Lesli Pennock, HCI Heart-Centered Life Coach • June 24, 2022 • 3 Minute Read
Coaching Success Stories: Lesli
“I LOVE COACHING!” says me every time I finish a session. Now that I have had many opportunities to
be both coach and client, I am so grateful for the format, philosophy, and skills of coaching. It is always an uplifting, encouraging and empowering experience.
My introduction to coaching came as a result of the opportunity I had to be with my daughter and her
husband as she gave birth to her son. Those tender moments should have flooded me with sweet
emotions; instead, I felt nothing. I left the hospital baffled that I could be so completely heartless and unfeeling. I did not want to continue living my life that way—going through the motions without feeling anything–but I had no idea how to change it.
I met with a certified therapist for a few sessions, but talking with her and doing the assignments she gave me didn’t seem to make any difference at all. Several months later, I happened to read an article that discussed the heart and how having a hard heart or a soft heart affected people. This idea intrigued me, so I checked to see who the author was. It was a woman named Robin Johnson, and thankfully there was a link to her website. When I went there, I clicked the box that offered a free consultation and a few days later found myself on the phone talking with the Heart Whisperer.
Each session I had with Robin left me feeling understood, respected and hopeful. I was often very
emotional in our sessions (which was unusual for me) and felt so grateful for the kindness and safety I felt in her presence. It wasn’t until I attended her Brave Hearts healing retreat that I even knew that what she was doing with me was called coaching. I just knew I loved my time with her and the changes I was experiencing in my heart and life.
When Robin announced she was creating The Heart Coach Institute, I immediately wanted to be a part of it. I had no idea whether or not I would actually create a business and have clients of my own, I just knew I wanted to learn from her. I wanted to be able to help people feel safe, heard and loved as she had helped me. I wanted to know how to help people get unstuck so they could move forward in the ways they wanted to. And I wanted to develop coaching skills in a supportive environment. My whole experience throughout my training turned out to be all of those things.
What I love most about coaching is the belief that every person has the answers they are looking for
within their own heart. Coaches never put words into a client’s mouth; they never tell the client what
they should do. Coaches are simply there to ask the questions that we all know we should ask ourselves but rarely do, and then they hold the space for clients to find the answers they need within their own hearts. It is a beautiful, gentle, respectful place to be.
One of the sweetest moments I have had as a coach happened a week ago, a few days after a session in which my client’s heart had asked her to do some specific things each morning to start her day. I
received this message from her, “It was interesting that the thought that popped into my head was that this morning I hadn’t ‘abandoned myself.’” That is a perfect description of coaching: it helps us not abandon ourselves! Coaching connects us with our hearts and helps us move forward, acting on what our hearts have to teach us, so we can become our richest, fullest and happiest selves.
Lesli Pennock, HCI Certified Life Coach
LesliPennock@gmail.com
