Life Coach Cynthia Corsetti

Life Coach Cynthia Corsetti is brand new to . Since she moved from Scott Township about two months ago she has found Sewickley to be a bit more secluded but beautiful.

The people, according to Corsetti, have been wonderful, warm, welcoming and helpful.

“Sewickley is a small community with a tight-knit group of people," Corsetti said. "It is challenging to be the outsider, so I do use some of my own coaching techniques as I adapt to my new environment. I stay positive, I don’t let myself become overwhelmed, I don’t focus on being liked. I focus on being me.”

Q.What is Life Coaching?

A. Life coaching is the same as baseball coaching. I’m not going to go out there and bat the ball for you, I’m going to give you techniques and tools that will help you bat the ball better on your own. I help my clients determine what their goals are, give them action items each week, hold them accountable for results, and provide them with the skills they need to succeed.

Life coaching can be very helpful for a variety of situations -- moving to a new community, [being] recently divorced, new parents, feeling overwhelmed with life, taking on too many responsibilities, not knowing how to say no, not feeling content in life.

It provides you with the tools to pull you through the road blocks of your world.

Q. You also offer executive and career coaching. What does that mean?

A. Executive coaching is for people who are currently holding jobs, but they don’t seem to be getting ahead in their position. There could be any number of reasons that someone is stuck professionally. As an executive coach, I help the individual figure out what the problems are.

It could be communication, time management, professional image, or even a lack of self-confidence.

Career coaching is for people who are in transition. They either want to change careers completely because they are looking for a fresh start, or they are recently laid off and have no choice, but to start fresh. It is also for the individual who is starting a business on their own.

Q. Do you have to have qualifications to do it?

Unfortunately, coaching is still fairly unregulated. Many people call themselves coaches, but have no real experience or credentials to do so. In my case, I have both the corporate experience and educational qualifications that make me unique in the coaching world. I am a former vice president of human resources so I understand the career and executive sides quite well. I hold a master’s degree in organizational leadership and hold the "Senior Professional in Human
Resources" (SPHR) designation.

I also wanted to delve more into the Life Coaching side so I took a 120-hour certification course from an International Coaching Federation accredited school. It was important to me to have the actual certifications in life, and executive coaching. I am very passionate about what I do, so I felt it was essential for me to be certified.

Q. How long have you been a life coach?

A. I’ve been coaching for about 10 years. It was one of the things that I believe helped me reach the levels that I attained corporately. I was able to help companies groom future leaders. I also worked with individual clients while I was holding corporate positions. I teach time management, so I thought I may as well use my own techniques.

Q. What got you interested in it?

A. I didn’t go to college right out of high school and I had two children when I started my undergraduate work. In order to earn money for school without having to worry about child care, I wrote resumes for people. I started a small resume-writing business and it helped significantly with my school bills.

I finished my undergraduate degree in elementary education. I taught for a few years but quickly became bored with it. The most natural transition for me was the career coaching. I had learned how to teach, so I transferred those skills to adults. I started helping people train for interviews. I coached them in how to answer the questions and land the job. From there, things just progressed. I am a firm believer in the power of intention. I had always visualized myself in this type of role and because of that, I was sure it would happen.

Q. Tell me about a success story.

A. One of my most recent success stories happened when a former colleague of mine ran for a senate seat and lost the election. He had quit his job as an insurance agent to campaign full time.

He lives in Massachusetts so I was following his campaign on Facebook and LinkedIn. When he didn’t win he was devastated. He didn’t want to go back to selling insurance. He was in his mid-40s with a wife who didn’t have a job outside the home and two teenage kids to support.

He called me and said, "Cynthia I need your help."

I immediately got him on a three-month coaching plan. We set long-term and short-term goals. We covered things like how to pay the bills right now while he decided what direction he wanted to go. We did personality assessments and emotional intelligence assessments to help him determine what he was best suited for. I kept him focused and didn’t let him get overwhelmed. We had a 30-minute phone conversation each week in which he had to keep me posted on his progress.

He took all of the tools I provided for him, and he used them. He made a visualization board even though at first he thought I was crazy for asking him to do it. He started writing affirmations each day and patting himself on the back for his own accomplishments. He read the books that I suggested. He kept his family on board and he remained accountable.

Within 90 days he landed a new position as an executive director of a local agency. He is thrilled with his new role and loves this new direction. He enjoys each day and no longer feels like he failed because he didn’t win the election.

Q. Who needs coaching and why?

A. Obviously, I’m a big proponent of coaching. I think most people can benefit from it at some point in their lives. Each day that I log onto my Facebook page I see posts from people who are talking about how much they hate their jobs, how they feel too tired to get out of bed, how they are counting the days till Friday. My goal is to help people look forward to their day. To make them realize that each day is a new opportunity to succeed in some small way.

Q. If someone can't afford a coach right now, do you have any steps they can take until then?

A. They can read my blog posts each week. I post a lot of tips and ideas and I try to keep them fresh and updated regularly. I’ve talked about fears, time management, stress, and many other topics on my blog which can be found at www.cynthiacorsetti.com.

Q. Can you see ways to help the immediate community through your work?

A. I hope that my experience and skills can help people. It is a difficult time right now considering the economy. Many people are out of work or transitioning. Coaching can make it a little easier and help them land on their feet.

Q. Anything you want to add?

A. Well, I’m here in Sewickley starting my new life. I believe with every fiber of my being that the reason these positive things are happening is because I have utilized the skills and techniques that I teach to my clients. I saw the life I wanted, I visualized it in my mind, I worked hard, and it happens. That’s how life works. We create our future. No matter where we are at any point in time, we have the power to change our circumstances and improve our own world.

To learn more about Cindy Corsetti and life coaching visit www.cynthiacorsetti.com