–by Mary Helen Darah
PUBLICATION DATE: Oct 31, 2018
I recently worked with Liz Thees, co-owner of The Pinnacle in Maumee, for an event. While talking with her, I learned she has discovered a calling to help women as a life coach. Her goal is to assist women through their life transitions, find their purpose and give them the power to take care of themselves. Having been through a few transitions myself, I wanted to learn more. “As women, we are wives, daughters, and sisters and we lose sight of who we are,” stated Thees. “We forget how to take care of ourselves and when we do, we feel guilty about it.” Hmm, this sounded very familiar.
“Their health goes astray as kids, spouses and others come first,” she continued. “You can only do that for so long before it becomes a habit of putting others before self.” Thees believes that we are certainly here to help one another but as the airline saying states, “put your oxygen mask on first before assisting the person in the seat next to you.”
Thees is on a mission to help women build confidence and discover their self-worth. “Women are taken for granted by so many that they start taking themselves for granted as well. I’m here to combat that,” she stated.
Making it happen
Thees is a certified life coach. Certification is not required in the profession but she believes it is important to go through the process. “Most of my training comes from life experience,” she said. “My career at the Pinnacle in banquet sales and catering greatly helped. Working with brides, mothers-of-the-brides, and event planners, often for periods lasting a year, I get to know the story of their lives. It is very stressful to plan a wedding or event. I have been coaching for a long time, I just didn’t realize it. Coaching is not telling people what to do. It’s giving them the power to make those decisions and have the confidence to do so. I also keep them accountable in regard to going forward with those decisions. We can change briefly but we have a tendency to go back to our old ways. Through encouragement and support, I remind them that they can do it!”
Coming up with a plan
The life coach does an initial complimentary consultation to find out what her client’s needs and wants are and develops an individualized schedule. “It could be monthly, bi-weekly, or in my case, hourly. It depends on the individual and where they are in their journey,” she explained. “Every person is different. I ask a lot of questions. Answering those questions helps determine where they want to go and their priorities. What are you saying ‘yes’ to and in what circumstances is it difficult to say ‘no.’ Let’s face it, in many cases guilt plays a huge role. I help people live their truth and help them discover what is important. I have people ask themselves when they are confronted with committing to something, ‘Does this serve me?’ If it doesn’t, why are you agreeing to it? Women are someone for somebody else most of the time and lose sight of themselves. I give clients tools to use daily such as keeping a journal, meditating, and helping them to recognize what they appreciate in life. Also, at the end of every day I have them write down five things that they appreciate and how would they like to wake up tomorrow? What we say to ourselves before we go to sleep helps put us in a better place in the morning. That’s why your grandmother told you to never to go to bed angry!”
Go toward the goals
Thees believes that people relate to goals but tend to focus on their work or family goals instead of personal ones. “One of my goals is to take regular walks and be in the moment,” she stated. “I used to do what I like to call ‘sleepwalking.’ An important part of the process is living in the moment. Often, we are unaware of the beauty of our surroundings. Living in the ‘now’ means not living in the ‘what’s next.’ Everything doesn’t have to be perfectly planned out.”
It is usually at this point in the conversation that I ask people I’m visiting with what they think the future holds, AKA “what’s next?” Speaking with Thees was no exception. Obviously the “living in the now” discussion did not sink in on my end. That being said, I learned that hosting group coaching sessions for women is on her horizon. “I want women to have a sense of community and collaboration,” she said. “The other thing I would like to do is have retreats. My journey in coaching began on a retreat in California. Why do we have to go so far away to get peace and to find our bliss?”
As a woman who is transitioning through having a vacated nest and massive amounts of mid-life “ponderings,” I couldn’t agree more.
Thees is currently taking new clients. You may reach her at 419-290-0720 or email liz@lizthees.com or visit liztheescoaching.com.