Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in coaching but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Abe Brown, founder of Flourishing Coaching Program, located in Calgary, AB, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
As Coaching has evolved, clients are looking for an approach that is evidence-based and professionalized. The Certified Flourishing Coaching Model™ takes the best available current research around people, change, and specifically how people flourish and practically applies it with a coaching lens. Specifically, the Certified Flourishing Coaching Model™ draws on the psychology of human flourishing, which has a well-established theoretical framework and decades of coaching best practices and techniques.
Tell us about yourself
I once went to a funeral that I will never forget. Even though it happened over a decade ago, I remember it like it was yesterday. I was a 23-year-old ordained minister. Before getting into my current career as a leadership and executive coach, I spent 12 years as a full-time pastor. I was used to conducting funeral services packed full, often with hundreds in attendance. These funerals became celebrations of the life and contributions of the one who had passed. Though there was sadness, there was also gratitude for the life lived and its contributions.
I will never forget one of them. I was called by one of our local funeral homes to conduct a service for an older gentleman who had passed away. Because I did not know him, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when I arrived, I was shocked to see an open casket with just one mourner in attendance. I checked my watch and made sure I wasn’t early. Actually, I was five minutes late. I waited 10 minutes to see if anyone else would arrive. At 11:15 am, fully 15 minutes after the funeral was supposed to begin, there was one mourner, an open casket, and myself present to celebrate and remember a life of more than 70 years.
I went through the motions of the funeral service, but I was forever shaken. I couldn’t imagine living 70 years and connecting with so few people that there would be only one attendee at my funeral. That event shook me to my core, and I resolved that I wanted to build a life that was full of life, full of love, and making a difference. Since that moment, over a decade ago, I have not lived a perfect life, far from it. But for me, it’s been pretty simple. Live fully. Love authentically. Serve gratefully. Lead effectively, with or without a title. And make a difference. I coach my clients to do the same.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Starting a coaching company that has impacted tens of thousands of people in over 20 countries around the world.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Loneliness. I hear from leaders all the time how isolated they feel, and COVID made it worse.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Believe in yourself.
- Never say never.
- Work harder than you ever have before.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Literally, everyone can benefit from this training and coaching.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://certifiedflourishingcoach.com/flourishing-framework/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AbeBrownCoach
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachabe/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/coach_abe
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abe-brown-mba-569a9015/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.
