach.

Now she works with businesses leaders, helping them grow into the next phase of their career.

Things often fall into place at the right time, as Genna herself found.

Here’s how she made it happen.

Hey Genna. What made you want to get into career development coaching?

We spend so much of our time at work, I believe everyone deserves to enjoy what they are doing and thrive.

When we’re stressed or unhappy in our careers, it can impact our self-confidence, relationships, health, mental wellbeing and performance – that was certainly my experience, anyway!

Now, I want to help people to create successful careers where they can show up with self-awareness, courage, kindness, optimism and generosity.

And because my clients often manage people, the way they lead their teams can have a direct impact on others, too. It’s so rewarding to be a part of that.

It’s something you’ve got into in more recent years – what brought you to that?

I’ve always been interested in personal development, but my interest increased when I was in my first people management role and struggling with overwhelm, stress and imposter syndrome.

I needed help to get back into balance and rediscover what was really important to me.

In 2005, I trained as a life and leadership coach and I absolutely loved it. At that time, coaching was a very new industry in the UK that most people hadn’t even heard of, so taking the leap to become a full-time, self-employed coach felt huge.

Is this why you didn’t career switch immediately?

I stayed in my marketing career because I wanted the financial safety net to get a mortgage and pay my bills while my kids were young.

But it was always in the back of my mind to come back to it – I just didn’t know when.

In 2019, I was made redundant. It felt painful and personal. I was struggling with stress and something that felt like grief, and I lost sight of myself.

Then, I had a lightbulb moment that there was a gift in this – it was the push that I needed to get back to my dream job: coaching.

I’m a prime example of everything happening in good time.

How did you make the switch from your former career to now?

My coach training from 2005 was still valid because I’d kept it topped up, but it was important to me to renew my accreditation from the leading professional body, the International Coach Federation (ICF).

I did that in 2020 at the same time as becoming a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC).

In terms of creating new contacts, I spend quite a lot of time on LinkedIn, because that’s where my ideal clients are looking for support, and I meet prospective clients through my existing network.

The people in my CPCC learning pod have also been an invaluable part of expanding my network and business opportunities – in the last couple of years, they have referred work to me from the UK, Europe, the USA and even Australia.

What was the hardest part about establishing your own business and going freelance?

It can be hard to build a full practice and earn a decent living, especially if you lack a professional network and are reluctant to be visible or self-market.

For every client-facing hour, there are probably two to four hours to invest behind the scenes (even more, when you are starting out).

An average day in the working life of Genna Clark

8am-9am: Genna starts the day with dog walking and self-care, otherwise she won’t make time for it elsewhere.

9am-9.15am: Journalling to get intentional about what to prioritise for the day ahead.

9.15am-10am: Coffee and catching up on emails, admin, and replying to enquiries.

10am-1pm: Genna will be on coaching calls or running a workshop.

1pm-1.30pm: Time for a lunchbreak.

1.30pm-3.30pm: Working on social media, marketing, networking, new offerings, and meetings.

3.30pm-4pm: Genna takes a break to chat to her kids when they come home from school.

4pm-5.50pm: Either another coaching call, marketing or CPD.

5.50pm-6pm: Genna takes a moment to reflect on the day – learnings, celebrations and what to take forward into the next day.

I’m sure I know your answer to this, but is it ever too late to reinvent your career?

Never! People change careers at various points in their life all the time.

Those who succeed also have doubts and limiting beliefs: they just push past them and do it anyway, because they make their ambitions and desires more important than their fears.

It might be that redundancy is forcing your hand, as it did mine.

What’s the best career advice you’ve had – and the best you impart on others?

Back when I was working with Microsoft, I met with an exec in Seattle who was about to retire early.

He said: ‘Don’t work harder: work smarter’ and that still resonates with me.

My advice is to always stay curious about yourself, others and circumstances.

When you are curious, you step away from judgment and assumptions that can trip you up and limit you.

Curiosity allows you to build stronger awareness and connections – not just with others, but also with yourself.

What do you love most about your job?

Witnessing clients have ‘a-ha’ moments when they learn something about themselves that is literally going to change their lives, careers and/or leadership.

Also seeing them achieve goals and create results that they have previously felt were out of reach.

It speaks to the power of deep coaching – it’s not just about what people are doing, it’s very much about who they are being and becoming.

My favourite outcome of this work is that as people develop themselves, their self-confidence and self-love blossoms, too.

What do you like the least?

It’s got to be either social media or IT issues that involve sitting on helplines for far too long.

My plan in 2023 is to expand my team to get help with both!

How I Made It

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