3Oct2020InterviewsNahla Biyari – Kids Life Coach
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been interested in human psychology, and I enjoy talking and listening to people and hearing about their personal experiences. When I was in elementary school, one of my friends’ father passed away. And I remember consoling her and I believe that’s when the seed was planted for me.
Years later, when the time came for me to pick a major, I knew that I wanted to study Psychology, and I knew I wanted to study it in a specific university. At that time, my older sister, was studying Finance in another university, and because of the potential inconvenience of the commune, i.e. from my school to her school, my mother gave me her refusal. And so I attended my sister’s university, but under a different major, which was also Finance.
I got married shortly after that and worked in the investment industry for a while, but I’ve always felt out of place.
After having three children and having reached the age of 30, I found myself talking to my good friend Jumanah Marzooqi about how I was distraught that I reached my 30s and I have yet to find career stability. It was the first time I ever talked to her about the topic.
Jumanah was a good listener as she was listening to me rant about it the whole time, without interruption. When I went home that night, I got a text from her about a workshop for training children as a life coach and a comment from her saying something along the lines of, “I think you’ll be interested in this.”
And I most definitely was! I applied immediately to the program, and they told me that it would be difficult for me to get in since my background is in Finance and so they requested a personal interview. After the interview, they confirmed that I was the right person for the job! But I didn’t accept that particular course for a good reason.
That reason is, my father always taught me to consult with different people and listen to different perspectives or opinions about a certain topic. And that’s why I consulted a lot of people about whether or not this career is good for me. This helped me decide to take a more advanced course than what Jumanah shared with me.
I thoroughly enjoyed that course since I felt like I was training the kid in me! I was lucky enough to apply what I learned to my oldest son who was in elementary school, because at the time he was facing a bullying issue.
This course gave me the opportunity to finally start in a career that I was meant to be in. With this type of job, I don’t enjoy rushing it even though my personality outside of work, involves making a lot of rushed decisions. I learned that with kids, it’s very imperative to take everything step by step.
In your opinion, who needs this type of training (kids life coaching)?
A lot of mothers ask me, if their child has to have underlying conditions before they bring him/her to me. I say, no. The training is like a vaccine, it gives children the tools needed to survive any obstacles they go through.
What were the challenges you faced in the beginning of your career and how did you overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges in the start was managing everything on my own from arranging the calendar, to financial things and marketing and the whole ordeal was very tedious. But thankfully my family was there for me in support. Now I can afford to hire a financial consultant and hire a person who can help organize my calendar dates and appointments and it’s been a huge relief!
I want to point out that it’s important for anyone to be ready to face and deal with people’s comments and opinions of you no matter what they are.
What services do you provide as a Kids Life Coach?
Three basic services:
– Training for one child, age 7-12, five sessions. The first session, most likely would be free because sometimes I have children come in who don’t need my services as a coach but they need someone who is licensed therapist.
– Training for a group of children. I have experience previously with themes of bullying and self-confidence for girls.
– Workshops like I’ve previously done before with Rubaiyat.
And those workshops were one of the best experiences I’ve had in my career.
What is the story behind your logo?
I really like this question! I asked Nymbl to design my logo and they asked me to provide them with three things that my potential logo represents. I said, “Care, kindness and emotion.” When the designer finally showed me the logo, I not only fell in love with it because it represented what I wanted perfectly, but because a lot of parents either saw the child in the logo as a boy or girl. I liked that trick, because at the end of the day, gender doesn’t matter, as a child is a child. Nothing more.
From your experience, what are the issues that most children face in their everyday life?
In summary, it all comes down to bullying, it’s hard for them to let it go and jealousy. Normally children don’t say this to you upfront, but these are the kind of issues we discover with time.
We admire your interest in emotional intelligence in children. Talk to us about its importance and why you chose to focus on it.
The hardest thing for me to bear witness is seeing a child unable to express his/her feelings. When a child learns the basics of emotional intelligence, this would teach them to deal with their emotions and be accepting that a normal child will feel different emotions, including shame. And when this child learns about this from an adult, they will be more accepting of it, and hence feel calm and safe, knowing this information came from a place of trust.
So many children have learned so much from you, what have you learned from them?
I learned how to stay in touch with my inner-child, and how to live in the moment and enjoy what’s before me.
We’re curious, what’s your next move?
I’m currently working on developing my website which will be launched soon enshAllah. I’ll include the services I provide, the designs I created for children and so many more surprises!
What would you like to say to those who have great ideas, but are afraid to take the first step to achieving them?
Always ask yourself, “Why did I start in this type of business?” And believe me when I say this will always help you to stay on track. It will remind you to keep doing what is it you’re doing.
Another piece of advice would be to read as much as you can about the field you want to get into. Without reading, I wouldn’t have been able to answer the questions that I always get, and I wouldn’t have the confidence that I embody today. Expand your horizons through reading.
