Member story: Navigating the gray to uncover my strengths and passion

By Caitlin Dowling

May 20, 2021 - 5 min read

BetterUp member Toccara shares story of coaching connecting her passion

A marketing leader at a social technology company, Toccara is a master of balancing priorities, projects, and of course, deadlines. While Toccara has spent years honing her craft, she currently works at the intersection of multiple teams with vastly different skill sets. With her coach, Toccara is navigating which paths to pursue and charting a course for continued upward momentum.

Read on to learn how Toccara works with her dedicated BetterUp Coach to get clear on the road ahead, and how leveraging her strengths along the way has propelled her dynamic career.

When did you decide to work with a coach?

At my former company, we had a small, in-person coaching program that I found hugely beneficial for understanding my goals and moving forward. As a result, when I started at my current company and heard about BetterUp, I was eager to continue my coaching practice. I had never tried virtual coaching before, but we dove right in. It’s been wonderful and meets the needs of my schedule.

How did your coaching journey begin?

In our first session, my coach and I completed a few strengths-based exercises in the BetterUp app in order to set a baseline. It was helpful to clear the table and say “here is where I am today, how can we build off of this?” Seeing my strengths and areas of opportunity in one organized place was helpful (and illuminating!). From there, my coach and I worked together to align and build our plan forward.

Did you know what you wanted to work on with your coach?

The phrase that comes to mind is “executive presence” — but what I wanted to work on went well beyond that. To me, working on my executive presence (in addition to how I present myself and lead) also means zeroing in on my strengths and recognizing where they come into my work and how I can pursue them.

With my coach, I’ve identified how to apply my strengths to what I like doing. As a result, I’ve been able to get more clear on what I might like to do in the future. Our work has been less about “how do I get promoted” and more of a dialog around, “How do I take these existing building blocks and build the path forward from here? How can I identify the best-fit opportunities to continue building on my strengths?” It’s been so helpful to brainstorm these bigger picture questions with my coach.

Coaching is a dedicated time for you to really figure out more about yourself. It’s an investment that lets you begin to hone in on what you like and why it’s valuable to you. It helps you navigate work.

Toccara, Marketing Leader and BetterUp Member

For those who are new to a coaching dynamic, can you share one of the routines that you’ve gotten into with your coach that’s been helpful?

I think my favorite thing about our sessions is that my coach lets me lead, but she always starts by checking in. She’ll remind me of our last conversation and offer a few possible launch points. Sometimes I’ll rattle off a list of things that are going on in my world — personal and professional — and she might say, “Hey, let’s talk about that!” This has been impactful because sometimes in these “list shares” of mine, maybe I wouldn't have paused on something that she noticed. But when we dive into it together, a whole other realm of patterns and breakthroughs often comes forth.

For 45 minutes every week, it’s the best investment of my time to ensure I’m staying on track and moving toward my goals. She keeps me on my toes! I love getting to navigate these things with her.

Can you share a helpful exercise you worked through?

The Wheel of Life Exercise, 100%. In this exercise, you break down different “slices” of your world that take up different “chunks” of your time, energy and passion. When you see it all come together, it’s incredibly illuminating.

What’s a common myth you’d like to dispel about coaching?

Coaching is a dedicated time for you to really figure out more about yourself. It’s an investment that lets you begin to hone in on what you like and why it’s valuable to you. It helps you navigate work. We all spend our lives working and running between so many different activities that spending an hour a week with someone to help you unpack it all — that’s really some of the most valuable time you can spend!