Coaching. What is it, and why would you want to consider working with a coach?

Let me ask you this -- do you see a gap between where you are now, in your life, and where you would most like to be? If so, that gap has probably been there for awhile. And why? Most likely because you simply haven't known how to get where you want to be from where you are.

We hire personal trainers for our bodies, because we see a gap between where we are, physically, and where we'd like to be.

It makes sense to us, doesn't it, that if we're to get fit in the most efficient way, we need the help of someone who can support us in taking consistent action on the way to our goals.

But in the other areas of life, we're traditionally not taught to invest in ourselves. And we often don't, unless/until we're facing some sort of crisis. By then, however, we're kicking ourselves for not having done it sooner, and we're weeping and wailing about lost opportunities.

Sound familiar?

But what if you could have a relationship with a person who could support you in living the life you most want now .... without having to go to that place of crisis?

What if you could be more effective at work, live a more balanced life, have more time and energy for the things that are important to you, feel better, and generally be happier?

What would that be worth?

Those are the kinds of things you can accomplish by working with a coach, if you're willing to invest in yourself, take consistent action, and really go for it.

Who I Am

I'm Stacy Brice, President of AssistU. Additionally, I'm a professional business and personal coach, an internationally known expert in the field of Virtual Assistance, and am widely recognized as an expert on the issues that face Administrative Support Staff.

Mostly, I am simply a woman who is passionate about supporting Virtual Assistants and Office/Administrative Professionals in creating lives they love. I'd love to explore with you where you want to take your life.

I've been coaching professionally since 1996, and received my training from Coach University.

Please note: Coaching is a fairly new profession. Because the industry isn't regulated, anyone can hang out a shingle and call him/herself a coach. To get the benefits of working with a professional coach, be sure you're working with someone who has been professionally trained, is adept at the core competencies of coaching, and has years of experience providing coaching services.

A friend, Jack, who owns a successful deli down the street and agrees to "coach," is not going to help the new business owner get the same sort of results a professional coach would, nor would being "coached" by another VA. Peer mentoring is terrific and you might want to find a peer mentor as well. Just know that it's not the same as professional coaching, and your results aren't likely to be the same as they would be if you work with a professionally trained coach.

Who I Coach

I work with only two groups of people.

The first is Virtual Assistants and Office/Administrative Professionals. My clients work with me because of who I am, and because, as coach, I support them in creating professional and personal lives they love. I'm passionate about coaching, and holding a safe space for the things my clients say they most want, while they take consistant action steps we design together, to get them to their goals.

Many of my clients work with me for a year or more, although it's possible to work with me for as little as three months. We enjoy our time together, and we get a lot done.

The second group are those people who have reached a level of success, are tired of playing by all the rules, and want to work with someone who can help them move out of the rut they seem to find themselves in. I'm known as the Moxie Coach, because I am able to help clients reconstruct their lives, jobs, and businesses to bring more moxie into them. For more information about my moxie coaching, or moxie in general, visit my site dedicated to that: www.moxiecoach.com

Many of my clients work with me for a year or more, although it's possible to work with me for as little as three months. We enjoy our time together, and we get a lot done.

Types Of Things Clients Work On

• Virtual Assistants
  • Getting a strong start in building a practice
  • Work/life balance
  • Extreme self-care
  • Creation of collateral materials
  • How to market specifically to a niche market
  • Strengthening skills
  • Transitioning out of a job
  • Defining personal work style
  • Climbing out of the corporate box
• Office Professionals
  • Work/live balance
  • Extreme self-care
  • Working better as part of a team
  • Going for a promotion
  • Job transition (internal or external)
  • Dealing with a difficult boss/manager
  • Finding an ideal job
  • Strengthening skills
  • Strengthening the relationship with a wonderful boss/manager
    **When the boss/manager is receptive, I often coach the two of them individually and together to work in partnership
  • Setting boundaries within the corporate setting

Special Offer
For Virtual Assistants Not Currently Member Of The AssistU Community

I hear from people all the time who have started their own VA practices, recently or some time ago, or who are attempting to transition from an Office Support Services Business to a Virtual Assistance practice, who are just not happy, or aren't seeing the success they most want. Most seem to be seriously struggling despite their having joined other member/support organizations. They just aren't getting where they want to be.

And some of them really do need the kind of coaching I provide. And truthfully, most need to apply for the Virtual Training Program at AssistU, but just don't see that, and think that coaching with me is the answer. What I've been unwilling to do is offer the VTP through my coaching. They are different things. And I will continue to coach only those with so solid a foundation that the VTP really doesn't make sense for them.

So, here's my offer... If you're already in business as an office support service owner, or if you're already a practicing VA outside of the AssistU community... and you're struggling and want to see if coaching would work for you, call me or write and we'll set up a time to talk.

I'll coach you for 30 days. At the end of which, if coaching is what you really do need, we'll keep going. If, on the other hand, you really do need what the VTP offers, I'll tell you so, the coaching will stop, and you'll have the opportunity to apply for enrollment to the VTP. If accepted, I'll roll over 100% of the coaching fees you paid toward the cost of your tuition. What could be more fair?

Don't struggle. Get the support you need, whatever it is. Contact me and let's get you started on the road to the life and virtual practice you really want.

Things my coaching clients have said:

"Stacy has an uncanny way of listening with her whole being. She knows things about me and my situations, sometimes without my having to say anything, and she manages to cut through to the heart of the matter, every time. She expects a lot of me, and she holds me accountable for what I've told her I most want in my life. I find her an invaluable support person in the growth of my business."

     -- Virtual Assistant

"Wednesday mornings with Stacy...

I remember vividly the day I saw the feature story in the Style Section of the Washington Post about Virtual Assistance and AssistU. I shrieked with joy and ran to show the article to my husband, Jack. "Honey, I’ve finally found what I want to do!" That was just about a year ago, and our lives haven’t been the same since.

The training program was intense, but fun. I met a lot of great people (long-distance) and learned tons of stuff. But when I finally graduated, I found myself procrastinating (a well-honed life skill), finding one reason after another why I couldn’t get started just yet.

That was easy to do. We have a large extended family and something was always going on. Another of my life skills, perfectionism, also kicked in. I set impossible standards. I had to know every relevant piece of hardware/software that I might use with future clients. Every week there was a new excuse. I began to be embarrassed telling people I was starting a new business, wondering if they were thinking "How long will you be 'starting?'"

I had read most of the self-help books on the market over a period of years and knew the principles, but somehow was never able to convert them into action.

After several months, I made a timid inquiry about personal/professional coaching. Fortunately for me, the coach I contacted was Stacy Brice, the visionary founder of AssistU, and a personal coach who “gently guides her clients through life changes.”

Stacy had greatly impressed me when she participated in several of my AssistU classes. We agreed on coaching sessions, but I did so with fear and trepidation. I realize now that I was afraid it might work and I would actually have to make changes in my life! Stacy gave me the courage to take the chance.

Early on, I decided one of my primary goals was to adopt her approach to people and problems. Her voice was always softly modulated, her manner gentle, and the word blame was not in her vocabulary.

Since that time our lives have changed drastically. I quit thinking I didn’t deserve the good things and, instead, made space in my life for them.

A few months after buying our house in northern Virginia, and planning to move to Ocean Pines, Maryland in a couple of years, Jack said to me “What are we waiting for? Let’s sell this house and move now!” So we did. (To put this in perspective, Jack is 67 and I am 58.)

We left family and friends behind, and started our new life. We found a great rental, and an incredible builder (Marvin Steen of Steen Associates) who just happened to be building the last townhouse section of a small group on the waterfront. If that isn’t enough, the view from our new house almost exactly matches the graphic I had chosen months earlier to use in my business logo!

Jack has since found the perfect job for him, working with a local non-profit organization called Together We Can, Inc., dedicated to education, employment, housing and basic services for all Worcester County citizens.

I don't have room to tell you about all the wonderful people who have come into our lives since we’ve opened ourselves to receiving them and about all the good things they have brought with them. Most surprising of all, despite the distance, our family relationships have been steadily growing richer and deeper.

Though finding AssistU and Virtual Assistance was the answer to a prayer, that pales when compared with all the prayers that have been answered since I started spending Wednesday mornings with Stacy. Now I sit back and watch miracles happening around me all the time ..."

     -- Regina Snyder

"Stacy taught us the importance of communication and helped my boss see that just because the rest of the people in the company looked down on their assistants, *he* didn't have to do that. Now we work in partnership, and it's made all the difference in the world. We're more productive, and I know that we're both a lot more relaxed. For the first time in years, I actually look forward to coming to work every day."

     -- Executive Assistant to a VP of Sales

"Coming out of 20 years in the corporate world, I never knew that I could create my own standards and attract people who would want to work the same way I do. My practice is thriving, my clients are incredibly happy, and I, for the first time in my life, am at peace with myself."

     -- Virtual Assistant

"Coaching helped me focus my energy on what I really want for my life. With Stacy's help, I was able to see that the job I had was killing me. With her support, I created a strategy for identifying the kind of work I most wanted to do, and then finding such a job, and finally transitioning into it. It all happened in a shorter period of time than if I had struggled with the choice on my own. Having a coach assisted me in the process of identifying my goals and taking the necessary steps to achieve them."

     -- Administrative Assistant

"She is a great coach who inspires and encourages me to do what I never thought I could."

     -- Virtual Assistant

"She's quiet and gentle, yet incredibly precise. I think those are her greatest strengths. She's terrific at knowing what's going on with me, and in supporting me as I find my own answers. She works, inside out, and my life and work have been transformed."

     -- Executive Assistant

Want to learn more?

If you're interested in living a life that's different than the one you're living now, working with a coach might be perfect for you.

If you want to work with a coach who knows what you're going through, and knows how to support you in having all you want, I might be the perfect coach for you. Please be in touch so we can find out. If I am, we can talk about what our working together would look like. If I'm not, I'll refer you to a trusted colleague who might be a better fit.

I want you to work with the best coach for *you*.