February 5, 2025 • 41 mins
In 2025, Transition Enterprises LLC marks its 20th anniversary! Over the past two decades, I have had the honor of working with some of the most talented and inspirational leaders around the world. It has been a privilege to be in service to something greater than myself, helping others tap into their inner wisdom and make bold choices.
To commemorate this milestone, my dear friend Fisayo “Fiz” Olajide, an acclaimed filmmaker and creative executive, turns the lens on me. Together, we explore my journey—where it all started as well as the stumbles along the way.
Whether you've been part of this ride from the beginning or are just joining now, this series is a reflection on pain, joy, transformation, and the power of trusting your inner wisdom. I’m excited to share the triumphs, challenges, and defining moments from the past 20 years.
About Fisayo “Fiz” Olajide
Fiz is a filmmaker and creative executive whose work bridges corporate innovation and cinematic storytelling. As the Director of Brand Design for X, she leads brand strategy and design, shaping a visionary identity for one of the world’s most influential platforms.
Join us as we celebrate, share and look ahead to the future!
(5:20) Who was Jeanie before starting Transitions Enterprises and the Warriors and Work platform? (10:58) What were some of the philosophies that resonated with Jeanie when she first got started?
(14:57) How did Jeanie find her first clients? What were those first years like?
(15:56) How would she describe her brand and how has it evolved over the years?
(17:55) Jeanie shares how she views intuition and discusses the power of pausing?
(21:00) Were there moments of self-doubt and show did Jeanie navigate them?
(24:13) Jeanie discusses a time when she thought about quitting and shares how she pulled through?
(27:46) What are some of the things Jeanie would see (business opportunities and clients) that she found didn’t align with her?
(29:10) What stories comes to mind where Jeanie saw incredible transformations of clients and business colleagues.
(32:42) What are some of the biggest trials that Jeanie has overcome during her career?
Connect with Fisayo “Fiz” Olajide
https://www.fizolajide.com/
Subscribe: Warriors At Work Podcasts
Website: https://jeaniecoomber.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/986666321719033/
nstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeanie_coomber/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeanie_coomber
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanie-coomber-90973b4/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbMZ2HyNNyPoeCSqKClBC_w
To commemorate this milestone, my dear friend Fisayo “Fiz” Olajide, an acclaimed filmmaker and creative executive, turns the lens on me. Together, we explore my journey—where it all started as well as the stumbles along the way.
Whether you've been part of this ride from the beginning or are just joining now, this series is a reflection on pain, joy, transformation, and the power of trusting your inner wisdom. I’m excited to share the triumphs, challenges, and defining moments from the past 20 years.
About Fisayo “Fiz” Olajide
Fiz is a filmmaker and creative executive whose work bridges corporate innovation and cinematic storytelling. As the Director of Brand Design for X, she leads brand strategy and design, shaping a visionary identity for one of the world’s most influential platforms.
Join us as we celebrate, share and look ahead to the future!
(5:20) Who was Jeanie before starting Transitions Enterprises and the Warriors and Work platform? (10:58) What were some of the philosophies that resonated with Jeanie when she first got started?
(14:57) How did Jeanie find her first clients? What were those first years like?
(15:56) How would she describe her brand and how has it evolved over the years?
(17:55) Jeanie shares how she views intuition and discusses the power of pausing?
(21:00) Were there moments of self-doubt and show did Jeanie navigate them?
(24:13) Jeanie discusses a time when she thought about quitting and shares how she pulled through?
(27:46) What are some of the things Jeanie would see (business opportunities and clients) that she found didn’t align with her?
(29:10) What stories comes to mind where Jeanie saw incredible transformations of clients and business colleagues.
(32:42) What are some of the biggest trials that Jeanie has overcome during her career?
Connect with Fisayo “Fiz” Olajide
https://www.fizolajide.com/
Subscribe: Warriors At Work Podcasts
Website: https://jeaniecoomber.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/986666321719033/
nstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeanie_coomber/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeanie_coomber
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanie-coomber-90973b4/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbMZ2HyNNyPoeCSqKClBC_w
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What is intuition the way that I characterize it's what
you sense, what you feel. It's like an inner knowing
what do you feel? And I'll depending upon who it is,
I'll say gut or instinct. Like what I'm really doing
is saying I want you to tune into what intuitively
do you feel is the next right move. Sometimes it's
(00:23):
pauseive doing nothing, And that's actually how I know that
we're in the deepness of the conversation is if I
can get someone to pause and sit with it, there
is a much greater capacity for more information to come
to you versus the speed and the transaction, which is
(00:45):
often really what the business world is dictating. Welcome to
the Warriors at Work Show. This is Genie Coomber, your
guide and host. This is a show for men and
women in the workplace who want to move from the
predictable to the potent. This is your weekly dose of
inspiration with an edge. I talk with CEOs and shamans,
(01:08):
sports marketing executives, and therapists. All of us are like
minded thinkers and doers who tell stories, share wisdom, and
challenge each other to have the best life possible inside
and outside the office. Welcome to your Warrior Conversation. Hey everybody,
(01:29):
it's GDI. Welcome to Warriors at Work. I am your
guide and host, and today I bring to you a
very special episode. In February of twenty twenty five, I
am celebrating twenty wild years as the owner of an
executive coaching business called Transition Enterprises, and me being front
and center of that business as an executive coach. And
(01:49):
over the past two decades, I've had the honor and
privilege of working with some of the most talented and
inspirational leaders around the globe. And I've seen a lot,
I've experienced a lot, and I was really trying to
figure out what was the best way to celebrate this
twenty years and my beautiful friend and confidante and colleague,
(02:12):
fizz Elajah Day said, well, how about we turn the
tables and we make this look and feel like a
coaching session and I'll interview you. And so I said yes.
And Fizz is not only a dear friend, she is
also the director brand designed for X. She is a
(02:32):
wildly talented filmmaker, creative executive. She has created documentaries that
have earned acclaim at prestigious festivals like SXSW, doc NYC,
and the New York Film Festival. She's actually currently directing
Underground Railroad Ride, a feature length documentary exploring the themes
(02:54):
of racial justice, endurance, and personal transformation, set to come
out in the fall of this year. And I did
not know what she was going to ask me in
this coaching session, but I trusted her. She knows enough
about me, my story and knows that I'm in service
to something bigger than myself. So together we reflect and
the lessons learned painful and triumphant moments, and I also
(03:17):
share some of my favorite stories and key takeaways from
twenty years of helping leaders like you move from the
predictable to the potent. I really put this episode out
for everyone who has shared this ride with me, and
for those of you who I don't know yet. I
thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting
(03:38):
me into your lives and for creating a space like
this where I can share my story enjoy.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Okay, I am so excited to turn the tables today
and interview Genie Coomber, someone who's usually in the house
seat asking the big questions. Genie is a powerhouse in
thought provoking media for working professionals and was named one
of NJ's Biz Best fifty Women in Business. With certifications
(04:11):
from Corporate Coach You, the International Coaching Federation, and the
Neuro Leadership Institute, plus a background in Columbia Business School's
Personal Leadership Program, she brings a wealth of knowledge to
everything she does. Jeanie's career began as a world class
executive coach, helping leaders unlock their potential and become warriors
(04:34):
in their own right. Through her podcast Warriors at Work,
She's built a space for people to tap into their
inner wisdom, explore bold choices, and unleash their best selves. Today,
it's my privilege to flip the script and dive into
Genie's own story, her insights, her vision, and her relentless
(04:57):
drive to inspire others. Let's get started.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Oh Is it's so weird to hear yourself be introduced,
especially on such an important time period in my life
twenty years is. It's a big deal.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
It's a huge deal. Congratulations, Thank you, Genie. I want
to start with a bit of self discovery. There's a
lot of people that know you, that have worked with you,
and the you know no a piece of genie. But
I want to just start at the very beginning with
your origin story. Who were you before you created Warriors
(05:37):
at Work and what shaped you?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
So? Who was I before I started really started, before
I really started coaching, because Warriors at Working later. So
I was working in financial services in a servicing account
management role, and I played by the book. I had
a big personality. I was told I was intense, quite
(06:03):
a bit, very very impatient, all about process, drive, making
sharp decisions, moving quickly. I was all about speed, and
that got in my way a lot. Speed efficiency, less
about being effective. And I always had like a big heart.
(06:24):
Always tried to bring this big heart and nurturing self
to the office, but I screwed it up quite a bit,
both in peer dynamics, running teams, challenges with clients. But
you know, I'm always somebody that I really do try
to do my best, and I'm okay with it not
coming out perfect. And so I was. I was really
(06:46):
that little bit of a hot mess. I guess say,
when I decided to leave Corporate America, it was it
was not what I see now twenty years later, but
it was it was brought up about I was basically
getting certified. While I was still working in corporate America.
I was talking with my mom, who was a license
(07:07):
clinical social worker, and she was like, you know what,
go back, get your master's degree. You know, why are
you doing this coaching thing. Go back, get your master's
degree in social work, and you can be an LCSW,
which means licensed clinical social worker like me. She's a
psychotherapist in private practice. And I was like, I still't
think that was for me. I said, Mom, this coaching
(07:27):
thing is very cool because it's about meeting people where
they are and then progressing them towards whatever their goals
aspirations are. And I felt therapy is more about, you know,
looking over your shoulder around how did I get here?
Where did this come from? And doing some of that work.
And I didn't really get the connection of really how
the to go hand in hand, which is now which
(07:48):
we'll get into later. So I pursued the coaching thing.
Got pregnant. I was on maternity leave. My mom and
I were talking about going into business together. I'd be
the coaching arm, she'd be the therapeutic arm. And she
passed away suddenly. She had a massive heart attack. When
my daughter was ten weeks old, and you know, you
(08:10):
go through something like that, it changes everything. I felt
like somebody shot me. I was completely half I was
really really distraught and sad, but I had this beautiful
baby that I had to get up for every day
and you know, put one foot in front of the other.
(08:31):
And I ended up going back to my job after
my maternity leave, but I was very honest with my boss.
I kind of told them what I was considering, that's.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Your corporate job.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
I did. I went back to my corperate job and
I said, you know, I'm just going to investigate this
coaching thing. I'll take a little bit of time and
see what's what. And I pretty much stuck to my
timeline and did a lot of research. I interviewed lots
of coaches because it was not well known. You're talking
this is two thousand, two thousand and four, early two
thousand and five. It was not well alone in the US.
(09:03):
It was very well known outside the US, Canada and
Europe predominantly. And the more I started interviewing, the more
I was like, okay, And those coaches who I talked
to kind of helped me, hone it to say, you
want to do the corporate coaching route, you're going to
want to do this, And so I ended up leaving
February of twenty two thousand and five, and I didn't
(09:25):
really have a whole lot planned other than a big
fat dream. I originally started off saying, I really want
to help college kids acclimate to the workplace. So I
went into private practice, actually with my mom's best friend
who was a therapist, and I thought, well, let me
try this dream on. It was a great friendship, great partnership.
She was so wonderful, so so.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Good to me.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
But I did not enjoy the private coaching because what
ended up happening is a lot of parents were hiring
me to get their children jobs, which was not what
I was looking for. It was more around the personal
development piece. But I did it for about a year
or so, and then I found my way back into
the corporate space with an executive development program where I
(10:08):
was doing faciltation and which I didn't actually know what
the heck faciltation meant. I actually looked it up. I
was like, I know how to run meetings, don't know
what faciltation is. And I that was a transformative decision
because I was exposed to all of these women in
these executive development programs, and I was one of them
when I'm in financial services and I know we're going
(10:30):
to get into mentoring and all of that later on,
but that was a really pivotal decision to become affiliated
with them do the work for them. It really opened
up my mind to the development discussion and really what
the true viability was of coaching and how applicable it
(10:51):
was to the corporate space, and it was in these
development programs. So it was a pivotal moment.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Wow, what was some of the first practices or philosophies
that really resonated with you when you started coaching.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Process repeatable behaviors? And I took all of my business
knowledge on running teams and dealing with clients and customers.
Is do what you say. If you're going to promise something,
you've got to follow it up. And that was probably
the number one thing. Always do what you say and
(11:26):
say what you mean. Then the second thing is be
kind to your.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Networking, bring that generous spirit to others and make sure
you're acknowledging how your network and your systems are supporting you.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
And that's very much philosophy that I've pulled forward to
today and the other was it's just simple, was like
to me, it was just hard work. I'm not the
smartest kid on the block. I've struggled in academia for
most of my life. I worked really hard for Bees.
But I I really have a lot of job. I
can outwork a lot of people, and I'm I'm relentless.
(12:06):
When I have a goal or a focus, nothing will
stop me. Lots of people thought I was crazy to
do this. Lots of people thought, what are you doing
leaving corporate America? What are you doing? That's so stupid.
We're going to move you to New York and you're
gonna gonna have a two hour commute. It's going to
be way better than you doing this thing on your own.
And then you know, also when you're starting, it was
(12:26):
an unchartered field, So people were like, what is that?
Why would you do?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
What did your husband think when you told him?
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Well, he he he. Knew that I was complete in
Corporate America. I'd done all I wanted to do. I
didn't enjoy it. I didn't care about mutual funds. I
really had a knack for helping people identify what are
my skills? And attributes, and then how do we position
you for things that maximize on that. So he knew
that I was. I wasn't in my zone a genius.
(12:57):
I was in my zone of competence. For anybody that
has ever read The Big Leap, one of my favorite books,
I was in my zone of competence. It was these
behaviors that everybody knew and you know, we're familiar with.
But I wasn't killing it. I wasn't enjoying it. And
then when I was had a newborn and I had
to do this crazy commute, it just it amplified it
(13:18):
for me. He knew I just I needed to get out,
but it was hard. I'm not gonna lie that first year,
a year and a half, I didn't make any money.
I put everyday right back into the business. And there
was quite a few conversations where he was like, what
are you doing? Do you realize like we have to
steal from Paul to pay Peter. We have like one
hundred dollars in our account, Like why are you doing this?
And I was like, I know my capabilities. And there
(13:40):
was this one conversation I had with him I had
come back. It was like it was a year out
and I had come back from some networking I had
which I'm a huge fan of and believer in relationship
building is it's it's the life force for an entrepreneur.
I had come back and I said, you know, I
really hope this starts to paid dividends because I'm spending
(14:02):
a lot on business development and I'm not seeing that.
I heard on that, and then that following year everything shifted.
It was like all of the seeds that I had
planted really started to turn into some really amazing.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Operations of like a year eighteen months that you do.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Yeah, it was about a year a year and a
half of ye struggle. And then again some things started
to shift. And then when I got involved in the
executive development program, you know, my mind was open to
lots and lots of things, but it took time. And
it's why a lot of people give up. It's really hard.
It's uh and it's just you. You know, you're selling you.
And I was selling something that was unheard of, it
(14:42):
was not well known, and people were like, wait, what
do you do? How does that work? What do you
you stand on you know, stand on the side of
a meeting and just jump up and down and cheer
someone on. I'm like, oh, well, that's a little bit
of it.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
How did you actually find your first clients?
Speaker 1 (15:02):
It was through some I did a ton of networking.
When you first started business, you join everything, you say
yes to everything you and everybody want. As soon as
they see a doer, they want you on their board
and they want you running committees. No offense to anybody
who's listening or watching that runs the networking events or groups.
And it was just through different networking I got connected
with various people. Which one of the biggest programs I
(15:25):
did when I first started was with the Girl Scouts
of America. It was a leadership program for high school students.
It was such a cool experience. I got to do
lots of mentoring, met some incredible people, and so that
was the beginning of a lot of you know, sharpening
our skills, trying to figure out what was what, and
that was very into collaboration. I had other people with me,
(15:49):
no employees, but a collaborations, which again is a philosophy
I've brought forward.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Okay, that makes sense. So how would you describe the
Genie Humor brand, like what it stand for? Has your
vision or how has your vision evolved over the years.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
That is that is probably one of the hardest questions
for me to answer, because I feel like I'm a
work in progress. I'm certainly not finished. Scaffolding around me
at all times. My brand has always been honest, straightforward, direct.
(16:28):
I have a good blend and I think the nicest
thing someone said to me is you're a great blend
of soft and hard and you're compassionately confrontational. Oh and
when I first heard that one, I was like, Oh,
is that a bit of shade or is that But
(16:50):
it's honest, and I think how I crafted it over
the years, and obviously I have to do branding quite
a bit. And what I'll say is, this is so
like if we were interviewing me for a coaching gig.
The way I typically say it is like, well, you're
talking to somebody that's been in the business for twenty years.
And I got into coaching before it was a sexy thing.
(17:13):
And I got into it because I always had a
knack for helping people identify skills and attributes that make
them extraordinary in the world. And so I take that
skill and I combine it with a deep, intuitive knowing
and understanding, and I believe that you're much more than
your thinking mind. I believe that if you can combine
(17:35):
your intellect with your intuition, your capacity for growth, development
and expansion is ten times what it is if you're
only relying upon your thinking mind. So you're talking to
somebody that's going to help you combine those two and
bring that type of magic to what you're doing on
a daily basis.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
This is good, all right, But like I know from you,
know being around you for years and just speaking with
you and having you kind of coach groups that I've
been in. But what is intuition? Can you explain that
for somebody that just doesn't really know that? It's very corporate,
that's in the corporate world, that goes by the book,
(18:17):
is studied, that have achieved, they've got promotions.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
What is intuition the way that I characterize, it's what
you sense, what you feel. It's like an inner knowing.
And the quickest way into it is sitting here with
you right now. I would ask you to just when
we're talking about a particular subject, maybe you're struggling with
the decision you have to make. The very first thing
(18:40):
I'm going to ask you is like, well, tell me
in your body where you're feeling stuck. You know when
there's energy block. So if I can get you to
tune into your body, that is getting you out of
your thinking mind. So it's like the fastest ways you
get into your body. Your body starts to tell you
my pulling left, my pulling right? Am I feeling contraction
or contrition in my stomach, in my shoulders? Whomen we
(19:02):
feel it a lot in our shoulders, our neck, our arms.
And then I'll say, all right, so now let's go
back to that decision that we're talking about. Tell me
where you're feeling energy blocked or constriction, and then what
do you feel And I'll know, depending upon who it is,
I'll say gut or instinct. Like what I'm really doing
(19:24):
is saying I want you to tune into what intuitively
do you feel is the next right move. Sometimes it's
pausing doing nothing, And that's actually how I know that
we're in the deepness of the conversation is if I
can get someone to pause and sit with it, there
(19:48):
is a much greater capacity for more information to come
to you versus the speed and the transaction, which is often,
really what the business world is dictating is like here,
more efficient, more powerful, more profitability, more revenue growth. That's
speed scale. There's nothing wrong with that. But if the
(20:11):
individuals are the ones that are driving all of that,
we've got to create more space to bring in the unseen.
And that's really what intuition is. If you're very in
tune with your unseen, you have more optionality, you more
thoughtful on how you make decisions. When you don't have
access to it, you rely very much on your intellectual
(20:32):
horsepower to drive everything. So ultimately, what I'm doing is
creating more pause, more time to pick in and get
a sense of what else is going on here that
I need to tune into. But getting into the body
and the breath is the fastest way in Oh.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
I love that, and I'm going to dig into more
of that because I think it's a very interesting taken
in your style of coaching, and not a lot of
people are even able to kind of get because it
feels too whooo right. So, but before we get there,
what I would love to just kind of looking back
(21:07):
on your early years where there are moments where self
doubt crept in outside of the voices that you heard
of people telling you, like, this is crazy, what are
you doing? You know you should be in the corporate Well,
that's where the check is at. And how did you
navigate those self doubt moments?
Speaker 1 (21:28):
I have so many self doubt fall on my face moments.
I was thinking about that because I had a sense
you were going to ask me that. There's literally so
many that I couldn't even count. But what I noticed
is that the more I might make a mistake or
(21:49):
misstep or make the wrong judgment call and it had
some sort of feedback or somebody would say something to
me like that didn't land. And I've heard people say
like that didn't like and I didn't get anything from that.
I think you made a mistake. I don't like how
you did that. And it hurts when you first hear it,
and it's really it's a little scary, like you want
(22:12):
to run away. But there the more it happened over time,
the more resilient I got. I would notice, Oh, the
first time it happened, I beat myself up for five days,
and the next time it happened, I'd beat myself up
for three days. And there, you know, sometimes depending upon
how big it is it can hang around a little longer.
(22:34):
But I noticed that my bounce back got a little
better and a little stronger, and to me it became
like a data point. Oh that didn't land. It doesn't
define me. It's just a data point the moment in
time that I can reflect on if ever I'm in
that situation, or if ever that behavior starts to show
up again, or maybe that person has similar attributes of
(22:55):
somebody who said something negative to me before. I just
look at it as like, oh, okay, okay, I got that,
heard it, felt it. What could I do differently next time?
And that's that's how I look at it. And look,
we've all got insecurities, all of us. We all have
those moments where we're like, what the hell are we
doing right now? And am I the right person? But
(23:18):
if I can bring forward some of the things that
I teach and guide others to do, like tune in
what are you sensing? What are you feeling? Are you
in your ego? Are you trying to drive to something
that is not aligned? If I can tune into more
of that, I can learn from those setbacks and have
(23:39):
less doubt and start to see what if I can
do it what if I am okay, what if it's
not perfect, which you know I still struggle with too.
But if I can get focused on what's in my
best interest, what's in the client's best interest, what's for
everyone's best and highest. If I can tune into that,
(24:02):
things start to reveal themselves in a much more powerful
way and it isn't about me anymore. It's about what's
the best for everyone.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Right, So in twenty eighteen you almost quit, right? What
happened during that time and how did you find the
strength to move forward? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (24:22):
So you know, business was, thankfully, it's always going well,
and that was a particularly powerful year. I was rock
and rolling. It was I was skinning to the point
where I was having to refer a lot of client
work out and I said yes to two particular coaching engagements,
(24:43):
both of which my ego made the decision. And the
first one was like, it was like a fix it.
This guy has got this, this this wrong. He really
needs this. He's got to get develop more connection, more
relationship skills, and his communication skills are terrible. So I
went in thinking, I'm going to change this guy. He's
going to be amazed by me. It was the most frustrating, unsatisfying.
(25:12):
It was horrible from start to finish, and I would
always come home, and of course it was time. I
was having to do a lot of in person. I
was just come home exhausted, and I was also working
with somebody else in another city, and it was a
similar situation. I said yes because my ego told me too,
and I felt obligated to the person who asked me.
(25:33):
And so I had these two really, really difficult clients
that just suck the life out of me. And it
was because it wasn't aligned with what I really wanted,
the type of client I really knew I could have
success with. I should have said no to both and
refer them out, and because they would have been much
better off with a different coach than Jeanie. And so
(25:55):
I went through this period and I came home. I
had to see both of them in one week, and
I said to Ross, I said, I don't think I
can do this anymore. I feel like I'm complete now,
and he was like, what's going on. I'm like, I
just don't feel happy or satisfy. I don't think I'm
offering any value and maybe it's time for me to
(26:15):
shift maybe it's time for me to step away from this,
Maybe there's something else I should be considering. And I
went through that contemplation for a couple of months and
then I did what and all business owners know this
is like every year you have to shift a couple
of things, like massive shifts, but you have to shift
(26:37):
some things. And so I sat with the pain and
the just I just couldn't stand being around this individual.
But I sat with it, and I was like, what
is here for me? What do I have to learn?
And I decided to start playing with this idea of
doing interviewing, having hosting smaller dinners, getting into different types
(26:58):
of community, and do the things that light me up,
do the things that I feel are in service to
other people. And then that shifted and both of those
clients went away, and it made me smarter in my choice. Now,
when I'm being interviewed for coaching engagements, I ask a
lot more questions around give me the profile the client,
what do you see a success? And I check myself
(27:22):
when I'm being interviewed as like, could I really spend
time with this person? And so I was doing all
the things outside that were just starting to light me up.
It really made me smarter on different coaching engagements. And
you know, and I just took that wisdom and then
gain made a couple of shifts which have led to
so many amazing things. There's well, I mean, you know.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
People watching this like, oh my gosh, Jennie sounds amazing.
She sounds incredible. I would love to have Jennie be
my coach. What are some of the things that you
would see to your point of when you're being interviewed
for an engagement that you're like, this doesn't align with
what I wanted to What are some of the things
that you look for that are red flags? Essentially?
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Okay, So the first thing is why why a coach?
And why now? The second thing is tell me what
this person is doing in terms of growth development, personal
professional Where do you as the organization see this person
(28:29):
evolving or sending into like I want to hear the
growth path? And then I also always ask do they
want an executive coach? I'm not somebody who gets deployed. Again,
I've made the mistake of taking some of those assignments
(28:50):
mostly because my ego would tell me, ah, it's going
to be great. That's not that kind of coaching that's
not me at my best. I would refer that I've
got some coaches who love that kind of work that
is not me, but that came from making bad choices
and getting aligned with the wrong clients. So those would
be typically the red flags I would listen for.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
So, over these wonderful up and down twenty years, can
you do any stories come to mind that you can
think about people that you've coached and worked with that
have had incredible transformations, So something that you started with
that had something that they needed you for and kind
(29:30):
of if you could walk me through the journey of
how you worked with them and what that looked at
the end of your engagement. Just any incredible transformation stories.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
You know. So transformation is a very personal word, so
you could look on the outside. So if we stayed
in the thinking mind, you could look at promotion, you
could look at additional areas that they acquired as a result.
(30:01):
But when I think of transformation, the people that stand
out in my mind, and it's male and female, as
simple and smiling, Because a transformational behavior for me is
when I was interviewed, I started working with this incredible
guy was just humble and smart and so powerful, but
(30:23):
he was very guarded, very very guarded with me, and
so I had to do a lot of things to
get him to open up and trust me, and we
eventually did. We got there, and he was very careful
to not reveal too much about his personal story and
(30:44):
his own vulnerabilities, but is also his leadership journey just
he had a particular approach to that. And I saw
him out on LinkedIn getting interviewed for different things, and
I saw him posting different snippets from it. It brought
me so much joy that he got to see, wait
(31:04):
a minute, the more I reveal and share my own vulnerabilities,
the more people it will help other people. It isn't
about me saying too much about myself. It's like, but
this actually helps other people. This gives other people permission.
And that was a direct connection to what the work
he and I did together is slowly getting to open
(31:26):
up and trust himself and trust the world around him
in a way that not only are you getting some
healing from this, but you're helping so many people step
forward to this. And he later thanked me for it,
and it was that was probably one of the proudest things.
It was hard work too, because I have to be
(31:47):
very careful. Sometimes you have to walk off a fine line, right,
And not everybody's like, guns blazing, let's do this. Some
people more like, Okay, you know, I'm a little skeptical,
but I know I want to do this, but I'm
not really sure what it looks like. And then some
other success stories on the transformation side is, you know,
I work a lot with high efficiency structural people, engineers, finance,
(32:14):
C suite leaders that have built a career and a
system that works for them in their success. And so
to get those people to use words like instinct, intuition,
what am I sensing my feeling even just talking about
the work feeling in a conversation and hearing that it's
making them smarter, more engaged as leaders, that's transformation too.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
That's awesome. So over the twenty years, over the past
free years, what have been the biggest trials and triumphs
for you as a coach? I mean, obviously the triumphs
you pretty much just spoke about, but I'm curious about
some of the trials that you've overcome. I'm immediately the
first thing I'm thinking about is I met you in
(33:00):
twenty nineteen and then everything shifted a year later, you know,
So I don't know if you'd count that as one
of the as a business owners, one of your biggest trials, well, the.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Biggest trial, Well, there's a bunch, but there's there's there's
two that really come to mind. One was the decision
in early twenty twenty to rebrand, so to take Genie
Koomber and start to shift it and then move more
into this interviewing space, which was the creation of the
Warriors at Work platform. But you know, in the early
(33:34):
days of COVID, you know, when the world was shutting down,
nobody's hiring an executive coach, and so I had a
lot of contracts canceled, all of my travel canceled. So
here it was March, We're anticipating a certain financial return
the end of the year, and all of that blew
up in my face. And that was terrifying because my
(33:58):
husband's also he's this its chiropractors, who are both business owners.
Had a sophomore in high school, was going to be
going to get college in a couple of years. My
other daughter was in grammar school, and so you know,
you're thinking about future. So I used the fear to
create something. And that's often what I'll do is when
I feel sad or down or lonely or insecure, is
(34:19):
I just try to help other people and that that
energy starts to be really powerful for me. And I
know we're going to get into some of the stuff
around warriors at work, but I channeled that fear and
not enough in the lack into Okay, this is going
to help people. How do I help people? And when
you help people, positive things come to you, right, And
(34:39):
so that's what I did. And the other thing the
biggest trial that I think I had to go through
beyond death of my mom suddenly, my death of my
dad unexpectedly in twenty sixteen, is my husband had a
medical emergency that was really insane, and I ended up
(35:00):
catching some things that they didn't catch. And what ended
up happening is, you know, he was during his recovery
from that surgery and that medical issue, I developed a
horrible situation where I would have panic. It's basically panic episodes,
(35:20):
but I had panic disorder and I was getting panic
attacks two or three times a day, and sometimes they'd
last half hour, forty five minutes the longest. Sometimes would
be an hour, and it's hard to be in a
space where I'm listening and creating space for other people,
where my whole body is revolting and telling me you're
(35:43):
having a heart attack, and that's something else to be
scared of. And then you have to be scared of this.
So I was frightened of everything, and I struggled with
it for quite a few months. I took myself up
to Crapollu for three days. I have a dear friend
who worked there and helped me to see that there
was a program called Rest and Renew where you could
stay in silence, you could hike, you could do yoga,
(36:05):
whatever you needed to do. But that was like an
immediate oxygen mask to calm my system down. I had
a friend who saw this pattern, who called me out
on and said, you need to stop right now. You
need to go take care of yourself, and I'll forever
be grateful to carry for being that voice of reason.
And she got harsh with me, like, stop this.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
And you'd never had any of these type of episodes before.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
I mean, really mildly, I had one when I knew
I needed to get out of a business arrangement. I
was in I was. I was wildly unhappy, and you
know your body doesn't lie, it'll start to show you
in balances, but this was so pronounced. I was so
I was so filled with fear and anxiety because I
(36:52):
was so disappointed by the lack of medical care that
I saw. There wasn't trust the system. So I had
to become this huge advocate and what do I know?
What do I know about navigating that kind of thing.
It was so so disappointed, but they saved his life,
and so that's what I had to get back to,
and I had to do a lot of therapy. I
(37:15):
did shamanic work, I did reiki, with hypnotherapy, you name it.
I tried it and the best remedy for me, and
to this day, whenever I get anxious, I take elthenie.
I contemplated everything from Ayahuascar retreats to other substances, anything
to calm me down. That was the hardest thing because
(37:38):
my kids saw it and never knew when it was
going to come on, and it lasted on and off
for about six months. I was able to manage it
after three but now when I look back on it,
it again, like all difficulties, there's some lessons in it.
It was my need to control, my need to manage,
(38:00):
and I have a deep, deep rooted fear of death
than when you're trying to control your mortality. When you're
going through something like that, it's all you think about
is like that could have been me, and what about me?
And well I'd be taken care of And.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
That was the today. Would you say, how are you now?
I do?
Speaker 1 (38:19):
I don't have them anymore. I'm I have lots of
tools in my toolkits. When I feel triggered, more anxious
or worried, I have a lot of tools that I
implement so that it doesn't get to that point. Just
a simple technique of tapping collarbone, you know, literally tapping.
(38:42):
There's as a tai chi technique.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Yeah, you told me that. I think, yes, yes, tapping.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
Any breathing exercises. And you never want to push through
a panic episode like you don't push you, You deal
with it, you manage it. And now I talk about
them openly, and I couldn't believe how many people suffered
from this, and that's something new gie, the older genie
(39:09):
that started a business twenty years ago, never would have
been that vulnerable and honest but it was really really hard.
And obviously some other things have happened in my life
that could have triggered those episodes again. But because I
had so many tools in my toolkits, I know what
it is, I know how it's coming on, and I've
(39:30):
been able to use it to help other people. I
love that. We need more storytelling. We need more. I
say this expression, this is maybe the best way to leave.
It is like, we have to reveal ourselves if we
want to heal. And revealing is not reckless. I'm not
(39:50):
saying go out and tell everybody all your deepest, darkest secrets,
but start somewhere where you're willing to reveal. And that
was really the genesis of this. If I'm asking you
to do it, you got to do it too. And
there is an interesting story. There's an arc of a
person that's evolved, and if this evolutionary story can help
(40:14):
someone else, I'm all for it because that's what I'm
here to offer. And so let's reveal to heal. Thank
you for joining me for another episode of The Warriors
at Work Show. If you are interested in learning more
about what we do at the Warriors at Work Show
(40:35):
and platform, be sure to go over to my website,
Genie Kumber and subscribe to my monthly Warrior Playbook newsletter.
I share everything that I'm up to month by month,
as well as some lessons and insights that I've learned.
I'm also interested in hearing any feedback you have about
this conversation or future topics, so reach out to me
(40:56):
directly on JC at geniecoomber dot com on LinkedIn. Be
sure to tell your friends and your colleagues about this
Warriors at Work conversation. Subscribe, review and rate us. It's
the best way to get this message out into the world.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Be well,
What is intuition the way that I characterize it's what
you sense, what you feel. It's like an inner knowing
what do you feel? And I'll depending upon who it is,
I'll say gut or instinct. Like what I'm really doing
is saying I want you to tune into what intuitively
do you feel is the next right move. Sometimes it's
(00:23):
pauseive doing nothing, And that's actually how I know that
we're in the deepness of the conversation is if I
can get someone to pause and sit with it, there
is a much greater capacity for more information to come
to you versus the speed and the transaction, which is
(00:45):
often really what the business world is dictating. Welcome to
the Warriors at Work Show. This is Genie Coomber, your
guide and host. This is a show for men and
women in the workplace who want to move from the
predictable to the potent. This is your weekly dose of
inspiration with an edge. I talk with CEOs and shamans,
(01:08):
sports marketing executives, and therapists. All of us are like
minded thinkers and doers who tell stories, share wisdom, and
challenge each other to have the best life possible inside
and outside the office. Welcome to your Warrior Conversation. Hey everybody,
(01:29):
it's GDI. Welcome to Warriors at Work. I am your
guide and host, and today I bring to you a
very special episode. In February of twenty twenty five, I
am celebrating twenty wild years as the owner of an
executive coaching business called Transition Enterprises, and me being front
and center of that business as an executive coach. And
(01:49):
over the past two decades, I've had the honor and
privilege of working with some of the most talented and
inspirational leaders around the globe. And I've seen a lot,
I've experienced a lot, and I was really trying to
figure out what was the best way to celebrate this
twenty years and my beautiful friend and confidante and colleague,
(02:12):
fizz Elajah Day said, well, how about we turn the
tables and we make this look and feel like a
coaching session and I'll interview you. And so I said yes.
And Fizz is not only a dear friend, she is
also the director brand designed for X. She is a
(02:32):
wildly talented filmmaker, creative executive. She has created documentaries that
have earned acclaim at prestigious festivals like SXSW, doc NYC,
and the New York Film Festival. She's actually currently directing
Underground Railroad Ride, a feature length documentary exploring the themes
(02:54):
of racial justice, endurance, and personal transformation, set to come
out in the fall of this year. And I did
not know what she was going to ask me in
this coaching session, but I trusted her. She knows enough
about me, my story and knows that I'm in service
to something bigger than myself. So together we reflect and
the lessons learned painful and triumphant moments, and I also
(03:17):
share some of my favorite stories and key takeaways from
twenty years of helping leaders like you move from the
predictable to the potent. I really put this episode out
for everyone who has shared this ride with me, and
for those of you who I don't know yet. I
thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting
(03:38):
me into your lives and for creating a space like
this where I can share my story enjoy.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Okay, I am so excited to turn the tables today
and interview Genie Coomber, someone who's usually in the house
seat asking the big questions. Genie is a powerhouse in
thought provoking media for working professionals and was named one
of NJ's Biz Best fifty Women in Business. With certifications
(04:11):
from Corporate Coach You, the International Coaching Federation, and the
Neuro Leadership Institute, plus a background in Columbia Business School's
Personal Leadership Program, she brings a wealth of knowledge to
everything she does. Jeanie's career began as a world class
executive coach, helping leaders unlock their potential and become warriors
(04:34):
in their own right. Through her podcast Warriors at Work,
She's built a space for people to tap into their
inner wisdom, explore bold choices, and unleash their best selves. Today,
it's my privilege to flip the script and dive into
Genie's own story, her insights, her vision, and her relentless
(04:57):
drive to inspire others. Let's get started.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Oh Is it's so weird to hear yourself be introduced,
especially on such an important time period in my life
twenty years is. It's a big deal.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
It's a huge deal. Congratulations, Thank you, Genie. I want
to start with a bit of self discovery. There's a
lot of people that know you, that have worked with you,
and the you know no a piece of genie. But
I want to just start at the very beginning with
your origin story. Who were you before you created Warriors
(05:37):
at Work and what shaped you?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
So? Who was I before I started really started, before
I really started coaching, because Warriors at Working later. So
I was working in financial services in a servicing account
management role, and I played by the book. I had
a big personality. I was told I was intense, quite
(06:03):
a bit, very very impatient, all about process, drive, making
sharp decisions, moving quickly. I was all about speed, and
that got in my way a lot. Speed efficiency, less
about being effective. And I always had like a big heart.
(06:24):
Always tried to bring this big heart and nurturing self
to the office, but I screwed it up quite a bit,
both in peer dynamics, running teams, challenges with clients. But
you know, I'm always somebody that I really do try
to do my best, and I'm okay with it not
coming out perfect. And so I was. I was really
(06:46):
that little bit of a hot mess. I guess say,
when I decided to leave Corporate America, it was it
was not what I see now twenty years later, but
it was it was brought up about I was basically
getting certified. While I was still working in corporate America.
I was talking with my mom, who was a license
(07:07):
clinical social worker, and she was like, you know what,
go back, get your master's degree. You know, why are
you doing this coaching thing. Go back, get your master's
degree in social work, and you can be an LCSW,
which means licensed clinical social worker like me. She's a
psychotherapist in private practice. And I was like, I still't
think that was for me. I said, Mom, this coaching
(07:27):
thing is very cool because it's about meeting people where
they are and then progressing them towards whatever their goals
aspirations are. And I felt therapy is more about, you know,
looking over your shoulder around how did I get here?
Where did this come from? And doing some of that work.
And I didn't really get the connection of really how
the to go hand in hand, which is now which
(07:48):
we'll get into later. So I pursued the coaching thing.
Got pregnant. I was on maternity leave. My mom and
I were talking about going into business together. I'd be
the coaching arm, she'd be the therapeutic arm. And she
passed away suddenly. She had a massive heart attack. When
my daughter was ten weeks old, and you know, you
(08:10):
go through something like that, it changes everything. I felt
like somebody shot me. I was completely half I was
really really distraught and sad, but I had this beautiful
baby that I had to get up for every day
and you know, put one foot in front of the other.
(08:31):
And I ended up going back to my job after
my maternity leave, but I was very honest with my boss.
I kind of told them what I was considering, that's.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Your corporate job.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
I did. I went back to my corperate job and
I said, you know, I'm just going to investigate this
coaching thing. I'll take a little bit of time and
see what's what. And I pretty much stuck to my
timeline and did a lot of research. I interviewed lots
of coaches because it was not well known. You're talking
this is two thousand, two thousand and four, early two
thousand and five. It was not well alone in the US.
(09:03):
It was very well known outside the US, Canada and
Europe predominantly. And the more I started interviewing, the more
I was like, okay, And those coaches who I talked
to kind of helped me, hone it to say, you
want to do the corporate coaching route, you're going to
want to do this, And so I ended up leaving
February of twenty two thousand and five, and I didn't
(09:25):
really have a whole lot planned other than a big
fat dream. I originally started off saying, I really want
to help college kids acclimate to the workplace. So I
went into private practice, actually with my mom's best friend
who was a therapist, and I thought, well, let me
try this dream on. It was a great friendship, great partnership.
She was so wonderful, so so.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Good to me.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
But I did not enjoy the private coaching because what
ended up happening is a lot of parents were hiring
me to get their children jobs, which was not what
I was looking for. It was more around the personal
development piece. But I did it for about a year
or so, and then I found my way back into
the corporate space with an executive development program where I
(10:08):
was doing faciltation and which I didn't actually know what
the heck faciltation meant. I actually looked it up. I
was like, I know how to run meetings, don't know
what faciltation is. And I that was a transformative decision
because I was exposed to all of these women in
these executive development programs, and I was one of them
when I'm in financial services and I know we're going
(10:30):
to get into mentoring and all of that later on,
but that was a really pivotal decision to become affiliated
with them do the work for them. It really opened
up my mind to the development discussion and really what
the true viability was of coaching and how applicable it
(10:51):
was to the corporate space, and it was in these
development programs. So it was a pivotal moment.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Wow, what was some of the first practices or philosophies
that really resonated with you when you started coaching.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Process repeatable behaviors? And I took all of my business
knowledge on running teams and dealing with clients and customers.
Is do what you say. If you're going to promise something,
you've got to follow it up. And that was probably
the number one thing. Always do what you say and
(11:26):
say what you mean. Then the second thing is be
kind to your.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Networking, bring that generous spirit to others and make sure
you're acknowledging how your network and your systems are supporting you.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
And that's very much philosophy that I've pulled forward to
today and the other was it's just simple, was like
to me, it was just hard work. I'm not the
smartest kid on the block. I've struggled in academia for
most of my life. I worked really hard for Bees.
But I I really have a lot of job. I
can outwork a lot of people, and I'm I'm relentless.
(12:06):
When I have a goal or a focus, nothing will
stop me. Lots of people thought I was crazy to
do this. Lots of people thought, what are you doing
leaving corporate America? What are you doing? That's so stupid.
We're going to move you to New York and you're
gonna gonna have a two hour commute. It's going to
be way better than you doing this thing on your own.
And then you know, also when you're starting, it was
(12:26):
an unchartered field, So people were like, what is that?
Why would you do?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
What did your husband think when you told him?
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Well, he he he. Knew that I was complete in
Corporate America. I'd done all I wanted to do. I
didn't enjoy it. I didn't care about mutual funds. I
really had a knack for helping people identify what are
my skills? And attributes, and then how do we position
you for things that maximize on that. So he knew
that I was. I wasn't in my zone a genius.
(12:57):
I was in my zone of competence. For anybody that
has ever read The Big Leap, one of my favorite books,
I was in my zone of competence. It was these
behaviors that everybody knew and you know, we're familiar with.
But I wasn't killing it. I wasn't enjoying it. And
then when I was had a newborn and I had
to do this crazy commute, it just it amplified it
(13:18):
for me. He knew I just I needed to get out,
but it was hard. I'm not gonna lie that first year,
a year and a half, I didn't make any money.
I put everyday right back into the business. And there
was quite a few conversations where he was like, what
are you doing? Do you realize like we have to
steal from Paul to pay Peter. We have like one
hundred dollars in our account, Like why are you doing this?
And I was like, I know my capabilities. And there
(13:40):
was this one conversation I had with him I had
come back. It was like it was a year out
and I had come back from some networking I had
which I'm a huge fan of and believer in relationship
building is it's it's the life force for an entrepreneur.
I had come back and I said, you know, I
really hope this starts to paid dividends because I'm spending
(14:02):
a lot on business development and I'm not seeing that.
I heard on that, and then that following year everything shifted.
It was like all of the seeds that I had
planted really started to turn into some really amazing.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Operations of like a year eighteen months that you do.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Yeah, it was about a year a year and a
half of ye struggle. And then again some things started
to shift. And then when I got involved in the
executive development program, you know, my mind was open to
lots and lots of things, but it took time. And
it's why a lot of people give up. It's really hard.
It's uh and it's just you. You know, you're selling you.
And I was selling something that was unheard of, it
(14:42):
was not well known, and people were like, wait, what
do you do? How does that work? What do you
you stand on you know, stand on the side of
a meeting and just jump up and down and cheer
someone on. I'm like, oh, well, that's a little bit
of it.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
How did you actually find your first clients?
Speaker 1 (15:02):
It was through some I did a ton of networking.
When you first started business, you join everything, you say
yes to everything you and everybody want. As soon as
they see a doer, they want you on their board
and they want you running committees. No offense to anybody
who's listening or watching that runs the networking events or groups.
And it was just through different networking I got connected
with various people. Which one of the biggest programs I
(15:25):
did when I first started was with the Girl Scouts
of America. It was a leadership program for high school students.
It was such a cool experience. I got to do
lots of mentoring, met some incredible people, and so that
was the beginning of a lot of you know, sharpening
our skills, trying to figure out what was what, and
that was very into collaboration. I had other people with me,
(15:49):
no employees, but a collaborations, which again is a philosophy
I've brought forward.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Okay, that makes sense. So how would you describe the
Genie Humor brand, like what it stand for? Has your
vision or how has your vision evolved over the years.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
That is that is probably one of the hardest questions
for me to answer, because I feel like I'm a
work in progress. I'm certainly not finished. Scaffolding around me
at all times. My brand has always been honest, straightforward, direct.
(16:28):
I have a good blend and I think the nicest
thing someone said to me is you're a great blend
of soft and hard and you're compassionately confrontational. Oh and
when I first heard that one, I was like, Oh,
is that a bit of shade or is that But
(16:50):
it's honest, and I think how I crafted it over
the years, and obviously I have to do branding quite
a bit. And what I'll say is, this is so
like if we were interviewing me for a coaching gig.
The way I typically say it is like, well, you're
talking to somebody that's been in the business for twenty years.
And I got into coaching before it was a sexy thing.
(17:13):
And I got into it because I always had a
knack for helping people identify skills and attributes that make
them extraordinary in the world. And so I take that
skill and I combine it with a deep, intuitive knowing
and understanding, and I believe that you're much more than
your thinking mind. I believe that if you can combine
(17:35):
your intellect with your intuition, your capacity for growth, development
and expansion is ten times what it is if you're
only relying upon your thinking mind. So you're talking to
somebody that's going to help you combine those two and
bring that type of magic to what you're doing on
a daily basis.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
This is good, all right, But like I know from you,
know being around you for years and just speaking with
you and having you kind of coach groups that I've
been in. But what is intuition? Can you explain that
for somebody that just doesn't really know that? It's very corporate,
that's in the corporate world, that goes by the book,
(18:17):
is studied, that have achieved, they've got promotions.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
What is intuition the way that I characterize, it's what
you sense, what you feel. It's like an inner knowing.
And the quickest way into it is sitting here with
you right now. I would ask you to just when
we're talking about a particular subject, maybe you're struggling with
the decision you have to make. The very first thing
(18:40):
I'm going to ask you is like, well, tell me
in your body where you're feeling stuck. You know when
there's energy block. So if I can get you to
tune into your body, that is getting you out of
your thinking mind. So it's like the fastest ways you
get into your body. Your body starts to tell you
my pulling left, my pulling right? Am I feeling contraction
or contrition in my stomach, in my shoulders? Whomen we
(19:02):
feel it a lot in our shoulders, our neck, our arms.
And then I'll say, all right, so now let's go
back to that decision that we're talking about. Tell me
where you're feeling energy blocked or constriction, and then what
do you feel And I'll know, depending upon who it is,
I'll say gut or instinct. Like what I'm really doing
(19:24):
is saying I want you to tune into what intuitively
do you feel is the next right move. Sometimes it's
pausing doing nothing, And that's actually how I know that
we're in the deepness of the conversation is if I
can get someone to pause and sit with it, there
(19:48):
is a much greater capacity for more information to come
to you versus the speed and the transaction, which is often,
really what the business world is dictating is like here,
more efficient, more powerful, more profitability, more revenue growth. That's
speed scale. There's nothing wrong with that. But if the
(20:11):
individuals are the ones that are driving all of that,
we've got to create more space to bring in the unseen.
And that's really what intuition is. If you're very in
tune with your unseen, you have more optionality, you more
thoughtful on how you make decisions. When you don't have
access to it, you rely very much on your intellectual
(20:32):
horsepower to drive everything. So ultimately, what I'm doing is
creating more pause, more time to pick in and get
a sense of what else is going on here that
I need to tune into. But getting into the body
and the breath is the fastest way in Oh.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
I love that, and I'm going to dig into more
of that because I think it's a very interesting taken
in your style of coaching, and not a lot of
people are even able to kind of get because it
feels too whooo right. So, but before we get there,
what I would love to just kind of looking back
(21:07):
on your early years where there are moments where self
doubt crept in outside of the voices that you heard
of people telling you, like, this is crazy, what are
you doing? You know you should be in the corporate Well,
that's where the check is at. And how did you
navigate those self doubt moments?
Speaker 1 (21:28):
I have so many self doubt fall on my face moments.
I was thinking about that because I had a sense
you were going to ask me that. There's literally so
many that I couldn't even count. But what I noticed
is that the more I might make a mistake or
(21:49):
misstep or make the wrong judgment call and it had
some sort of feedback or somebody would say something to
me like that didn't land. And I've heard people say
like that didn't like and I didn't get anything from that.
I think you made a mistake. I don't like how
you did that. And it hurts when you first hear it,
and it's really it's a little scary, like you want
(22:12):
to run away. But there the more it happened over time,
the more resilient I got. I would notice, Oh, the
first time it happened, I beat myself up for five days,
and the next time it happened, I'd beat myself up
for three days. And there, you know, sometimes depending upon
how big it is it can hang around a little longer.
(22:34):
But I noticed that my bounce back got a little
better and a little stronger, and to me it became
like a data point. Oh that didn't land. It doesn't
define me. It's just a data point the moment in
time that I can reflect on if ever I'm in
that situation, or if ever that behavior starts to show
up again, or maybe that person has similar attributes of
(22:55):
somebody who said something negative to me before. I just
look at it as like, oh, okay, okay, I got that,
heard it, felt it. What could I do differently next time?
And that's that's how I look at it. And look,
we've all got insecurities, all of us. We all have
those moments where we're like, what the hell are we
doing right now? And am I the right person? But
(23:18):
if I can bring forward some of the things that
I teach and guide others to do, like tune in
what are you sensing? What are you feeling? Are you
in your ego? Are you trying to drive to something
that is not aligned? If I can tune into more
of that, I can learn from those setbacks and have
(23:39):
less doubt and start to see what if I can
do it what if I am okay, what if it's
not perfect, which you know I still struggle with too.
But if I can get focused on what's in my
best interest, what's in the client's best interest, what's for
everyone's best and highest. If I can tune into that,
(24:02):
things start to reveal themselves in a much more powerful
way and it isn't about me anymore. It's about what's
the best for everyone.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Right, So in twenty eighteen you almost quit, right? What
happened during that time and how did you find the
strength to move forward? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (24:22):
So you know, business was, thankfully, it's always going well,
and that was a particularly powerful year. I was rock
and rolling. It was I was skinning to the point
where I was having to refer a lot of client
work out and I said yes to two particular coaching engagements,
(24:43):
both of which my ego made the decision. And the
first one was like, it was like a fix it.
This guy has got this, this this wrong. He really
needs this. He's got to get develop more connection, more
relationship skills, and his communication skills are terrible. So I
went in thinking, I'm going to change this guy. He's
going to be amazed by me. It was the most frustrating, unsatisfying.
(25:12):
It was horrible from start to finish, and I would
always come home, and of course it was time. I
was having to do a lot of in person. I
was just come home exhausted, and I was also working
with somebody else in another city, and it was a
similar situation. I said yes because my ego told me too,
and I felt obligated to the person who asked me.
(25:33):
And so I had these two really, really difficult clients
that just suck the life out of me. And it
was because it wasn't aligned with what I really wanted,
the type of client I really knew I could have
success with. I should have said no to both and
refer them out, and because they would have been much
better off with a different coach than Jeanie. And so
(25:55):
I went through this period and I came home. I
had to see both of them in one week, and
I said to Ross, I said, I don't think I
can do this anymore. I feel like I'm complete now,
and he was like, what's going on. I'm like, I
just don't feel happy or satisfy. I don't think I'm
offering any value and maybe it's time for me to
(26:15):
shift maybe it's time for me to step away from this,
Maybe there's something else I should be considering. And I
went through that contemplation for a couple of months and
then I did what and all business owners know this
is like every year you have to shift a couple
of things, like massive shifts, but you have to shift
(26:37):
some things. And so I sat with the pain and
the just I just couldn't stand being around this individual.
But I sat with it, and I was like, what
is here for me? What do I have to learn?
And I decided to start playing with this idea of
doing interviewing, having hosting smaller dinners, getting into different types
(26:58):
of community, and do the things that light me up,
do the things that I feel are in service to
other people. And then that shifted and both of those
clients went away, and it made me smarter in my choice. Now,
when I'm being interviewed for coaching engagements, I ask a
lot more questions around give me the profile the client,
what do you see a success? And I check myself
(27:22):
when I'm being interviewed as like, could I really spend
time with this person? And so I was doing all
the things outside that were just starting to light me up.
It really made me smarter on different coaching engagements. And
you know, and I just took that wisdom and then
gain made a couple of shifts which have led to
so many amazing things. There's well, I mean, you know.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
People watching this like, oh my gosh, Jennie sounds amazing.
She sounds incredible. I would love to have Jennie be
my coach. What are some of the things that you
would see to your point of when you're being interviewed
for an engagement that you're like, this doesn't align with
what I wanted to What are some of the things
that you look for that are red flags? Essentially?
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Okay, So the first thing is why why a coach?
And why now? The second thing is tell me what
this person is doing in terms of growth development, personal
professional Where do you as the organization see this person
(28:29):
evolving or sending into like I want to hear the
growth path? And then I also always ask do they
want an executive coach? I'm not somebody who gets deployed. Again,
I've made the mistake of taking some of those assignments
(28:50):
mostly because my ego would tell me, ah, it's going
to be great. That's not that kind of coaching that's
not me at my best. I would refer that I've
got some coaches who love that kind of work that
is not me, but that came from making bad choices
and getting aligned with the wrong clients. So those would
be typically the red flags I would listen for.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
So, over these wonderful up and down twenty years, can
you do any stories come to mind that you can
think about people that you've coached and worked with that
have had incredible transformations, So something that you started with
that had something that they needed you for and kind
(29:30):
of if you could walk me through the journey of
how you worked with them and what that looked at
the end of your engagement. Just any incredible transformation stories.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
You know. So transformation is a very personal word, so
you could look on the outside. So if we stayed
in the thinking mind, you could look at promotion, you
could look at additional areas that they acquired as a result.
(30:01):
But when I think of transformation, the people that stand
out in my mind, and it's male and female, as
simple and smiling, Because a transformational behavior for me is
when I was interviewed, I started working with this incredible
guy was just humble and smart and so powerful, but
(30:23):
he was very guarded, very very guarded with me, and
so I had to do a lot of things to
get him to open up and trust me, and we
eventually did. We got there, and he was very careful
to not reveal too much about his personal story and
(30:44):
his own vulnerabilities, but is also his leadership journey just
he had a particular approach to that. And I saw
him out on LinkedIn getting interviewed for different things, and
I saw him posting different snippets from it. It brought
me so much joy that he got to see, wait
(31:04):
a minute, the more I reveal and share my own vulnerabilities,
the more people it will help other people. It isn't
about me saying too much about myself. It's like, but
this actually helps other people. This gives other people permission.
And that was a direct connection to what the work
he and I did together is slowly getting to open
(31:26):
up and trust himself and trust the world around him
in a way that not only are you getting some
healing from this, but you're helping so many people step
forward to this. And he later thanked me for it,
and it was that was probably one of the proudest things.
It was hard work too, because I have to be
(31:47):
very careful. Sometimes you have to walk off a fine line, right,
And not everybody's like, guns blazing, let's do this. Some
people more like, Okay, you know, I'm a little skeptical,
but I know I want to do this, but I'm
not really sure what it looks like. And then some
other success stories on the transformation side is, you know,
I work a lot with high efficiency structural people, engineers, finance,
(32:14):
C suite leaders that have built a career and a
system that works for them in their success. And so
to get those people to use words like instinct, intuition,
what am I sensing my feeling even just talking about
the work feeling in a conversation and hearing that it's
making them smarter, more engaged as leaders, that's transformation too.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
That's awesome. So over the twenty years, over the past
free years, what have been the biggest trials and triumphs
for you as a coach? I mean, obviously the triumphs
you pretty much just spoke about, but I'm curious about
some of the trials that you've overcome. I'm immediately the
first thing I'm thinking about is I met you in
(33:00):
twenty nineteen and then everything shifted a year later, you know,
So I don't know if you'd count that as one
of the as a business owners, one of your biggest trials, well, the.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
Biggest trial, Well, there's a bunch, but there's there's there's
two that really come to mind. One was the decision
in early twenty twenty to rebrand, so to take Genie
Koomber and start to shift it and then move more
into this interviewing space, which was the creation of the
Warriors at Work platform. But you know, in the early
(33:34):
days of COVID, you know, when the world was shutting down,
nobody's hiring an executive coach, and so I had a
lot of contracts canceled, all of my travel canceled. So
here it was March, We're anticipating a certain financial return
the end of the year, and all of that blew
up in my face. And that was terrifying because my
(33:58):
husband's also he's this its chiropractors, who are both business owners.
Had a sophomore in high school, was going to be
going to get college in a couple of years. My
other daughter was in grammar school, and so you know,
you're thinking about future. So I used the fear to
create something. And that's often what I'll do is when
I feel sad or down or lonely or insecure, is
(34:19):
I just try to help other people and that that
energy starts to be really powerful for me. And I
know we're going to get into some of the stuff
around warriors at work, but I channeled that fear and
not enough in the lack into Okay, this is going
to help people. How do I help people? And when
you help people, positive things come to you, right, And
(34:39):
so that's what I did. And the other thing the
biggest trial that I think I had to go through
beyond death of my mom suddenly, my death of my
dad unexpectedly in twenty sixteen, is my husband had a
medical emergency that was really insane, and I ended up
(35:00):
catching some things that they didn't catch. And what ended
up happening is, you know, he was during his recovery
from that surgery and that medical issue, I developed a
horrible situation where I would have panic. It's basically panic episodes,
(35:20):
but I had panic disorder and I was getting panic
attacks two or three times a day, and sometimes they'd
last half hour, forty five minutes the longest. Sometimes would
be an hour, and it's hard to be in a
space where I'm listening and creating space for other people,
where my whole body is revolting and telling me you're
(35:43):
having a heart attack, and that's something else to be
scared of. And then you have to be scared of this.
So I was frightened of everything, and I struggled with
it for quite a few months. I took myself up
to Crapollu for three days. I have a dear friend
who worked there and helped me to see that there
was a program called Rest and Renew where you could
stay in silence, you could hike, you could do yoga,
(36:05):
whatever you needed to do. But that was like an
immediate oxygen mask to calm my system down. I had
a friend who saw this pattern, who called me out
on and said, you need to stop right now. You
need to go take care of yourself, and I'll forever
be grateful to carry for being that voice of reason.
And she got harsh with me, like, stop this.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
And you'd never had any of these type of episodes before.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
I mean, really mildly, I had one when I knew
I needed to get out of a business arrangement. I
was in I was. I was wildly unhappy, and you
know your body doesn't lie, it'll start to show you
in balances, but this was so pronounced. I was so
I was so filled with fear and anxiety because I
(36:52):
was so disappointed by the lack of medical care that
I saw. There wasn't trust the system. So I had
to become this huge advocate and what do I know?
What do I know about navigating that kind of thing.
It was so so disappointed, but they saved his life,
and so that's what I had to get back to,
and I had to do a lot of therapy. I
(37:15):
did shamanic work, I did reiki, with hypnotherapy, you name it.
I tried it and the best remedy for me, and
to this day, whenever I get anxious, I take elthenie.
I contemplated everything from Ayahuascar retreats to other substances, anything
to calm me down. That was the hardest thing because
(37:38):
my kids saw it and never knew when it was
going to come on, and it lasted on and off
for about six months. I was able to manage it
after three but now when I look back on it,
it again, like all difficulties, there's some lessons in it.
It was my need to control, my need to manage,
(38:00):
and I have a deep, deep rooted fear of death
than when you're trying to control your mortality. When you're
going through something like that, it's all you think about
is like that could have been me, and what about me?
And well I'd be taken care of And.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
That was the today. Would you say, how are you now?
I do?
Speaker 1 (38:19):
I don't have them anymore. I'm I have lots of
tools in my toolkits. When I feel triggered, more anxious
or worried, I have a lot of tools that I
implement so that it doesn't get to that point. Just
a simple technique of tapping collarbone, you know, literally tapping.
(38:42):
There's as a tai chi technique.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Yeah, you told me that. I think, yes, yes, tapping.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
Any breathing exercises. And you never want to push through
a panic episode like you don't push you, You deal
with it, you manage it. And now I talk about
them openly, and I couldn't believe how many people suffered
from this, and that's something new gie, the older genie
(39:09):
that started a business twenty years ago, never would have
been that vulnerable and honest but it was really really hard.
And obviously some other things have happened in my life
that could have triggered those episodes again. But because I
had so many tools in my toolkits, I know what
it is, I know how it's coming on, and I've
(39:30):
been able to use it to help other people. I
love that. We need more storytelling. We need more. I
say this expression, this is maybe the best way to leave.
It is like, we have to reveal ourselves if we
want to heal. And revealing is not reckless. I'm not
(39:50):
saying go out and tell everybody all your deepest, darkest secrets,
but start somewhere where you're willing to reveal. And that
was really the genesis of this. If I'm asking you
to do it, you got to do it too. And
there is an interesting story. There's an arc of a
person that's evolved, and if this evolutionary story can help
(40:14):
someone else, I'm all for it because that's what I'm
here to offer. And so let's reveal to heal. Thank
you for joining me for another episode of The Warriors
at Work Show. If you are interested in learning more
about what we do at the Warriors at Work Show
(40:35):
and platform, be sure to go over to my website,
Genie Kumber and subscribe to my monthly Warrior Playbook newsletter.
I share everything that I'm up to month by month,
as well as some lessons and insights that I've learned.
I'm also interested in hearing any feedback you have about
this conversation or future topics, so reach out to me
(40:56):
directly on JC at geniecoomber dot com on LinkedIn. Be
sure to tell your friends and your colleagues about this
Warriors at Work conversation. Subscribe, review and rate us. It's
the best way to get this message out into the world.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Be well,
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