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FAQ: Is Coaching Right for Me?

What exactly is coaching?

Coaching is a structured, supportive process that helps you explore your situation more clearly, identify patterns, and make decisions aligned with your values. It’s not advice-giving, therapy, or mentorship. Instead, a coach asks powerful questions, offers tools, and creates a space where you can think more freely and discover your own answers.

How is coaching different from therapy?

Therapy and coaching are not the same. Therapy often looks back — it focuses on past experiences, mental health concerns, and healing. Therapists are trained to diagnose and treat things like anxiety, depression, or trauma.

 

Coaching looks forward. It’s about where you are now, where you want to go, and what’s getting in the way. Coaching doesn’t diagnose, treat, or manage crises. Instead, it helps you build clarity, agency, and tools to make choices that align with your values.

 

If therapy is about healing, coaching is about building.

How is this different from DEI programs at work?

DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) initiatives improve institutions and workplaces, which is important. But even in inclusive spaces, many first-gen and diverse professionals still carry internal conflicts: guilt about family expectations, silence about their own needs, or burnout from code-switching. Coaching addresses the internal side of belonging — the part no policy can change for you.

Who do you usually work with?

I work with first-generation and multicultural professionals who feel pulled between honoring their family/community and pursuing their own path. Clients often come when they feel:

 

  • “I feel like they don't understand.”

  • "No one understands what I'm going through."

  • “I don’t even know if I’m making choices for myself or just to avoid letting people down.”

  • “I’m exhausted from switching who I am depending on where I am and who I’m with.”

  • “I don’t know how to explain what I want without it blowing up or being misunderstood.”

  • "I feel like giving up on trying to get them to understand."

  • "I'm tired of living someone else's life. I want to live my own."

​What issues can coaching help with?

Coaching can help with:

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  • Clarifying your values — figuring out which beliefs are truly yours and which ones you’ve just been carrying because you were raised that way.

  • Reframing guilt — learning how to stop feeling overwhelmed by family expectations and instead see them in a way that doesn’t drain you.

  • Decision-making — finally feeling like you can make choices about career, family, or life because you want them, not just to avoid disappointing others.

  • Communication — finding the words to set boundaries and explain what you want without constant fights or guilt trips.

  • Belonging — creating a way of living where you can feel whole and at home with yourself, your family, and your work.

Will the coach tell me what to do?

No. Coaching isn’t about judgment or prescriptions. A coach doesn’t hand you answers. Instead, I give you the space, tools, and guidance to examine your own situation more deeply. You make the choices — coaching helps you make them more consciously, aligned with who you are.

What happens in a coaching session?

A session is a conversation, but with structure and focus. We’ll usually:

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  1. Identify the issue or question you want to work on.

  2. Explore it with reflective questions and frameworks.

  3. Identify insights, reframe challenges, and uncover options.

  4. Close with clear next steps you choose for yourself.

 

Think of it as time set aside to work on you — something many first-gen professionals rarely get to do.

What results can I expect?

Every client’s journey is different, but common results sound like this:

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  • Feeling lighter — not carrying the whole weight of family expectations on your shoulders anymore.

  • More confidence — finally being able to say what you want without feeling guilty or selfish.

  • Clearer decision-making — knowing the difference between choices that are yours and choices you’ve been making out of fear.

  • Stronger voice — being able to explain yourself to family, friends, or coworkers without shutting down or exploding.

  • A deeper sense of belonging — feeling like you can be the same “you” everywhere, not split into pieces depending on the room you’re in.

How do I know if coaching is right for me?

If you’ve ever felt torn between honoring your family and honoring yourself, or if you’ve ever wondered, “Am I making this choice because I want it, or because I’m afraid of letting people down?” — then coaching could be a powerful fit. Coaching isn’t about fixing you; it’s about empowering you to design a life where you can carry both your roots and your dreams with integrity.

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