“Ebony has an extremely even keel, which is critical for a coach. She doesn’t allow her emotions to pass over her face while she’s coaching, or give anything away about her own personal feelings about the discussion. Ebony was also very consistent about ensuring that we were treating our sessions as coaching vice therapy, and she always pushed me to find the answer for myself vice interjecting her own advice and opinions. While I sometimes would have loved advice, I appreciated that she pushed me to find the answer within myself with her probing questions and insights, and hewed closely to the tenets of coaching.”

“I learned that my values of community, honesty, and justice really show up in how I view the world, and furthermore, seek to orient my current and future work. One realization that has stuck with me is the idea that if something doesn’t exist within a space, sometimes you have to create it or take the lead on making room for it yourself. I seek to actively honor that and not allow fear to hold me back from being a leader in that regard. Finally, I found that I tend to view many things from a creative and artistic perspective, and that is actually helpful in finding my way through to solutions for issues that I may be facing.”

“There was utility in having dedicated time to stop, think, and reflect on the situations that I was in. I appreciated the opportunity to role play and game out how I would conduct myself in difficult and/or uncomfortable situations. I am a verbal processor, and so having the opportunity to talk through how to comport myself and act as a leader was very helpful. Enrolling in leadership training was also a vote of confidence from my supervisor, in that he was interested in my professional development.”

“My buddy noticed changes. Specifically, that I’ve done a lot of introspection – who I am, what I want, what I want to get out of life. Talking with you has strengthened the process. You helped me think about things from a perspective that I hadn’t considered before. I’ve strengthened my sense of identity, values, and direction.”

“I gained insights into some of the drivers affecting my ability to network and generate new opportunities for career and personal growth. I also gained more clarity about values I hold dear and which I would not compromise regardless of where I work. I also better understand which approaches and behaviors I am most likely to exhibit in any work environment and why.”

“I think the counterfactual would not be a trajectory in which my life would have otherwise been the same had I not done coaching. I think this coaching began at a time in which I was aware of some struggles, but continued through a time in which there were many difficulties to navigate. Had I not had the tools developed during coaching, I believe that this difficult period would have been significantly more challenging.”